Is it unrealistic to expect a company (like McDonald's) to care about its consumers?

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Permalink Reply by Duke Snyder on October 10, 2009 at 12:28pm

At long last I again find absolute serenity having my paws grasping a totally delicious if not nutricious cup of home brew (my treat to myself this week, a private label coffee with no cream or sugar ty,) while also soaking in a laidback Saturday morning with readings from Smaller Indiana suddenly being topped off with a medium coating of words of wisdom regarding the infamous Mickey D.
I offer one kudo to them...at least after 40 years the coffee has become drinkable!
Like Kristen I admit to being both an afficianado of Monopoly and a FORMER ADDICT to the McDonald's version. Having relinquished alcohol consumption at age 40 I found my torment greater regarding the Monopoly game pieces and no known 12-step program available for support. Bummer!
Self-discipline was reinstated relying upon an even stronger calling...shop LOCAL FIRST! Granted that severely reduces your choices in fast foods and likewise the curbing of appetite often corresponds to a curbing of belt-size growth, with the added bonus of a mite thicker billfold. What a country! God allotted me the privilege of making choices for myself!
Even beyond thinking of my own good I know purchasing a sandwich and drink at Schapiro's means the profits are reinvested right here in my home community and not forwarded into Chicago. Ditto the WalMart's, Home Depot etc.; all the big boxes who aren't the ones to be thanked for endless support of youth athletc teams, school marching bands, field trips, school and church fundraisers and on and on.
So, now you know my politics! I vote a straight SHOP INDY FIRST ticket.
Sneaky way to mention my younger brother and sister-in-law have just completed 50 years with the family-style restaurant Hollyhock Hill. Sophomores at Broad Ripple when they started there...now they own it! Further reason for supporting ma-and-pa eateries lol.
As a young (28) Nebraska state senator I was more than once termed either "acting like the oldest one in here" or "more conservative than Barry Goldwater!" They also recognized I champion free enterprise so my penchant for supporting locally owned businesses began as an Illinois farm boy and was only strengthened serving as Chamber Executive for Nebraska City, NE which is the home of Arbor Day and the Tree City and Plant-A-Tree programs. So if you see Eddie Albert or a John Denver PSA tell them I say Hi! again. Yes I was there when a McDonald's R&D team hit my office for information and I treated them as cordially as I would anyone and 3 years hence they hit town with a franchise.
My point goes beyond McDonald's, calories, fats and sometimes glib customer service. There is room for all sizes of business in what we term the free enterprise system. My sincere belief is that social media marketing will increasingly be upon each of them to "clean up their act" and respond to customer comments to remain successful...including Mickey D's.
My passion for giving locally operated businesses an opportunity to gain my purchase is in large part centered upon customer service. It is much easier to return a jacket or a lamp locally than it is to ship it back to Tagucigalpa. And my clerk knows more about me than simply possessing a credit card.
Yes, I may "window shop" online but if I'm inclined to buy then I am at least going to give a local retailer a shot at my business and it takes a great disparity in price to discard the covenience of taking possession today versus the uncertainty and hassle of shipping costs etc.
As others stated, it is your choice as to what and where you buy. I simply made a personal choice to not let the big bully's "MONOPOLIZE" my playground.
A website is being readied by me to SHOP LOCAL FIRST. Should any of you hold agreeable thinking it would be heartwarming if you would drop me a line at SI or to dsnyder1@hotmail.com with your comments.
Continuing to enjoy my home brew but it is beyond the morning hours and I have some LOCAL shopping to accomplish before I return to more SI while enjoying college football on TV.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin McCracken on October 24, 2009 at 7:36pm

McDonald's ABSOLUTELY cares about its customers: the shareholders.

It gives us (the public) what we are willing to pay for. McDonald's is not the problem, it is the symptom. The problem is the extraordinary belief that eating their "food" is easy, convenient, fast, and sustainable.

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Permalink Reply by Douglas Karr on October 26, 2009 at 5:45pm

I'd highly recommend the documentary "King Corn" where you start to get a picture of how much the average happy meal is subsidized by federal tax money and the American tax payer. Soda = fructose = corn. Beef = corn fed. Fries = corn oil. If we subsidized good food, provided farmers with incentives to sell local, removed trade incentives to import out food, we'd be a lot healthier in our eating habits.

In other words... get the government out of the food business. They're destroying it like everything else they touch!

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