r/interestingasfuck • u/Charming_History7423 • 11d ago

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

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u/-paperbrain- 11d ago

To be fair, when it looked like that, people criticized them for using all that stuff to get children hooked on junk food. It was seen as exploitation of the vulnerable.

Now that they ditched it all and the advertising and spaces aren't targeting kids so much people say. they miss the warmth and whimsy.

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u/frankthetank8558 11d ago

The grass is always greener on the other side, eh?

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u/Comfortable-Pause279 10d ago

No. There's no grass in the more recent photo. The old photo has a fake tree friend, though.

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u/DrzewnyPrzyjaciel 9d ago

Tree friend you say?

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u/Knautical_J 10d ago

Grass is greener where you water it bro

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u/Disastrous_Meat_ 11d ago

Also probably easier to clean then the old way. The McDonald’s play place  stank still haunts me from childhood sometimes 

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u/happypolychaetes 11d ago

I distinctly remember that dirty plastic smell, lol. Can't even describe it but it's distinctive.

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u/Kappist 11d ago

It was the smell of horribly stinky feet and sweaty socks that really stuck with me. I can still smell it when I think about it

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u/GalaxyGoddess27 10d ago

Dont forget the kid piss…I didn’t realize I could smell memories 🥹

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u/DrZomboo 9d ago

Don't forget the smell of greasy fingers everywhere

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u/Subject_00001 8d ago

Not to mention sweaty feet and stinky socks!

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u/-LuciditySam- 11d ago

Mine smelled like balls during the summer.

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u/CyberPunkDeathKnight 11d ago

I wonder if there's a candle with that smell🤔

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u/clarehehee 10d ago

we can only hope

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u/lazergoblin 11d ago

I played in the play area exactly 1 time back in the day. I shit you not I still have nightmares about how unsettling it was. The smell, the lighting, the claustrophobia, the lack of personal space. It's gross and I'm kinda glad they removed them tbh.

There are better places to have your kid play than at a fast food burger place

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u/Known_Needleworker67 11d ago

Where are you that they removed them? Mine still has the play place, but they changed everything else to the more modernized look.

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u/tingdemsweet 11d ago

The McDonald’s near you still has it, but most don’t anymore, especially the newer or renovated ones, aside from the odd one or two. There’s only one McDonald’s in my city that still has the PlayPlace. All the others removed theirs.

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u/Ankhmorpork-PostMan 10d ago

All corporate stores removed theirs. Franchisee’s are allowed to keep or build new maintained ones. They don’t make the same ones anymore, so each one is bespoke if a new franchisee wants to go with one, from what I understand.

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u/Shadowkinesis9 10d ago

Mine has two PlayPlace locations within 3 miles of each other lol

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u/Low_Turn_4568 10d ago

I haven't seen a play place in yeeeaaars

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u/TerroristBurger 10d ago

I didn't go in them much but the last time I did I remember some random child bit me and i tried to run to the slide to get away from the kid and there deadass was a shit at the top of the slide... I found another way out and proceeded to run into the glass panel fence things that were around it and knocked myself out. Then I remember waking up crying in the car with a massive egg on my head. It took me years before I went to maccas again, and never went in a play place EVER.

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u/OkPizza9268 10d ago

Man, I used to love the play place when I was little, although I did get bit by a random kid in there once. I think he said he was pretending to be a hamster?

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u/PIKLIKR 7d ago

You must be fun at parties👍

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u/Noshamina 11d ago

You were alone in that sentiment, also you are making that up to try and seem cool and it is lame, and No there aren’t better places for kids to play

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u/suoretaw 11d ago

You’re joking right?

Especially about

No there aren’t better places for kids to play

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u/naenref76 11d ago

They cleaned it? Are you sure

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u/matttheepitaph 10d ago

My dad worked on public health for tat food. My kids are never allowed in a ball pit.

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u/StangOverload 9d ago

God the vomit smell.

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u/Available_Cake_9925 11d ago

yup. human nature i guess

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u/Big-toast-sandwich 11d ago

“Human nature” my ass. It’s literally just different groups of people with different opinions.

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u/Available_Cake_9925 11d ago

ok

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u/Big-toast-sandwich 11d ago edited 10d ago

Was there a point at all to that comment?

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u/UltraLord667 10d ago

His opinion? 😅

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u/VichelleMassage 11d ago

Design-wise, the older version is more comforting and whimsical.

