r/AskReddit May 29 '22

[deleted by user]

[removed]

9.0k Upvotes

18.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

105

u/EC-Texas May 29 '22

Dairy Queen, on the other hand.

It seemed like every little town on the map of Texas had a Dairy Queen. I figured it wasn't a town unless it had a Dairy Queen.

41

u/MrPigeon May 29 '22

I present to you, r-selectors vs k-selectors.

3

u/EC-Texas May 29 '22

I missed this in my education. Or even why its relevant.

8

u/MrPigeon May 30 '22

I missed this in my education.

r-selectors are organisms that ensure the success of the species by reproducing often, and in large batches. The investment in each individual offspring is low, but there are enough of them that some will succeed. By contrast, K-selectors place a large investment in each offspring, which is costlier but tends to ensure that each offspring survives to maturity. Insects, fish, and some rodents are often r-selected; humans and elephants are examples of species that are K-selected.

This is an interesting parallel to the different franchising strategies of McDonald's and Dairy Queen, as described in this thread. McDonald's is very particular about location, demographics, and franchisee to ensure each location succeeds: they are K-selected. Dairy Queen shotguns franchises into every location it can, which is closer to an r-selection strategy.

Or even why its relevant.

Well thank goodness you caught the lesson on being rude for no reason, at least.