Fast Food in Moderation, but Get Some New Ideas!

I paid a visit to my local McDonald's this afternoon. I was doing some manual work and thought I could afford a sugar and salt boost having burned plenty of calories ensuring the grass at my parents house was short and neat.

It must be noted that my visits to such outlets are fairly irregular, despite living only a stones throw from a drive through McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Kentucky "F&%kin" Fried Chicken.

Anyway I always get a little excited when going to McDonald's, Burger King or whatever you're having yourself, The 4 Lights? It must be something to do with the lack of such American fast food "joints" in Sligo when I was a kid. Anyway, my heart always sinks once I make it up to the counter to make my order.

I'm sure you get bored, like I do ordering the same old Quarter Pounders, McChicken Sandwiches or Big King Burgers. They've been around for decades and it looks like they're not going away. So every now and again, the multi-national burger shops "spice up" their menu's (for want of a better phrase).

Today in MickyD's I saw they're soliciting a new range of burgers, what sort of burgers? Wait for it.... AMERICAN STYLE! Mind blowingly creative, someone's got paid hundreds of thousands of greenbacks to market American Style burgers in the world's largest American burger chain. I was lucky enough to order myself a "New York Special".... I could practically hear the honking of yellow cabs outside and the tremble of the subway under my feet when ordering it.

But my gripe with all this is, regardless of what McDonald's name their new burger, it's the exact same as those that preceded it. All they do is change the shape of the "beef" burger and the bun. Apart from these cosmetic changes, it's the same as every other beef sandwich they've been horsing out for the last 70 odd years.

Why can't they stick in a new sauce, or really take a risk and change the species of animal that sits between the two bits of bread? I'm being harsh here, the New York Special had herbs on the top of the bun. Apart from that, it's the same as every other burger McDonald's flog.

How hard can it be for a company as powerful and wealthy as McDonald's to produce food that for once may positively surprise the customer? The Big Mac and McChicken Sandwiches will always be on the menu for those who fear the unknown. But why build up the hopes of someone as "adventures" as me, only for my poor food lovin' heart to be broken when I find out the New York Special is just a Big Mac with herbs on top.

Lesson learned, they'll never change. Market research tells the suits at the home of the Golden Arches that those who cross the threshold of the arches have no needs to have their taste horizons expanded, but to disguise the tried and trusted in new packaging.