From a let's-not-indoctrinate-kids-to-eat-like-garbage standpoint, yeah, fine whatever, go sterile lol.

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u/Areif 11d ago

Isn’t this kind of just what the person you replied to said but in a slightly different way?

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u/VichelleMassage 11d ago

I guess I'm trying to say: we collectively seem to prefer the old design because of its comforting nature, but at least speaking for myself, I can also simultaneously recognize that we're "better off" with the cold design, given the insidious nature of pandering to kids.

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u/dapleasantpheasant 10d ago

Ironic, considering that children are far less healthier, happier, safer and saner now than they were back then.

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u/Honigkuchenlives 10d ago

That’s such a weird and ahistorical claim

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u/dapleasantpheasant 10d ago

I find it weird how you view such an obviously true and objective statement to be false. Here's a little cursory to jog your memory.

Healthier: Obesity has increased 10 fold since 1975.

https://www.worldobesity.org/about/about-obesity/prevalence-of-obesity#:~:text=Childhood%20Obesity&text=The%20NCD%2DRisC%20estimates%20show,olds%20have%20increased%2010%2Dfold.

Happier: Social media is just one reason for the prevalence of unhappiness in children today. A rise in broken families is another.

https://www.rileychildrens.org/connections/how-social-media-can-cause-anxiety-in-kids

Safer: This one's so obviously apparent I'm not going to bother sharing a link.

Saner: An exponential increase of disabilities including Autism.

https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1945-to-the-present-day/

https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/features/autism-rise

All this is the tip of the iceberg of how we and our kids are less healthier now than we were then, which disproves the OP's assertion that McDonald's making their environment less kid-friendly constitutes a more healthier system.

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u/mayosterd 10d ago

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u/dapleasantpheasant 10d ago

Welcome

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u/UltraLord667 10d ago

Beef beef beef. Pun unintended. 😂

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u/VichelleMassage 10d ago

Children are not less healthy, happy, safe, or sane because McD's got rid of its child-oriented design, tho lol

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u/davidjschloss 10d ago

Isn't this just sort of what the person before me said but only changed a little bit?

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u/UnluckyFish 10d ago

Yeah wasn’t that sort of what the previous commenter said just rephrased a little bit?

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u/CalSeeYum 10d ago

There is nothing whimsical or comforting about that fucking tree.

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u/Traditional_Phase813 9d ago

Yep no longer allowed to target kids. As junk food is proven as bad as drugs

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u/KiryuClan 8d ago

They also got rid of the play land equipment where kids could burn off some of those calories and gain a few social skills.

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u/Amnion_ 11d ago

It worked, I still love McDonald's. My middle-aged digestive system does not though.

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u/HarryStylesAMA 11d ago

I think there needs to be a happy medium that's fun to look at with a good amount of color, but not directly for children. I remember loving the taco bell interior as a little kid.

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u/Klokyklok 11d ago

Those kids grew up, they just targeting the same audience. I’m addicted to a maccie every once in a while cuz I miss the taste of nostalgia.

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u/shutyourgob 11d ago

Yeah I'd much rather them not explicitly market their addictive junk food to children

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u/magicalfruitybeans 10d ago

Maybe they could make it whimsical and make the food healthy instead of junk? Seems like making a junk food place look like a bank is the worst of both worlds.

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u/FireKitty666TTV 9d ago

I think people miss the flair more than the advertising to children. Old taco bell used to look cool too and it wasn't quite the same vibe as McDonalds. I think we just all hate the modern corporate look that's so bland and boring to be in and around. They look like office buildings in movies about millenials being bored of their high paying office jobs

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u/Kougeru-Sama 11d ago

advertising and spaces aren't targeting kids so much

yes they are. just through social media apps

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u/nein_va 11d ago

Also, the kids that got hooked on junk food in the 90s are in their 30s now and would feel uncomfortable in the same environment now.

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u/No_Help3669 11d ago

It can be good that it is gone, and still understandable to miss it

Like a local tobacco shop or a racist relative

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u/Cool_Ranch01 11d ago

The whole idea behind that was so stupid and even as a child growing up in the 90's I never understood the argument. I never had the money to buy McDonald's, I was a child. If you don't want your child addicted to fast food, don't give them fast food. McDonald's making their spaces fun for children..hell. I knew the difference between play and treats. I loved McDonald's for giving me both. Getting your kid to exercise their enegy put before they ate? Hell yes

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u/im_new_here_4209 11d ago

They didn't remove this for the criticism. But because it's cheaper for them.

