McDonald's tanking, and it's their own fault

This is what kids want in a Happy Meal

McDonald's sales have been tanking of late.  There have now been 14 straight months of flat or declining sales in the U.S., five straight quarters of negative growth, and stocks are falling. This resulted in the announcement that the companies 51 year old CEO, Donald Thompson, will retire.

It makes sense they should blame him, because it is his fault.  He was the leader of the company when it faced challenges from progressives who wanted to limit choices and make food healthy, boring, and un-fun.

Not this crap.

Vegans complained that they were making french fries with beef tallow, and so they caved and came up with other ingredients.  But the beef tallow was what made McDonald's french fries so great. And now no one wants to eat them. They do not taste the same.

McDonald's also caved on the issue of healthy Happy Meals.  They took out the fries, or made the size smaller, and inserted healthy apples instead.  They took out the pop and give parents a choice of chocolate milk and juice.  But kids can get apples at home.  Apples are just not fun.  They don't even give kids the choice of caramel to dip them in anymore either.  

This decision sealed their doom.  Sales have tanked ever since. I mean, who does McDonald's spend millions of dollars every year catering to? Yes, it's children. Studies show more kids recognize Ronald McDonald than Jesus.  Sad to say, but it's true. 

But not even a popular clown can sell food that is boring.  

Look! People don't go to McDonald's Restaurants to eat healthy.  I had a friend of mine who said to me once, "When you are dieting and you go to McDonald's, what do you eat?"  My answer was, "A Big Mac." 

There's nothing wrong with a fatty burger and french fries once in a while.  Plus it's a free country, and we have the natural right to eat unhealthy if we want.  We even have a natural right to make stupid choices, if that's what you think such choices are.

There are also other reasons for the demise of McDonald's.  For instance, they have tried to become everything to everybody.  Probably the biggest example of this is their attempt to compete in the coffee market.  But sometimes I go to McDonald's and have to wait for the attendant to make someones special coffee drink.  So all this specialization has compromised the call for speedy service.

But the main culprit is the appeasement of progressive demands to perfect society. When people cave to progressive demands to perfect society, they fail just like progressive programs always do.  Republicans who cave to progressive demands will likewise fail, which should explain why Jeb Bush and Chris Christie are trailing in early republican polls to Scott Walker, who is a fighter and does not compromise on key issues.

I'm no business expert, but I do have a Bachelor's Degree in Advertising/ Marketing.  Yet it takes no such degree to figure out what's wrong with McDonald's, and what they need to do fix the problem: they need to sell food that people want, not food people should eat.