Today, McDonald's stock went up on Wallstreet. This rise is banking into the fast-food giant's want of channeling Starbucks and adding barristas and lattes and trend to the bloated and slow corporation it has become in recent years. The kink in McD's reigns over the fast-food industry has been North America's health consciousness and "healthy options" mentality - a mentality that the coveted Big Mac n' Fries don't fly with.
Personally, I don't think I would be able to go to McDonald's for the vanilla latte I get at Starbucks, for fear of flying chicken grease. Does a latte sit well with a Quarter-pounder i wonder? I think adding barristas will confuse McDonald's target market - a) middle -aged males and b) young children. a) middle aged males who go to McDonald's often want convenience and not so much a taste for the exotic. Speciality coffee takes time to prepare. Sipping coffee slowly and enjoying the flavour is one of the reason's Starbucks, Timothy's and most cafes have a cozy comforting appeal to them. They want you to sit down and enjoy...not enjoy behind the wheel, on the way to a daughter's ballet lessons etc. b) for children, I hardly doubt a latte that comes with a free toy is a healthy option (this isn't an actual option, but who knows these days). How young do caffeine addicts have to be? Not only are the children getting shoddy diets, but introductions to future stimulant addictions. I am 22 and already get withdrawal headaches when I don't have coffee or tea.
McDonald's should stop trying to stuff money-making gimmicks down our throats (remember the McDonald's pizza?) and be what we've always revered it to be: a symbol of North American gluttony, a break in ones diet, a quick fix, a greasy treat.
Let's not allow one more North American trend to colonize under the golden arches.
