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Why Does McDonald’s Want to Rebrand as a ‘Progressive Burger Company’?
National Review ^ | 6/17/2015 | George Will

Posted on 06/20/2015 1:43:20 PM PDT by RightGeek

In January, McDonald’s, leaning against the winds of fashion, said kale would never replace lettuce on its burgers. In May, however, it said it will test kale in a breakfast meal (breakfast is about 25 percent of McDonald’s sales). Kale might or might not cause construction workers to turn at 6 a.m. into McDonald’s drive-through lines, where approximately two-thirds of McDonald’s customers place their orders.

McDonald’s also says its milk will soon be without artificial growth hormones, and chicken (McDonald’s sells more of it than of beef) will be free of human antibiotics. All these might be good business decisions and as socially responsible as can be. They certainly pertain to McDonald’s new mantra about being a “modern, progressive burger company,” whatever that means.

The meaning will perhaps be explained by the progressive burger company’s new spokesman, Robert Gibbs, formerly Barack Obama’s spokesman and MSNBC contributor. McDonald’s British-born CEO Steve Easterbrook clarifies things, sort of, while speaking a strange business dialect: McDonald’s will be “more progressive around our social purpose in order to deepen our relationships with communities on the issues that matter to them.”

Suppose, however, you just want a burger and fries, not social purposes and relationships? You might prefer Five Guys or Shake Shack, where the burgers taste fine even without the condiment of community uplift.

[snip]

McDonald’s, deep in an identity crisis, is awakening tardily to Ira Gershwin’s truth: The Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they’re only made of clay. Everything is perishable, and history is a story of vanished supremacies. Easterbrook, channeling his inner Hillary Clinton, vows to “reset” McDonald’s. Perhaps his reset will go better than hers did with Vladimir Putin.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gibbs; leftwingnuts; mcdonalds
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To: dforest

Are you sure that wasn’t Walmart? Walmart uses that exact phrase in their ad. They focus on checkout aisle 15, which I took to mean they’re going to $15 an hour. I would assume shopping at Walmart will soon be too expensive for me.


61 posted on 06/20/2015 2:38:51 PM PDT by Rastus
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To: McGruff

Right...they don’t serve burgers, but something awful. They will go the way of Sears and make money selling off their real estate.


62 posted on 06/20/2015 2:40:08 PM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: RightGeek

They’ll be gone in less than 10.


63 posted on 06/20/2015 2:40:12 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (The White House is now known as "Casa Blanca".)
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To: RightGeek
McDonald’s will be “more progressive around our social purpose in order to deepen our relationships with communities on the issues that matter to them.

this is why large corporations fail.

they become successful and forget where they came from. then they hire people that have absolutely no background in the company or it's industry.

those that cratered the company will then move on to another corporation and repeat the process.

64 posted on 06/20/2015 2:41:18 PM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: RightGeek
I quit eating Fast Food Fries a year ago when I had a stroke.

Trans Fat WILL kill you. It will.

I occasionally have a Quarter Pounder as they are FAR less deadly.

I've also eaten their SW Chicken salad which was quite good, but maybe a little small.

Hey Mickie Dees! I'll gladly pay a little more for a little more!

65 posted on 06/20/2015 2:45:38 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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To: Oldexpat

2 burger messy thumbs up!!!!!!


66 posted on 06/20/2015 2:47:45 PM PDT by yadent
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To: RightGeek; bigbob

Ag! All I want is a good burger served quickly and efficiently. I actually never stop at McDonald’s unless I’m on the highway since I don’t eat fast food generally. But they had better burgers than the other fast food joints, their fries were excellent, and their fried apple pies were a treat.

I also used to like the fried “fish bites” they had at Lent, but they seem to have stopped serving these. I even liked their salads and wraps when they introduced them, proving that I have no objection to vegetables.

But they should just do well what they used to do well, hamburgers and fries. And bring back the beef fat fries! Focus on a couple of other main choices (one chicken, one fish or vegetarian) and quit the stupid advertising campaigns that depict the restaurants as some place where slackers could go when they had dug the quarters out from under the sofa cushions.


