McDonald's in the 80s compared to today

[u/Charming_History7423]

[u/PiddelAiPo]

Fair but anyone in the creative field back in those days was off their nut on LSD. The one at the top looks like some kind of magic mushroom land and that tree god thing... oh its just me...

[u/oojacoboo → u/PiddelAiPo]

No, parents just took their kids to McDonalds back then. There were probably more birthday parties at McDonalds than anywhere else. They had the playground too. It was a family establishment.

[u/Pogeos → u/oojacoboo]

It was like that just about 15 years ago and suddenly everything started changing to this unappealing style. Wtf they are thinking?

[u/blyan → u/Pogeos]

They’re thinking about maximizing profits and who their actual target demographic is

I’m not saying corporations don’t sometimes make mistakes but do you really think they made all those changes on a whim? Or do you think maybe there were countless focus groups and research projects going into how to get the most people consistently buying food there?

Yeah, back when we were little kids, going to McDonald’s was an exciting experience… but if a company like that wants to remain at the top, their target demographic can’t be children with no disposable income

No one nowadays is going to McDonald’s for “the experience”. People want some mediocre, predictable, semi-affordable fast food that they know exactly how it’ll taste. If anything, it’s shocking that it took them so long to realize that.

[u/7mm-08 → u/blyan]

Corporations make mistakes all the time, regardless of it being on a whim or not. I can't fathom why you'd bring up children's nonexistent disposable income. It's obviously targeting parent/guardian money.

McDonald's food has gotten predictably bad/inconsistent and really isn't affordable anymore, so I'm not sure what you're saying.

[u/deelowe → u/7mm-08]

It's obviously targeting parent/guardian money.

I believe they made the switch because birthrates are declining.

[u/Eldritch-Pancake → u/deelowe]

8 billion people in the world. 8 billion. We don't need anymore.

[u/deelowe → u/Eldritch-Pancake]

You go first.

[u/Eldritch-Pancake → u/deelowe]

I'll take you with me when I do 😘🥱

[u/blyan → u/7mm-08]

You can’t look at the pictures in question and figure out why I’d bring that up? McDonald’s used to be geared towards kids. Now it’s aimed at adults who just want a quick, clean place to eat. It’s not rocket science

[u/Paddy_Tanninger → u/blyan]

They're thinking that folks are more likely to visit a clean looking place, and they're right. I used to go to McD quite a bit until they decided to get into political ads...and I can honestly say I probably wouldn't have gone half as much if McD was still rocking those grease covered brown floors and dirty looking decor all over the place.

I think all of our childhood memories are making those hindsight goggles a mighty tint of rose. Our parents generally thought McD was kind of gross and we basically stopped eating there once my brother and I were past the Happy Meal + Playplace age.

Their new strategy is probably better with their business model not so strongly hedged on a bunch of 1-10 year olds begging their parents to go somewhere they don't really want to go.

[u/hamlet_d → u/blyan]

It's not just maximizing profits for target demographic. It's maximizing throughput of customers. Starbucks did the same thing. They used to have comfortable, pleasant vibe. People would go there and work and have a coffee or two. The problem was they only had a coffee or two and nothing else of value was gained. It was better for starbucks to make semi-hostile/cold vibe so that throughput was more important. If you walk into a starbucks and there were people camping out to work, it meant it was more difficult for you to find a seat and then your 15 minute stop to meet a friend may not happen at all because "it's too busy".

Similarly, if kids are running around having fun at mcdonalds people may walk in and get the idea it was too busy and/or not as clean (because kids spill shit and its tougher to keep things cleaner).

[u/conestoga12345 → u/blyan]

Tesla has entered the chat.

[u/Twistntie → u/blyan]

They're really fucking up the "semi-affordable" part because it's cheaper to get basically anything else around here!

[u/Pogeos → u/blyan]

I'm sure they did have focus groups... in the same way as all the current Disney movies are based on what focus groups recommend. Nah I don't believe in "boring & bland" being a successful business strategy for the long term.

[u/Baerog → u/Pogeos]

Nah I don't believe in "boring & bland" being a successful business strategy for the long term.

As opposed to "extremely dated 80s decor"?

Modernization is an important part of business, without it, people associate you with their parents/grandparents, even if subconsciously. There are lots of "boring and bland" businesses that are extremely successful. Arguably, Apple is "boring and bland" in the same way as modern McDonalds.

Realistically, no one even eats inside McDonalds anyways nowadays, and they certainly wouldn't be more likely to if it looked like the image from the 80s.

It's also wild to say that any decision McDonalds makes won't be a successful business strategy long term. They're possibly one of the best marketing companies in the world besides Coca Cola.

[u/Status_History_874 → u/Baerog]

As opposed to "extremely dated 80s decor"?

That's so weird to me. Why would you think they should stick with the same 80s/90s decor? Like, why wouldn't you consider they could have modernized in a family friendly way?

[u/MeanMusterMistard → u/Status_History_874]

I guess the "family friendly way" you're thinking of is a thing of the past. Places aren't really like that anymore (in my country anyways) unless it's specifically and only designed for children. McDonalds needed to move on with it's growing list of competitors or it would have fallen to the way side if it remained as child appealing as it was in the 80s/90s