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If you read the Los Angeles Times story "McDonald's to launch in-store channel" with an uncritical eye, you might be tempted to believe that by outfitting restaurants with big TVs broadcasting corporate content, McD's really intends to make franchises "more than just a place to grab a quick bite," giving diners "another reason to spend more time visiting with families and friends."
Why in the world would McDonald's want to encourage diners to stick around? Ordering food, eating it, and getting the hell out to make room for new paying customers is a restaurateur's dream. Besides, as the Times notes, 70 percent of McDonald's business is drive-through.
The new McTV is being rolled out first in Southern California franchises, with 42- to 46-inch TVs and programming such as "local school sports, movie previews and heartwarming human interest stories" aired in segments repeating hourly. The Times notes there will be quiet areas where diners need not gaze at televisions. (Sound leakage being what it is, you have to wonder if the quiet section will be as noise-free as nonsmoking sections used to be free of smoke back when people still smoked in restaurants.)
The point is, no one on Earth wants to be assaulted with heartwarming human interest stories while choking down fries—I suspect McDonald's knows that. The company managed to swipe a good portion of Starbucks's business with cheaper coffee drinks and Wi-Fi. But having no doubt observed coffeehouse after coffeehouse clogged with laptop loafers, lingering for hours over small cups of medium roast, McDonald's is, I suspect, proactively ensuring via looped TV programming that customers won't hang out any longer than it takes to down an Extra Value Meal, and getting friendly press in the bargain.
Pretty smart, McDonald's. I loathe your hamburgers, but I have all kinds of grudging admiration for your Machiavellian instincts.
Image source: Flickr member The Consumerist under Creative Commons
For those that haven't been in a McDs lately it is worth it just for the coffee... Sure, skip the food if you want but it is much better than most of the chain coffee (i.e. Tim Hortons) in Canada.
I eat regularly at MD. And BK, Wendy's and White Castle. The majority of people find these establishments perfectly acceptable places to eat. I like to think that we CHers are just average people with more adventurous tastes. Calling MD gross is like judging average people as idiots because they eat at a "gross" place.
Pizza Pizza (a chain in Canada I loathe) has their own TV network piped in. I would say it speeds my departure when I eat there.
One of the more upscale restaurants in Denver's hip Lower Downtown (LoDo) area had a problem with hordes of teenagers loitering on the sidewalk in front of their entrance and annoying actual customers. They solved the problem by serenading the sidewalk crowd with Bach, Chopin and Scarlatti. The little pests fled into the night and never came back. Harsh but effective.
Does anyone who reads CH actually eat at MD? Gross....
If you "linger" in a McDonalds you ARE a heart-warming human interest story.
Another reason not to eat there. What is that now, 1349596?
I hope they don't raise prices to pay for the project. Fast food is getting pretty pricy these days ... value menu excluded.
Maybe with the captive audience they can sell ad time to other non competing companies so it can pay for itself without customers having prices upped.
what the world needs- TVs running McD's content