August 24, 2005

• People spend more time in the restaurant staring at the menu and considering the cost-effectiveness of getting the larger size. They also get to actually look at examples of the sizes they are considering buying.
• I would say a combination of the in-store advertising and the smell of food drives the upgrades.
• It is more difficult to say "No" to someone face-to-face than it is over a speaker.
• Because sat in a car, your brain is trying to work out where the food is going to go whilst you're driving. You're conscious of size and space considerations at the time of ordering. So when people say, do you want it bigger, the brain says "hell no, I just did a load of complex 3-d planning to sort out where I'm going to put it. I'm not doing that again. Give me the size I've planned for." I bet the 18% are regular drive-thru'ers with a set place in their car for each item.
• briank with the moneyshot. Not quite intimidation but frontal persuasiveness - and people are more peruaded by another face than by just a voice I guess. It's easier to say no or be strong or whatever when it's a faceless voice.
• Not the 18%, I meant the other lot. You know. Them. bugger
• You're wrong briank. *and by that I mean you're right*
• maybe people don't want to puke in their SUV's? ps i've been McDonalds free for almost 5 years now...
• The problem is, there is a solution ("The idea finally came to me, out there in the broiling sun, and when I gave it to my client over the phone, she gasped."). There is something that McDonalds could do on the outside of their stores to overcome the problem, but they have not done so ("Every time I drive by a McDonald’s, I look to see if they embraced my strategy or adopted any of my recommendations. Five years later, they haven’t done a thing.").
• ps i've been McDonalds free for almost 5 years now... I'm working on the same thing with Wal-Mart.
• Can't for the life of me find any record of the actual "study" on there- just this: So TCCC was particularly concerned by a new finding: that consumers order a smaller size of Coke when passing through the drive-through than when ordering indoors at the counter but I'm curious if they're referring to people buying the exact same meal but choosing a smaller Coke, or the general amount of huge cokes sold? If the latter, then the answer is obvious: people going inside tend to be eating a full meal, people tend to go to the drive-thru for a snack.
• Another theory: people who choose the drive-thru are a great deal more likely to be in a hurry and need to eat fast. people inside are a great deal more likely to have time to dawdle and drink a big-ass coke.
• Three words - small cupholders. Wait. Two words.
• they claimed in the article cupholders weren't a factor, although we get no info about how they got to that conclusion, or any of the conclusions...
• Alien mind probes.
• I've been puzzling over this brain teaser as well, and I've come to 3 basic conclusions, and 3 theories: 1) Nobody checks facts. This being the interweb, for all we know that whole blog post could be just a joke that's taken a life of its own. It could also be a secret plot by the dolphin to distract us while they plot to take over the world (by taking control of key oil shipping channels). Either way, much more thought has been put into solving the puzzle rather then proving that the puzzle is valid. It wouldn't be implausable to speculate that THIS online discussion is in fact the ethnographic study. For example, I recall all those eating studies where college students are given popcorn and told to watch a movie and answer surveys on the movie, all without knowing that the popcorn eating is the real data. 2) People don't read. Cupholder size and need for bathroom are specifically discounted as possible causes, and yet in the comments thread of both kottke.pro and the original blog post, the subject comes up again and again and again. 3) With a little spare time, people obsess over everything. The lively debate on the nature of the proposed change is entertaining. Much thought goes into the wording "Everytime I drive by", as opposed to "Everytime I drive in", or "Everytime I drive through." Personally, I don't see the signifigance of the word "by". I think it's casual usage, as evidenced by the fact that it is a blog post. Thus, I don't think the solution is necessarily large and obvious and external. And now my 3 theories: From a casual rereading, the mystery reason has a practical solution, and that is the trickiest part to figure out. The solution is possible, but it is also somehow inconvenient to McDonald's to implement. The obvious answer would be the face-to-face reason/solution. People say no need to upsize to a speaker, but less so to a person. Solution: just have a guy/gal standing in the sun taking orders and relaying them via bluetooth wireless magic thing-ama-bobby back to the kitchen. Easy to deploy, and yet not done because that would mean an extra employee, whereas the trend is for drive-though operations to be centralized in a remote location (and thus saving money through lower wages). Another good answer is the enviroment reason. In-store you are captivated by the bright colors and the big signage and are subconciously induced to order bigger. Solution: Drive Through the store, not just next to it. Build a small enclosed tunnel mocked up like the store. Not deployed because the payoff wouldn't outweigh the capital cost. My personal idea: People don't order bigger drinks because drive-through people are LAZY. "Do you want to supersize that?" "Nah, too much trouble." Solution: bundle the orders with the bigger drink from the get-go. Make the default size the SuperSize. People will be too lazy to unbundle the package. Not deployed because people will get all outraged over differential pricing. I've spent far too much time thinking about this. See conclusion #3.
