McDonald's tells U.S. restaurants it's not a 'political brand' after Trump visit
www.cnbc.com
McDonald's said it is not endorsing a presidential candidate after Trump's visit to one of its restaurants.

Cross-posted from “Too Bad, So Sad, Too Late - McDonald’s tells U.S. restaurants it’s not a ‘political brand’ after Trump visit” by @JimmyBigSausage@lemm.ee in !news@beehaw.org

Excerpt:

Though President Donald Trump visited a Pennsylvania McDonald’s location on Sunday, the fast-food giant is trying to stay neutral in the presidential race.

“As we’ve seen, our brand has been a fixture of conversation in this election cycle. While we’ve not sought this, it’s a testament to how much McDonald’s resonates with so many Americans. McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President,” the company said in an internal message viewed by CNBC and confirmed by a source familiar with the matter.

I haven’t eaten at a McDonalds since before covid, and I don’t really miss it.

    • stoned_ape@lemmy.world
      4·
      8 days ago

      Some fast food places near me have started using automated ordering at the window ie a chatbot

      Also order-yourself screens in the inside ordering zones

      Which I guess is cool or whatever but some of us don’t mind human interaction and are fine paying .50 extra for a taco if that keeps someone employed until we can figure out how to move to a more automated world without fucking over those at the bottom

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
      3·
      7 days ago

      It is more that the cost of operating a dining area isn’t worth it for a lot of fast food restaurants.

      You have to dedicate staff time to maintaining the dining area. You also have have to maintain a public restroom, even if it is only for customers. At best, you only get the random biohazard of someone shitting themselves. It then slides to being the bathroom and living room to an unhoused population or a place where junkies go to do heroin.

    • TehWorld@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 days ago

      My point is that I don’t want to wait for a human interaction. Just let me grab some ketchup from a bin and go on with my day.

        • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          8 days ago

          The people still there, I can think of several mechanisms some of which are a hundred years old at least that could allow automatic dispensing of such items. But McDonald’s sucks so obviously they wont invest in such mechanisms.

        • TehWorld@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          8 days ago

          A robot? SOMEONE has to fill the robots with “meat” “cheese” and “bread” so one more thing to dispense ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper would be easy enough.