r/interestingasfuck • u/Charming_History7423 • 11d ago

/r/all McDonald's in the 80s compared to today

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u/cheeersaiii 11d ago

They went from kids/family vibe to “operating theatre please leave quickly” vibe. In Australia we had one with a train carriage for kid’s birthdays, one with a plane, all sorts of fun. I understand the change and the coffee is better for it but still change isn’t always a good thing

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u/Adorable-Boot-3970 11d ago

Yeah the UK had some with a train, and some with a paddle steamer too.

It’s interesting that the target age group seems to have always been the same bunch of people. When I was a child they clearly went for the children’s parties and what not. When I was in my 20s the target was teenagers and young adults (music voucher prizes and such), now the ads target middle age men.

Perhaps that’s just where the money has gone?

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u/cheeersaiii 11d ago

Not sure… I’d argue kids have more money for fast food than ever before , when I was a kid I was lucky if I had it maybe 3 times a year. I think a lot of businesses just evolved to make more and more money while caring less and less tbh

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u/Chillers 11d ago

You could get a burger for a dollar back in the 90s and the portions were much bigger and better value. McDonald's is much more unaffordable for kids these days. What probably changed is the big shift to being health conscious expecially after supersize me. Parents are more careful what they feed their kids. I know I purposely went out of my way to avoid fast food for my kids.

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u/dirkdiggler580 11d ago

Also here in the UK with the exact same experience but I think it's anecdotal - I remember reading an article a while ago about how they wanted to get more of a foothold in the adult markets.

My mum and dad always used to tell me that they never went to McD's aside from my birthday parties when I was really young, whereas I see people of all ages in there when I visit now so maybe that tracks?

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u/TheRadishBros 11d ago

There are far more restrictions on advertising to children now than there were 20 years ago.