• McDonalds stopped asking "Do you want that Super Sized?" due to public pressure. While they still offer the larger drinks and sodas, it is up to the consumer to request them. Every McDonalds I've been in recently (don't ask... I went about three years without eating McDonalds, but have had a craving for really shitty burgers recently) does not ask the SuperSize question, but it could be a NYC thing, or vary from franchise to franchise. I do remember hearing about the cessation of the Super Size question on the news awhile back though. Wendy's and Burger King still ask the heinous question though... But yeah... I'd have to agree with the comments regarding the "on the go" mind set. Inside the joint... more likely to want to eat a "meal." (I use that term loosely) drive thru, grab a bite to eat
• No refills in the drive-thru.
• *gasp*
• Yes, I just gasped at my own comment. It was THAT GOOD.
• Solution: just have a guy/gal standing in the sun taking orders and relaying them via bluetooth wireless magic thing-ama-bobby back to the kitchen. Easy to deploy, and yet not done But they have done that, at a number of McDonald's that I've seen in various places in the country. They set up a person in a booth or the first drive-thru window and tell you to pull up to the window to order. I suppose it's possible they didn't implement that in the particular area where the writer lives, but it has been done.
• 2) People don't read. The simple fact, LarimdaME, is that in Our Modern Society, cars with smaller cupholders are seen as somehow inferior to cars with larger cupholders. Barring an installation of newer, larger cupholders out of a different material, most people with small cupholders are ashamed to admit their car has them. Thus, they will lie to a surveyor and say that cupholder size really doesn't matter. Fortunately, I am comfortable enough in my cupholderhood to tell the truth - small cupholders are the reason. Sometimes improperly made ones as well. You see, they should have asked someone honest like me. Cupholders.
• 3) Nobody checks facts. Just because he says it's not the cupholders, doesn't mean it's not the cupholders. I mean: why do all desktop-users drink espresso and laptop-users latte? Huh?
• It's not the size of the cupholder....
• Strange, we were talking about this the other night. The group conclusion; If you walk into a McDonalds you're pretty much announcing to the world "Hi, I'm a loser". Getting it from the drive thru allows you to retain some self respect and a small shred of dignity while still getting a cheapo meal.
• /Lester Burnham Smile! You're at Mr. Smiley's.
• Reasons for this all: 1) People who drive cars are more affluent and much smarter than the rest of society. They are there only to see how the other half, nay...90%, live and a small sampling is all that is needed. 2) People who don't drive are obviously low-life losers who need to maximize every meal as they have no clue when their next one will be.
• Ironic that nonbinary's explanation divides people into two groups.
• 1) Those who understand 2) Those who foolishly question ooga_booga made their choice evident to all
• 00101010 01100010 01101100 01101001 01101110 01101011 00101010
• I prefer Burger King
• What about McDonald's delivery service? How does that play into the equation? I prefer Scotty's.
• House Votes to Ban Obesity Blame Lawsuits
• Score one for personal and parental responsibility.
• Fucking excellent. Those lawsuits make all of us (the fatties) look like absolute fuckwits. I may be repulsive, worthless, and a partial fuckwit, but I am not an absolute fuckwit, and I would never do something so stupid as to blame a corporation for my own failing. The two things, contrary to popular belief, are not inseparable. Shut these morons down before they do more unnecessary damage to fuel their own mental deficiencies. Thank God, the end.
• I'm not sure I agree. While I'm all for preventing frivolous lawsuits, and not blaming others for your own stupidity, this reminds me of the lawsuits against tobacco companies, which were based on the fact that the companies deliberately mislead people (or in this case, lead aggressive marketing campaigns directed at children). I'd prefer to let the courts decide whether or not a lawsuit has merit.
• "Hey if you were dumb enough to eat it then you deserve to die!" --Homer Simpson
• Solution: Drive Through the store... I'm all in favor of that, as long as I don't have to stop and order any of their shit. Easy for those with SUVs and Hummers. Hire a bulldozer if you own a Geo or Honda.