Why does McDonald's give out those pipes with red and yellow awning stripes in the place of straws?
It made sense in the old days to have everyone drain an entire cup of soda in one slurp - back when they charged for refills- but what is the thinking behind this strategy now? Because free soda bars are available everywhere; you would think that swigging down quarts of soda should only cause more trips to the appetite-suppressing restrooms. How could this sell more burgers? Instead of "_ billion sold", a more appropriate motto might be "_billion flushes".
I don't think it's about selling burgers anymore, people. I think it is a conspiracy against the American people- and the Chinese people, European people, etc. - to simply increase profits at the expense of our internal tanks and well-being. If we quickly fill our stomachs with sweet soda and that soda begins to quickly course through to our bladders, we eat less food.
It works like this: we believe we are full and satiated and that next time we should order less food. At the same time, we are quickly addicted to the head rush created by cold, sugary, caffeinated soda and we return to that "free" soda bar as soon as we come out of the restroom. By creating soda addicts who eat less solid food, McDonald's has increased their profits. How? Basic marketing principles, people! The profit margin for self-serve soda is much higher than for food. If you drink more soda and eat less food, they make more MONEY! In other words, you buy a two dollar cup that costs them 10 cents and fill it with ice and soda yourself for maybe another 10 cents. No employee has been paid to prepare or fill your cup, no cooking oil has been reused to fry that tasty drink, no extra air conditioning needed to cool the fry cooks and frost the dining area - just a bucket and a pipe and a do-it-yourself soda bar. It's genius! Whoever thought of those pipe-straws and soda bars should be rich by now!
And, of course, we go to McDonald's more when we think, "Wow! I only ate the small burger and a soda, and I still gained weight this week! That's depressing, I guess I have a slow metabolism and there is nothing I can do but consume more caffeine. I'll just wheel by McDonald's. They have the biggest cups and straws."
Disclaimer: All the stuff I have written in my posts is intended to be humorous and is my own opinion or "take" on things. My info my sound like fact but could be totally wrong and made up. Supportive comments and LOLs are welcome. Disagreement or crabby comments are usually posted also. So far I am not making any money with this blogging.