67 posted on 06/20/2015 2:52:45 PM PDT by livius
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To: RightGeek

Ask Starbucks how well “would you like some biased social commentary to go with your order?” works.


68 posted on 06/20/2015 2:53:49 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Hillary:polarizing/calculating/disingenuous/insincere/ambitious/inevitable/entitled/overconfident/se)
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To: TangibleDisgust
Double Double with Onions.

Dudn't get any better than that.

69 posted on 06/20/2015 2:54:50 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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To: RightGeek

Kale interacts badly with blood thinning medication. If they put kale on a burger, I’ll go order elsewhere.


70 posted on 06/20/2015 2:54:55 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Hillary:polarizing/calculating/disingenuous/insincere/ambitious/inevitable/entitled/overconfident/se)
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To: elcid1970

FWIW, elcid... I use crisco for my pies and if you ask around these parts... the pies are very good. Flour, a little salt, Crisco and ice water to make the crust...


71 posted on 06/20/2015 2:55:05 PM PDT by momtothree
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To: RightGeek
Why Does McDonald’s Want to Rebrand as a ‘Progressive Burger Company’?

They brought in Gibbs because they're about to blow smoke up the public's a$$ while they actually convert many of their jobs to the rapidly emerging "robot Cooking"

Here's a glimpse into ONE of the many variations set to emerge.

Robot Chef That Can Cook 2,000 Meals Set To Go On Sale In 2017

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/robot-chef-home-could-arrive-2017

If this is NOT what they're up to then Gibbs will have served yet another "also ran."

72 posted on 06/20/2015 2:55:41 PM PDT by VideoDoctor
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To: VideoDoctor
All fast food will be made by robots in 10 years.

Humans will only "load the magazines".

73 posted on 06/20/2015 3:01:45 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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To: napscoordinator

You’re a nice person, naps! You and I have shared many a primary together. So sorry you lost your dear mom.

I’ll have to google Steak N Shake and find out what the buzz is, lol! I love going down south and spotting the first Waffle House. I relax as soon as I spot the first one!


74 posted on 06/20/2015 3:01:46 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: "I should like to drive away not only the Turks (moslims) but all my foes.")
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To: discostu
FWIW, with just the few changes they've already made around here (employees who are pleasant and competent, better chicken, more lettuce with the sandwich, some less expensive beverage choices), there's an increase in business.

A lot of people will return to McDs if they offer a reasonably healthy, reasonably priced meal in a pleasant environment.

That's how McDs started out. Back then, a hamburger on a white bun, fries, and a shake were considered healthy.

75 posted on 06/20/2015 3:02:43 PM PDT by grania
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To: momtothree

Mom: I do half Crisco, half butter. The Crisco for flakiness, the butter for flavor. Of course, like most things, some of my pies are disasters and some of my pies rock.


76 posted on 06/20/2015 3:04:38 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: "I should like to drive away not only the Turks (moslims) but all my foes.")
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To: miss marmelstein

Have you ever correlated the atmosphere of the room when you are making them? Why I ask is I have found a humid day (or one with a lot of rain) can make the crust more difficult to work. I wonder if Fall pies are the best... perfect pie making weather. :)


77 posted on 06/20/2015 3:06:31 PM PDT by momtothree
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To: bigbob

Yeah, old Ray was an idiot. It’s not like his simple philosophy created the largest franchise in the world or anything.


78 posted on 06/20/2015 3:08:26 PM PDT by antidisestablishment (The last days of America will not resemble Rome, but Carthage.)
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To: RightGeek

Kale is for winners.

Michael Dukakis: “instead of corn or soybeans, you should grow kale or a nice belgian endive”.


79 posted on 06/20/2015 3:08:29 PM PDT by Rinnwald
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To: ETL
Doubtful. Ronald is a badass biker!

80 posted on 06/20/2015 3:09:53 PM PDT by BraveMan (Trigger)
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