SuperSize It!
by Tim Adams
by Tim Adams
I was walking into McDonald's for lunch the other day, when a thought struck me. What happens if I don't SuperSize? Most everyday for the times I've been going to McDonald's I had just ordered a #4 - Crispy Chicken Combo with Sprite, and without a second thought had uttered the words, "Supersize It!"
For some reason I never gave much thought to this routine action, never pondered where that extra 39 cents could really go. Thirty-nine cents is a lot really, just ask Sally Struthers. Heck, you could be helping little Miguel in Peru, or adopting an acre of rainforest a day. But no, I was just too greedy with my little combo meal.
Nor did I wrestle in my head over the fact that I had not once been able to stuff the remaining fries in my mouth that I would not of had to deal with until I muttered the two words of gluttony. And I am not alone, nobody is able to finish the mountain of fries. Not even by combining all the fries in the party into one big peak of cholesterol are the fries able to disapppear. You might think that if you unload your fries with everyone, someone will be a little extra hungry and stuff the rest in their face. Little do you know everyone else is having the same thoughts you are!
Going on, remember when I told you I ordered a #4??? That is no longer so. Now they have the Deluxe meals. Nobody ever eats them though. The conspiring execs at McDonald's just want to see if I can count to a higher number to get your food. Like rats at a feeder bar. Just so some underpaid chef can have his poor legacy live on in the form of a menu item.
Not only do you know get deluxe meals, but the chicken, hamburger, etc. is prepared in different ways. They think if my chicken is broiled and not fried, I might live longer. I don't care how many more days I live to eat soy, because as soon as I take a bite of the cholesterol soaked fries, my days are numbered anyways. Where do they come up with this philosophy. Long term customers, who account for only 10% of their target consumer ratio, mainly because eating their food doesn't give you long term anything, find this out quickly.
And they know that the older customers won't be eating there much longer, so they start early with the kids. The little plastic Disney toys are there to lure the little ones into whining constantly every time the golden arches are in sight of the car. And the toys are always harmless. They want the kids to choke on a Chicken McNugget, not a race car. They want to make sure their business will be booming for a while.
So, what happens when you don't get a supersized meal?? This is complicated. Most of the time, the lady behind the counter smiles and asks to make sure it is an option. When you lightly brush her off, she gets a little angry. You may notice subtle differences when you don't go for it all. Sometimes you don't get enough change back, sometimes your food takes a little longer, but they always seek revenge in the end.
Don't fall into their trap. You now know while Ronald McDonald is ALWAYS smiling at you.
©1997 Tim Adams. All rights reserved. McDonald'sŽ and Disney Ž are registered trademarks. All trademarks are the rights of their respectice company. Doesn't this suck to put this on everything I write??
