May 29, 2024
McDonald's Didn't Have to be the Poster Child for Inflation
Today's open letter on McDonald's pricing and the attached infographic are well done but long overdue. I was originally going to claim the $18 meal deal had been in the public eye for a few months, but then I did a search. It first showed up on social media in July of last year!
Since these myths were allowed to fester it seems every media report on inflation has mentioned prices at McDonald's. This could have been squelched with a more modest version of today's release - maybe last fall.
Remember when McDonald's Corp. had something of a "quick response" team to deal with such misreporting? If there is still such a team, they must have been off attending a ESG or DEI workshop.
Your "Royalties" at work.
Analyst: McDonald's Should Keep With the Discounting
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| MCD YTD 2024 - bigcharts.com |
Fast food slump could be a buying opportunity - Yahoo Financial
By "buying opportunity," the writer means, for shareholders
May 26, 2024
May 23, 2024
May 22, 2024
CosMc's and the Millennial Generation
This concept reminds me of something, oh yeah, the SPOD / Walmart platform
Customization = Slow Service = Low Volume
May 21, 2024
So This is How the Economy Works!
Jared Bernstein is President Biden's chief economic advisor. He often appears on TV in front of the White House to explain global economics.
Economics for people who don't understand economics - 3 min video
May 17, 2024
May 15, 2024
Maze on $5.00 meal
Jonathan Maze updates progress of negotiations
"McDonald’s then returned with a different proposal, one that featured incentives from Coca-Cola, the company’s beverage provider. That assuaged many operators’ concerns about profitability. The proposal also has carve-outs for higher-priced markets, enabling them to run the promotion at a higher price.
The National Owners Association, an independent group of McDonald’s operators, praised Coca-Cola for providing the financial assistance."............
"But the group also said it felt McDonald’s should step up financially, too."
May 14, 2024
May 10, 2024
Remembering the Arch Deluxe - Again
Not to beat a dead topic, but there's a lot to learn from the Arch Deluxe, both in terms of product development and marketing. Most internet videos, such as the following, are snarky and juvenile. This one is professionally produced and, if memory serves, quite accurate. And it's only six minutes long.
May 9, 2024
May 7, 2024
A History of the McFuture
In a company nearing its 70th year, there will eventually come a point where the board of directors and management have only second-hand and third-hand knowledge of the company's history. That’s where McDonald’s is today.
It’s easy to make use of icons such as animated McNuggets and Shamrock Shakes, but a new management team will ignore historical events that do not fit into their contemporary agenda.
There are major things happening today, echos from the late 1990s, that management is either ignorant of or chooses to ignore:
New store growth: We’ve discussed this many times. In the 1990s, management sought to convince investors that McDonald’s was still a growth company. New store growth was “accelerated”. Cannibalization became the word of the decade. McDonald’s Owner/Operators shared in the blame because, being starved for new stores, they eagerly opened any new location corporate came up with.
Major new sandwich introduction: Convinced that “consumer tastes have changed,” management bet the farm on the Arch Deluxe. Not only was the product uninteresting, but a complete change in McDonald’s advertising style was a flop with the American consumer.
Chairman and CEO combo: McDonald’s veterans know that some of the roughest years in McDonald’s history were when the board chair and the CEO were the same person. Denying common sense and history, it’s happening all over again.
"Overall, independent chairs are becoming more common, a trend supported by a significant number of investors over the last 10 years."
From the:
May 6, 2024
Named Executive Officers Compensation - MCD Corp
May 4, 2024
May 1, 2024
Welcome to the Fourth Branch of Government
Just when you thought the Congressional, Judicial, and Executive branches of government were enough, along comes the fourth, the Bureaucracy (or The Swamp).
The unelected bureaucracy is increasingly making rules that function as laws, and it is growing with little supervision from Congress. This rule-making is reaching a fever pitch since the bureaucrats know that a Trump administration will strip them of much of their power.
Peter Romeo covers restaurant surcharges:
McDonald's Shifts Focus to Value
“We’re in a strong position,” CEO says. “Franchisee cash flow is at the second highest levels ever.”
The fast-food giant appears to be losing the battle for customers - Maze