Secret NERDBASE
Administrator
yo man I had to look this up and basically, cutting through all the corporate bullshit line of excuses, they "think" that this is what society wants. Instead, really, they convinced themselves to make this change and they convinced their franchise owners to do the same. The "think" that they're capturing the "fast-casual" dining, such as Panera and Chipotle, and they want to beat them at their own game. But all of them are doing it and they're "tricking" us, all of us, because the consumer is such an idiot, into coming back to McDonald's et al because the average consumer can't tell the difference between McDonald's and Panera. Because we're idiots. Also they cite better lighting and cleaner aesthetic. I disagree. It's definitely not cleaner, the new facade doesn't clean itself, and better lighting doesn't make it safer. They've got hard, sharp angles and corners that makes the dining room hard to navigate. They also cited the fast-food dining experience started by making restaurants uninviting to loiter in. Get your food and get out, the faster the turnover the more customers they can serve, the more profits they get. The one thing I miss about European dining is you're allowed to loiter and there's no waiting for a table, their restaurants are not crowded, and many of their restaurants are located in what we would consider residential areas. For all the stupid crap America tries to copy from Europe, the one thing we won't copy is the slow paced restaurant atmosphere. I can't tell you how many times I, as an American in Europe with my American friends or fellow soldiers go out to eat there and some of my comrades will blow a gasket because the restaurant isn't fast paced, hectic, and noisy. They end up going to a McDonald's instead. I cannot stand fast food restaurants before or after the change and I can't stand 99% of slow order restaurants in America. This boxy design stuff came from Europe. I was in a KFC in Dusseldorf in 2009. Boxy design. Two floors for dining. Fancy porcelain plates, metal silverware. Now, that building style is all over America, except its still single level and it's still plasticware, and no plate, you have to eat out of the wrapper or box, and the restaurants are filthy. I hate how everything we have is a pitiful copy of Europe. It's so obvious yet everyone is in denial yet at the same time people get giddy "just like Europe!" No, we're not just like Europe and we shouldn't be. But, there is a movement in America to copy Europe so we can cater to and make Europeans feel at home when they're here in America. I got numerous examples on that.
yo man bland, cold, sterile, soulless