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Comment by rednerrus | Hacker News Reader

"Because I want to have a drive through vegetarian hamburger and I want it to have it anywhere in the country...

I heard the following business story about McDonalds salads and I don't know if it's true but it sounds plausible:

Apparently, McDonalds salads are not directly all that profitable for them. So why do they offer them as an menu option?!? Because there is often one member in the car that would veto going to McDonald's if they didn't have a salad as an alternative to a meat burger. E.g. if mom vetoes McDonalds, they would lose the 3 potential burger sales to the dad & 2 kids in the car. Scenarios like that makes the salad option (and veggie/meatless burgers) worth it for them.

EDIT ... found one source about this: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-mcdonalds-uses-anti-veto...

Makes sense. Sometimes the kid and I need something to do when it's dark or rainy and other things are closed, and the McDonald's down the road has a play area. Having something at least nominally healthy on the menu (nutrition of the dressing aside) makes going there an easier choice for me.

Burger King and McDonald's "burgers" barely resemble the real thing anymore, so an "Impossible Burger" might be a step up.

Seriously, go eat a McDonald's burger in Italy. The difference between that one and one in the US will shock you.

This comment was a bit silly - but I'd say that my experience with beyond meat in A&Ws up here in Canada... the fact that the regular beef that's being substituted out is already treated and pressed to being barely recognizable makes the beyond meat substitution a fair replacement. If I were in a fancy restaurant getting a nice thick & juicy burger the differences might be more noticeable.

Why would anybody eat a chicken nugget when they can get a slice of that grade A free-range whole wheat grass fed organic chicken breast which provides only objectively superior flavor for every human palette? Better not put bbq sauce on it though, because that is meant for only the classiest of ribs. Every aspect of food: price, quality, appeal, ethics, and flavors, lie together on a single linear scale. So sayeth the religion of the sacred snob diet.

I know you're trolling, but there once was a time when fast food wasn't objectively terrible. Something happened in the name of cost-cutting. Taco Bell is one of the biggest ones I remember, as they would have an employee prepare the lettuce manually, grate the cheese, etc. Even the olives were sliced by a kitchen tool.

McDonald's is another one, my cousin once earned a "fry guy" pin where he cut and fried the most potatoes in a day. Yes, _cut_. None of that frozen garbage.

I am not 'trolling', because I am not looking for an emotional reaction. I am using sarcasm or parody in an attempt to bring attention to the absurdity of taking something as subjective as personal taste and pretending it is objective fact.

You can say McDonalds food is different from what it was. That's a fact. You can say McDonalds food is terrible. That's your opinion. But if I want a thin salty burger with cheese dissolved onto it on a suspiciously smooth bun... who are you to say McDonalds isn't the correct choice? You wouldn't prefer it? Ok. Don't eat it. But don't try to say it is objectively terrible.

Sometimes I like a steak that dissolves in my mouth in a burst of flavor. Sometimes I want one that can be chewed on and doesn't turn to mush. They're different experiences. Neither is objectively better than the other, no matter how many chefs are trying to sell me $70 steaks.

I've had McDonald's in multiple continents, and FWIW, they taste quite consistently good no matter where you are. The homogeneity of their global supply chain is actually pretty amazing.

Also I'm glad I couldn't go a story about fast food without a comment about how <your fast food> is <highly processed unnatural garbage> and <America sucks> / <go European master-culture>.

Thank you so much for over generalizing my comments.

The McDonald's burgers I had in Italy tasted just like the McDonald's burgers I remember McDonald's tasting like. I actively will not eat the current McDonald's burgers in the US--they have gotten that unpalatable to my taste.

Fortunately, in the US, I have plenty of options for burgers that are not McDonald's--unlike most of Europe.

So <nyah> to your European master race-baiting.

Barely resemble the real thing?

Come on... I know you might not like them, but I don't see how they "barely resemble the real thing."

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