McDonald’s stock hits 7-year high
I have to admit, I visit my local drive-thru of the iconic golden arches from time to time. The magnet is just too winsome. Honestly, who can deny the convenience? Who can resist the speed? Who can just say no to the low cost of a quickie dollar-menu double cheeseburger? Gosh and the fat. Can’t you just taste it? Who has the power to reject the siren’s song of that scrumptious artery-clogging American delicacy? Yum, yum, yummy.
The AP reports: “The U.S. sales increase was driven by more customers coming in for breakfast and late-night meals.” Maybe they’re like bookends for some Americans: breakfast and late night meals; but here I think we’re really talking about two different consumer crowds. One hurried, the other intoxicated. One fast food company is even marketing the “fourth meal” (code: the late night “I must be drunk” meal). But breakfast at Micky-dees makes perfect sense. I’m late. I’m in a hurry. It beats cooking. It beats shopping. It beats fruit. Hook me up with a “meal” – One sausage egg and cheese biscuit, please, complete with the deep-fried hash brown and, because I’m so health-conscious, a small orange juice. (My darkest secret is that in my most unguarded moments, I will opt for the small Coke over the OJ or coffee because I think stocks rising in McDonalds must have something to do with the syrup-rich Cokes.)
The AP continues: “Strong results in France and Germany helped same-store sales rise 8.4 percent over a year earlier.” This is great. People who generally hate America love our sorry-but-irresistible food. I think deep down inside, they really do love us after all. Maybe they’re just jealous. Or maybe it just has to do with who the president is at the time.
I’m not surprised at the news of McDonald’s on the rise. It’s short-term ease, it’s cheap, it’s fat, and after all, the kids love it (PLEASE! It’s for the children…). But is it wise? In my deeper moments, I must confess, I think Jared may be right. We may do well to consider the facts behind our choices, even if some Subway choices aren’t any better. Eating better is hard work. It’s inconvenient, it’s more expensive, it’s a hassle, and the kids don’t always like it. But if stock went up in healthier foods I’d find that better news and a happier trend in a culture where heart disease is public enemy number one.
McDonald’s does offer more healthy choices now than ever before. Like you already said about Subway, some choices may not be great, but the healthier choices are there to be bought. I find it refreshing that this change in stock price is coming at a time that the franchise *is* offering the healthy choices on their menu.
Also, at least in the towns I frequent, the quality of the restaurants has improved. It no longer (in many places) seems like such a dive.
The AP may say that the sales boost is from breakfast and late night meals, but it says nothing about the trends of the normal meals. If people weren’t buying the healthy food, it would disappear from the menu. Instead, the choices have grown in number each year. I hope McDonald’s can continue to increase its revenues as long as it continues the trend of more and more healthy choices on its menu.
Excellent points made - thanks for writing this!
Amen and right on….not to be holier than thou (because I have a pang for MickeyDees every once in a while), but why are there so many fat kids in America. We ate McDonald’s when we were kids, but it was a delicacy (so to speak), not a regular stop every day.
Plus we worked it off running around the neighborhood not sitting in front of a video game.
So there’s the snide from grandpa.
Just watch the movie “Super Size Me” and you will never eat at MickeyDees again. When you realize the crap that they make that foof out of you’ll avoid it like the plague.
How about, if in each Happy Meal there is a manual for parents on how to get their kids off the couch and out from behind their video games!
I grew up as a kid who played a lot of video games. I also did a ton of activities outside. There is a balance that can be had with both, and I thank my parents for making sure I achieved that balance.
Video games and McDonald’s aren’t the problems, they both have their place. Bad parenting (for kids) and lack of self control (for adults) are the real problems. Blaming McDonald’s or video games for existing is like saying “gee, I ate 1000 fillets of baked fish (something that can be very healthy in moderation) in two days and now I’ve gained weight.”