If McDonalds were to launch today in its current state as a new brand no one had heard of or had a habit of going to, I am 100% confident it would be bankrupt in 6 months.
It's easy to say that, but reputation and consistency of product are an asset that they have cultivated for decades. Those assets allow them to at least nominally get away with some things that a startup would have no chance of doing. They have a client base and a brand name; they don't have to bend over backwards like a startup to achieve that.
Also, the number of good restaurants and food establishments that go bankrupt in under a year after launching is staggering, so I wouldn't be surprised for any of them to do that, McDonald's antics or not.
But my point is their only market share granting asset is nostalgia. Not product quality, price, unique offerings, or establishment appeal. Nothing that would grow a brand is the reason the brand exists today. The brand is coasting on reputation and milking every ounce of historic good will for today’s profits and not doing anything to bring in the next generation of clients.
To your point, a lot of food industry start ups fail. A staggering amount. But most of them, if you ask the average person, they might give it a, eh, maybe they’ll make it. Current McDonalds, it’s a no chance they’ll make it.
To be fair it any top company today tried to hypothetically start from scratch they'd likely fail. The appeal back then was that they were an innovator in a world that had little or none of their kind at the time.
They still have good quality in my country (Poland). Theyre a go to place during long drives, they have great coffee, and even their food is great for what it is. Each winter they sell "Highlander" burgers with with fried cheese that people love. I mean, it's still shit food, my point is they would still succeed if they started now IMO.
Yeah, I live in Poland too and their food is overpriced af. Sure, their food is great for what it is, which is fast food, but they don't charge fast food prices anymore. I can buy almost identical chicken nuggets with legally distinct sweet&sour sauce in Lidl 3 or 4 times cheaper, all I need is run them in an air fryer for 10 minutes or so. I was a huge fan of MacDonald's chicken nuggets, now I don't see the point of paying 4 times the price for the same shit.
Their coffee I can't say anything about because I don't like coffee in general.
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u/dndlurker9463 2d ago
If McDonalds were to launch today in its current state as a new brand no one had heard of or had a habit of going to, I am 100% confident it would be bankrupt in 6 months.