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u/seantubridy 11d ago

There’s gotta be a happy medium

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u/IamHydrogenMike 11d ago

Now they are designed to get you to leave instead of staying to eat since cleaning up after you had labor costs.

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u/Any-Boat-1334 11d ago

Went from targeting kids to replacing jobs with touchpads

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u/Mediocre-Celery-5518 11d ago

I would 100% go to the 80s decor one as an adult. They should just do that: 80s themed playground restaurants: ADULTS ONLY. I'm hooked on junk food of my own volition.

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u/PantsLobbyist 11d ago

Exactly what I came here to say.

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u/gryphmaster 11d ago

Yes, it’s harder to romanticize your present circumstances than past or future ones

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u/Spiritual_Reserve137 10d ago

It's true . Their food is so bad for you, It's almost a sin to advertise it as a fun place to eat.

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u/lava172 10d ago

We absolutely missed the forest for the trees there, kids still eat there just as much as always

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u/DailyTomato 10d ago

The people who say they miss the warmth and whimsy are the kids who were the target

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u/DataBase_47 10d ago

Cause the same kids grew up and its now nostalgic to them.

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u/clementtoh2 10d ago

The people who complained about the top are old people now, the people who are complaining about the bottom are kids during the 80s...

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u/davidjschloss 10d ago

As a kid of the 70/80's that older McDonalds scared the shit out of me.

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u/Upset-Wolverine-4897 10d ago

Moral of the story is people are never satisfied.

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u/IndependentStress724 10d ago

Society will never be ok or happy

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u/Working_Evidence8899 10d ago

Funny story, I lived in a very hot part of California and my son loved to play. The parks were too hot and the equipment would get too hot to use so I’d take him to McDonald’s because they had indoor playground and I would take him to the playground. I’d get him a little happy meal with apples, milk and some chicken nuggets. He would never eat anything but the apples and milk. It was funny. Throughout childhood he wouldn’t eat fast food and he would cry if we had to eat fast food on road trips in a pinch.

He’s 18 now and he likes to get that crap. When I cook it’s always veggies and healthy protein and salads and be loves the healthier stuff. I work with a TON of special needs kiddos who won’t eat anything BUT McDonald’s.

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u/Emergency-Funny-163 10d ago

It looks like it was designed by an LSD casualty uncle that was as too into fantasy and scared your mom

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u/yorcharturoqro 9d ago

Those are the former kids that end up hooked up

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u/No_Debate_8297 9d ago

Those kids are grown now.

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u/pototaochips 9d ago

They never abandoned the kids. Those kids are adults now and the mcdonalds was remodeled for them.

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u/Jeroz_ 9d ago

That’s because the ones complaining now are the kids from then.

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u/Farty-Throwaway-5782 9d ago

They still have all the games with screens and the happy meals. Definitely targeting to kids.

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u/Professional-Leave24 9d ago

You can't make everyone happy. I personally thought it was fun.

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u/chartry0 9d ago

Now the kids have grown up 🤫

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u/Huge_Leader_6605 9d ago

The 1980s look diabolical to me. The newer version looks much better for me.

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u/darKStars42 9d ago

The kids they hooked grew up, and miss what hooked them. 

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u/gnome_harvester 9d ago

Well it worked I think

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u/Fit-Slice-5478 9d ago

Children are eating more junk regardless

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u/BonkGonkBigAndStronk 9d ago

This is why I think new McDonald's is better. It's uglier, but feels a little less exploitative.

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u/thecatandthependulum 9d ago

Fast food shouldn't exist for this reason. It's horrible for you and there's no way to do it well.

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u/Tuxflux 8d ago

The 80's version is nightmare fuel if you ask me.

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u/Zorandercho 8d ago

that tree's coked up stare is everything but cozy and whimsical, lol

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u/JacketStraight2582 8d ago

It's still the same. Kids today moved into tech gadgets tales, not the old fairytale.

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u/Aromatic-Discount381 8d ago

This is a great point

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u/floorjockey 8d ago

Speaking as a Millennial drawn in by the warmth and whimsy, the austere perfunctory McDonald’s appeals to me more now

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u/293678JASON 7d ago

because the kids grew up

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u/Hopeful_Confidence_5 10d ago

The modern version is what the never ending quest for shareholder value gets you. Just keep cutting and cutting to create artificial growth. Race to the bottom.