Some people in the comments express distaste for the very idea of McDonald's being a community hub, but claiming that this sentiment is "feudalistic" is also wrong-headed. McDonalds is tacky – not just because it's cheap. The colors are cartoonish, the music is loud and, frankly, this is just not what it was created for. At its best, McDonald's is, and always has been, a place for families with children.
That said, the alternatives are also poor. Bars are small, obscene and focused on drinking; "serious" restaurants are exclusionary and expensive; parks are, well, open to elements.
Where I live, we have many anti-cafes. Some are highly thematic, quiet, stylish, with comfy rooms for groups which want privacy, and time there is cheap enough to make food joints non-competitive. Then there's libraries (though in the US, it seems, they've come to serve another community function, for an even lower income demographic).
The sentiment that this is "a new low" is not nearly as damnable and undemocratic as some here try to signal. It is possible to do better than having a gaudy corporation's food joint serve as the core for modern community.
>The colors are cartoonish, the music is loud and, frankly, this is just not what it was created for.
Not to discredit your argument, but in some places (countries) McDonald's has changed their "look" to something more akin to a restaurant, with less cartoon-ish colors, quieter-ish music (or no music at all) and different ambiance lighting to actually resemble a place a family would go. I've heard before that in the US there's this big disparity where in one state/city McD has a completely different "look" than others from other regions, sometimes making it look like a completely different brand only having the trademark M to identify it.
Every McDonald's I have been to in Australia has been remodeled to look like an average cafe, there is no music and the color scheme is mostly, white stone texture / brown wood.
It's not a deluxe restaurant but it's not horrible. The coffee they serve is perfectly fine as well.
Yeah, I have been in McDonalds in European countries that would rival US fast casual restaurants. Order at a counter or automated kiosk, have a seat and food is delivered. The stores are also very clean.
In Australia they seem to have made the kiosk the only option when in store. Tbh I don't mind it as the UI on these kiosks is very well done and I can spend my time looking through the list of available options.
Much prefer the kiosks, especially if I'm making changes/additions to the normal stuff on the order. Plus they often let you jump the massive queue at the counter. A lot of people seem quite averse to using them, and self-checkouts.
I wasn't so much opposed to using them originally but I just had no reason to use them since regular ordering worked fine. Now that they have removed the regular counters I have bothered to learn the self serve ones and I feel mostly indifferent about it.
Last time I went to the counter an employee said "let me serve you from here(the self serve)" at that point they are just educating you on how to order yourself next time.
I live in Spain and I haven't been to many mcdonalds restaurants but I don't remember there being any music at all? Just loud chatter. But people here are generally loud so perhaps they simply didn't think it was a good idea to have music.
I don't know much about how they looked in the past but currently they have sober colours. This is what a current restaurant looks like: https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/RxMy6l6HjBZujf7pHjtR... Seems like mostly hamburger colours? Mustard, lettuce, tomato.
That said, the alternatives are also poor. Bars are small, obscene and focused on drinking; "serious" restaurants are exclusionary and expensive; parks are, well, open to elements.
Where I live, we have many anti-cafes. Some are highly thematic, quiet, stylish, with comfy rooms for groups which want privacy, and time there is cheap enough to make food joints non-competitive. Then there's libraries (though in the US, it seems, they've come to serve another community function, for an even lower income demographic).
The sentiment that this is "a new low" is not nearly as damnable and undemocratic as some here try to signal. It is possible to do better than having a gaudy corporation's food joint serve as the core for modern community.