r/interestingasfuck • u/Charming_History7423 • 11d ago

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

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u/kanst 11d ago

They went from kids/family vibe to “operating theatre please leave quickly” vibe

I think a lot of what Americans hate about how society has changed is encapsulated in pictures like this. Its the bland-ification of everything in the chase of profit maximization. Its basically the aesthetic of the venture capitalist.

Companies used to be run by people who knew the industry, now its run by people who know how best to extract profit. The CEO of McDonalds is the perfect microcosm of that overall trend.

First you have Charlie Bell, the founder and CEO until 2004. He created the company and grew it into a behemoth. He's succeeded by James Skinner who started out as a management trainee and worked his way up the company over 41 years. Then it starts shifting, next is Don Thompson who was an engineer by trade but at least spent 20 years working his way up McDonalds before becoming CEO, he now runs an investment fund and is a board member for Beyond meat.

But after him, its just suits. First you've got Steve Easterbrook who had been CEO of two other food companies first. He was eventually fired for inappropriate relationships with subordinates. He was replaced by Chris Kempczinski, an MBA from Harvard who has Procter & Gamble, Pepsi-Cola, and Kraft Foods on his resume before McDonalds.

And the transformation is complete, from a guy who wanted to make hamburgers to a capitalist vampire who only knows money. This is happening all across the economy in every industry.

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u/gahlo 11d ago

I call it corporate minimalism.