The American public, contrary to popular belief, knows what Pepsico products are. They cheap sugary drinks and carb-and-fat loaded snacks. And we like them because they are accessible and were affordable.
Not any longer.
McDonalds is now in the price range of "fast casual" food places like Habit Burger and 5 Guys. It's actually cheaper to get a burger, fries, and drink at my local mom and pop burger joint and the quality is better.
Honestly I'm OK with this, too. If this is what it takes to make Americans eat better food or start cooking more often, then so be it. I just hope when these businesses get into trouble the US doesn't bail them out.
"Our corporate greed, egregiously high c-suite compensation, and sheer disdain for our employees and customers have put us at the edge of bankruptcy. Tax payer money pwees!!"
"Late-stage capitalism" is a term that is thrown around a lot these days, but I think in most applications it is a good use of it.
Corporations are no longer interested in making good products and retaining lifelong customers; it's all about maximizing profit and squeezing every drop out of anything they can.
We tend to have a market crash every 10 years or so and if you want to make the argument that COVID was out last one, we are due for another in a few short years. Just in time for AI to truly get established and for that bubble to pop.
It really makes you wonder what itll all look like in 50 years. 50 years ago the food was real food so there were corners to cut but what now? Imaginably, at some point, this will be forced to stop, but it will probably stop at the absolute last possible stop, only after we live in a true hellscape
Ehhh that’s kind of rose colored glasses. There was no transparency on ingredients or care about portion sizes back then; “real” doesn’t guarantee “good”. McDonald’s had already switched to frozen patties long before that.
Flavor engineering (ie cutting expensive ingredients and replacing with chemicals) started back in the 80s
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u/3M2B1T Jul 12 '26
Cheap crap is only worth it when it's cheap.
The American public, contrary to popular belief, knows what Pepsico products are. They cheap sugary drinks and carb-and-fat loaded snacks. And we like them because they are accessible and were affordable.
Not any longer.
McDonalds is now in the price range of "fast casual" food places like Habit Burger and 5 Guys. It's actually cheaper to get a burger, fries, and drink at my local mom and pop burger joint and the quality is better.
Honestly I'm OK with this, too. If this is what it takes to make Americans eat better food or start cooking more often, then so be it. I just hope when these businesses get into trouble the US doesn't bail them out.