Walter Watts
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virus: Hold the fries
« on: 2004-03-03 16:11:43 » |
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Was this part of the Patriot Act that I missed reading about?
Remember, when calories are outlawed, only outlaws will have calories.
Walter
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The Associated Press
Updated: 10:56 a.m. ET March 03, 2004
CHICAGO -
Hold the fries — at least the super-sized version.
In a sign of the times, McDonald’s is getting rid of the extra-large
portions that had become one of its signatures. The burger giant said it
has begun phasing out Supersize fries and drinks in its more than 13,000
U.S. restaurants and will stop selling them altogether by year’s end,
except in promotions.
The company cited the need to trim a menu that has expanded in recent
years and said eliminating super-sizing is only part of that effort.
“The driving force here was menu simplification,” spokesman Walt Riker
said after McDonald’s disclosed the change in strategy in a brief
statement late Tuesday. “The fact of the matter is not very many
Supersize fries are sold.”
But the downsizing of super-sizing comes with fast-food companies,
especially industry behemoth McDonald’s, under intense pressure to cater
to Americans’ growing preference for healthier food options.
The move is part of McDonald’s “Eat Smart, Be Active” initiative, which
it launched last year under first-year CEO Jim Cantalupo and U.S.
operations chief Mike Roberts in an attempt to revive then-stagnant U.S.
sales.
McDonald’s added entree salads with great success last year and has been
moving to provide more fruit, vegetable and yogurt options with its
Happy Meals. But the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company remains a lightning
rod for public criticism — and legal action — when it comes to obesity
and other health worries.
Two lawsuits claiming McDonald’s hid the health risks of eating Big Macs
and Chicken McNuggets were thrown out in federal court in New York last
year. An award-winning documentary called “Super Size Me” then reaped
more unwanted publicity for McDonald’s. The documentary, which
chronicles the deterioration of filmmaker Morgan Spurlock’s health
during a monthlong experiment eating nothing but McDonald’s food, won a
directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival and is set for wide
release this spring.
Riker said the phasing out of super-sizing has “nothing to do with that
(film) whatsoever.”
The company has called the documentary “a super-sized distortion of the
quality, choice and variety available at McDonald’s.” It says the film
is not about McDonald’s but about Spurlock’s decision to act
irresponsibly by eating 5,000 calories a day — “a gimmick to make a
film.”
Richard Adams, a former McDonald’s franchising executive and now an
independent consultant for franchisees, said health concerns no doubt
factored into the decision. But he said the company has been promising
to clear up some of the “clutter” on its menu since adding a slew of new
products in the late 1990s when domestic sales were flat.
“Now that sales have improved, it’s easier to pull things off the menu,”
said Adams, who operates Franchise Equity Group. “When sales are
declining, the corporation and the franchisees are terrified at the
prospect of selling a few less 42-ounce drinks. When sales are on the
upswing, it’s easier to admit that you can’t be everything to
everybody.”
McDonald’s detailed the menu changes — quietly under way since January —
in a seven-page memo to franchisees, obtained by The Associated Press.
The elimination of the 7-ounce “Supersize” carton of fries is part of a
switch from five size options down to three; the biggest will now be the
6-ounce “large” fries.
“The reason for reducing the number of fry sizes is to simplify
operations and enhance our ability to deliver better service to our
guests,” the memo said, adding that the 7-ounce carton “will be
eliminated as part of our healthy lifestyle initiative.”
The other changes include making bagels an optional breakfast product,
dropping 2 percent milk in favor of exclusively 1 percent and otherwise
tweaking the size and choice of items in order to come up with a “core”
menu that reflects customers’ preferences.
Some customers had a mixed reaction to the news.
Jamie Cox, 19, dining at a McDonald’s in downtown Chicago with his
girlfriend Tuesday night, said he normally super-sizes his meal but
usually throws out leftover fries. “It’s a waste,” he acknowledged.
“Once they get cold, they’re nasty. But we would die without the
(Supersize) drink.”
Another Chicago patron who likes Supersize, 21-year-old Ward Stare, said
he could do without the extra-large portions.
“When you think about it, there’s not much of a difference between the
large and Supersize,” he said. “You just pay more. ... I don’t think I
would miss it that much as long as you still get a good proportion of
food.”
--
Walter Watts
Tulsa Network Solutions, Inc.
"Reminding you to help control the human population. Have your sexual
partner spayed or neutered."
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