Originally, I was going to write a story based on a Reddit thread about how the size of a Big Mac has changed over the past fifty years. That’s a pretty interesting comparison, and I probably should have made it a standalone article.
Unfortunately, this Reddit thread has been deleted. However, what caught my eye as I scrolled through the reviews was not the discussion of the size of the burger, but why people ordered it in the first place.
This particular comment thread was fascinating.
At first it sounds like an insult. But if you actually dig deeper into the thread, the various commenters make some pretty fascinating points about all fast food.
The review doesn’t actually say the burgers are disgusting. He’s not trying to insult the fast food franchise. But he points out that McDonald’s has a taste unique to your standard home-grilled burger.
Same for other fast food.
“Everything about the subway tastes like the subway,” one person wrote.
Another person chimed in, saying, “Exactly correct. I say the same thing about Taco Bell. If I want tacos, I go somewhere and I’ll get tacos. I go to Taco Bell specifically for anything I want. ‘they’re doing there.”
And when you think about it, they’re not wrong.
Photo by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for Taco Bell
No one ever says, “I want a burger. Let’s go to McDonald’s.” They say “I want McDonald’s”. They especially crave the science stuff that McDonald’s does to their food (complex science stuff involving amino acids and additives).
Nobody says “I want a taco, so let’s go to Taco Bell”. They don’t say “I want a Yankee poboy, so let’s go to the Subway”.
They say “I want a Mexican pizza” or “I want an Italian BMT”. They crave specific menu items that you can’t find anywhere else.
It’s a fascinating look at the world of fast food. KFC has its eleven herbs and spices while Popeye has that Louisiana cooking stuff. Completely different flavor profiles, and you find that those specific profiles are what drive customer loyalty. This ends up being what makes people so ideological when it comes to their fast food choices.
So, how does fast food taste to you?
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