[pcgiant]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: I'm glad that these irresponsible court cases are getting next to nowhere. But I'm also glad that McDonalds is getting a bit of a scare. Here in NZ McDonalds are completely changing their strategy. A completely new line of meals is being introduced labelled 'tonights dinner'. These are essentially microwave meals (including things like lamb cutlets, string green beans, thai green curry, crumbed hoki fillet etc.) that are still fast food, but arn't the usual traditional fast-food crap like greasy burgers. So far they are still in their prototype phase, and are being sold in Christchurch NZ only (it was a local franchisee's idea), but they are meeting with alot of success and will probably be spread to other cities around NZ, and then to other countries as well (essentially like the 'McCafe' idea, which also started out in NZ). It's all official, yet unnofficial. The McDonalds USA CEO even came to Christchurch earlier on in the year to oversea the launch of the new menu (I was working in McCafe at the time). But the meals still arn't being advertised anywhere other than in Christchurch, so they're still in their trial phase. Now, I don't like multi-national corporations much, mainly due to the faceless smarm of their advertising and the sheer greed of their profiteering (minimum wage for all workers, maximum profits for franchisees). But I am glad to see that McDonalds is making genuine changes to their menu in response to a worldwide slump in fatty crap-burger consumption, at least in New Zealand anyway.

Here in Nelson the McD's are going with some sort of disgusting, overpriced salad in an effort to attract vegetarians. As far as I can tell, it is NOT working. The cost of a tiny salad is about $10. This is outrageous. There are three McDs in Nelson now, and only 50,000 people. They're taking over!