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McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

wsj.com

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Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#111

Post by astrange »

an_aparallel wrote: post #40
smaudet wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was legitimately surprised last time I went to a UK McDonalds, it was like they actually served food. That is not the experience in other countries though, even in the US it is a pretty consistently shitty experience...

Problem is, its price goes up, while its quality stays "OK"... At that point you might as well eat somewhere that serves better food for a few more $

The price hasn't gone up much in the US, but they did shift all the coupons to the app, which means you're missing out on huge deals if you don't use it. It's like 50% off once a day iirc.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#112

Post by astrange »

tstrimple wrote: post #95
anon373839 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not sure what you’re implying here, but McDonald’s is still contending for the bottom for price on fast food. No, that's exactly my point. McDonalds isn't all that cheap anymore. There are high-quality fast-casual restaurants and local shops that deliver much better quality food at roughly the same price point. E.g.: it looks like $12 is the current price for a Big Mac meal in my area. But I can think of several pl…

I think this is true of the normal menu items, but I still see the value meal as a decent deal. McChicken, small fries, 4 piece nugget and small drink for $5. Similar to Taco Bell where the normal meals aren't that cost effective anymore, but if you pick and choose the value items you can get a ton of food for little money. Taco Bell is a staple post gym meal for my son and his friends who are trying to bulk as cheap…

Every time I eat Taco Bell I feel like it's so obviously made of normal ingredients that you could just make it at home.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#113

Post by astrange »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #84
anon373839 wrote: post #21

I don't understand how McDonalds is still relevant outside of food deserts. The food quality is trash, and the prices are so high that you can and should just go elsewhere and buy real food.

They are open for breakfast at 4am when you need to get up early and no where else is open. They are close to the job site and everyone knows the menu already to send one person out to pickup lunch. Many reasons why one might go for mcdonalds even in a food mecca.

This is also the reason for Cheesecake Factory (which is actually good, unlike the other restaurants in its class.) It has everything, so if you take a group of people there won't be an argument.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#114

Post by astrange »

deadbabe wrote: post #19
crooked-v wrote: post #11

> "Technology solutions will alleviate the stress." No, they'll just let franchisees fire staff and keep the remainder at the same stress level.

Isn't that an improvement? Normally firing staff would raise stress levels of the survivors, but in this case, the surviving staff remains at the same stress despite the decrease in headcount. Inevitably, it could just be two people at a location.

It won't happen. Automation /increases/ employment because it makes the employees more productive, which attracts more business.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#115

Post by astrange »

Larrikin wrote: post #59
Frederation wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Five Guys suck.Their frys suck. They just suck.

The fries could be better, Cajun fries are much better than their plain fries But in my experience the only people that dislike Five Guys are just complaining about price or are weirdly into In N Out or some other regional chain rivalry. Neither is actually complaining about the taste of the burger.

Five Guys tastes like you're drinking peanut oil and costs like 3 times other places. I feel like I'm going to die if I eat one of the fries though.

I mean, McDs mostly tastes like salt, but I find if you add lots of vegetables via the app options it feels okay.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#116

Post by astrange »

Symbiote wrote: post #62
Larrikin wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The prices in the app are lower than if you actually order in store. Specials and coupons are only offered through the apps now. Actual store prices can be seen on the delivery apps or by just going to a store. You can't actually order online through McDonald's directly because they are trying to force the app on you. But who actually wants the hassle of having an app for McD, BK, Subway, and other garbage where you'…

I think a big difference for low-income people is the cheaper end of the menu. McDonald's (UK) has a hamburger for £1.19, or even a bacon double cheeseburger for £2.89. A happy meal is £3.89. You could reasonably feed the whole family for £20. Five Guys (UK) charge £9.95 for their cheapest burger, and £12.25 for the bacon one. It's £4.35 for the cheapest fries and £4.45 for a soda. £20 covers one person's meal.

Fast food isn't really for low-income people. They /work/ there rather than eating there. It's just associated with them because the experience feels poor.

It's more for people who need or want the convenience.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#117

Post by astrange »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #32

And AI is telling people not to eat at McDonals. As more people outsource their health research to AI, long term, not sure this will go well for McDonald's.

Cheeseburgers aren't particularly unhealthy. The fries and soda are bad but you can skip those.

Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover

#120

Post by Larrikin »

UncleEntity wrote: post #79
Larrikin wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The prices in the app are lower than if you actually order in store. Specials and coupons are only offered through the apps now. Actual store prices can be seen on the delivery apps or by just going to a store. You can't actually order online through McDonald's directly because they are trying to force the app on you. But who actually wants the hassle of having an app for McD, BK, Subway, and other garbage where you'…

Umm, me? The "slight discount" usually gets me get a pretty full meal for less than $10 and, on occasion, significantly less than that. Really depends on what specials they're promoting and how frisky I'm feeling. And just turn off notifications to not get unwanted advertising. Don't really care if they know my food preference data since they would have it anyway if I pay with anything other than cash.

Even with notifications turned off, everytime you open your phone and scroll past the M section on your phone they get free advertising. It may not seem like a big deal, but once you start seeing the gross incentives and manipulation so many of these companies do you begin to notice.

Plus what the other poster said with the massive data dump you're actually giving them.

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