r/interestingasfuck • u/Charming_History7423 • 11d ago

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

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u/Kimberlylynn2003 11d ago

Did they change to stop marketing toward kids or just wanted modern?

320

u/dalgeek 11d ago

Probably wanted to charge more and also cycle customers through faster. Most people don't want to visit a place with a bunch of screaming kids running around, and if a family is taking up a table for an hour then that's fewer customers who can use that able. Bigger menu, higher prices, more customer traffic = way more money.

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u/Ok-Donut-8856 11d ago

I have never seen a mcdonalds with all the tables full in over 20 years. It's about the brand imagery and their customer base.

Mcdonalds actually has less customers a day than they did say 10 years ago. Which is part of why the price went up

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u/FinancialLemonade 11d ago edited 11d ago

have never seen a mcdonalds with all the tables full in over 20 years.

I rarely see one that isn't full lol

Even at night it is full with all the drunk people trying to sober up and the mcdrive with insane queues

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u/densetsu23 11d ago

Here in Canada, it feels like >90% of the people just use the drive thru.

If you go in to sit, there's tons of tables and the employees prioritize the drive thru times versus serving customers indoors. 10 cars will go through, easily, before you get your food.

But there's always exceptions, like places in small towns along major highways that serve as a stop for people on road trips, or locations downtown without a drive-thru that are crazy busy at lunch but dead otherwise.

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u/FinancialLemonade 11d ago

I am in Europe which explains the difference.

A large part of McD don't even have drive-through since they are in the middle of the city

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u/UnfitRadish 11d ago

Here in the US it sounds similar to Canada. I'd guess that 90% of their customers are drive through. I rarely see the lobby with more than 2 groups of people in it. It's usually either teenagers or retired seniors.

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u/Own-Source-1612 11d ago

Kind of depends. I moved around a lot and areas that tend to have more sidewalks and people jogging tend to have less people at their McDonalds than say the deep south.