Order Your Customized McDonald’s Burger
City by city, McDonald's is testing a new "Create Your Taste" hamburger program that lets customers order a fancier burger with customized condiments by tapping a touch screen kiosk.
With her smartphone's video camera in hand, reporter Candice Choi of Associated Press goes under the radar to give a first-hand look of a possible McDonald's of the future from a just-opened prototype in New York City. Lettuce wrap, guacamole, and bun type are some of the things on their burger that customers can choose at the kiosk.
"The server brought out my food in about nine minutes," observes Choi. (See the AP video below.)
Don launched the news site Blue MauMau in the Fall of 2005 after franchise buyers and owners told him that they felt it was almost impossible to shovel through the propaganda and sales spin from business news, disclosures, and even franchise experts in order to make informed and wise investments.
Why is this news site called Blue MauMau? It's metaphorical. Blue MauMau is a South Pacific fish that gathers in schools for protection from sharks and other predators. In an industry that has many impediments in knowing truth at the franchise level, Don created a platform that franchisees from all brands and ilks could use to network together to inform both themselves and reporters about their businesses and industry. This site works when franchise owners participate in what they know. In the past that function has been left largely to the franchisor. I'll still reach out to franchisors, but I do so wanting straightforward answers for our readers—franchisees. This news site aims to continually improve at being "the franchise owner's most trusted news source."
Don is the award-winning publisher of this news site about franchised establishments, Blue MauMau. He can be emailed at editor@bluemaumau.org or tweeted @dsnig.
Comments
Missed the mark by inches
If this were a smart phone app I could see it working. As another vending machine in a fast food joint it's just that, a vending machine. Millennials make up about 1/3 of the US population and they are not taking THEIR kids to McDonald's because they have an exceedingly bad view of the product at McDonald's. - image is all.
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Modern vending machine
<p>Old fashion visitor:"it's just that, a vending machine"</p>
<p>If McDonald's self-service kiosk, which customizes food items by customers pressing on digital images of various condiment selections, is simply a vending machine, then so are these things vending machines:</p>
<p>Desktop computer = vending machine<br />
Internet = vending machine<br />
Domino's app = vending machine<br />
Telephoned take-out order = vending machine<br />
McDonald's self-service kiosk = vending machine<br />
Paypal = vending machine<br />
Amazon app = REALLY BIG vending machine<br />
Wendy's drive-thru ordering = vending machine</p>
<p>Innovation is really simple when everything is a variation of a vending machine.</p>
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Whatever.
Mobile app available at all US Firehouse Sub locations
11 apps for getting fast food faster:
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/apps-for-getting-fast-food-faster/
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Ever! Firehouse's Blaze Hopper app
<p>Cool! I see that the FIrehouse Sub app sold / built by Relevant Mobile has a game on it for the tiny guys -- Blaze Hopper. Great idea for getting the concept top of mind for the kids. Unfortunately, the app only has a one and a half star ranking on iTunes because of all of its bugs. "Tried playing the game, crashes EVERY time," says a reviewer.</p>
<p>The Firehouse Sub app needs to be fixed. Firehouse can then catch up to slow-moving McDonald's by offering mobile payment -- e.g. Google Wallet, ApplePay</p>
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Which do you work for?
Do you work for McD's or the vendor? Who uses "self-service kiosk, which customizes food items by customers pressing on digital images of various condiment selections" in a sentence?
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Kiosks? Nah, McDonald's needs more kid-appeal, shorter ordering
<p>Visitor: "they (Millennial parents) have an exceedingly bad view of the product at McDonald's"</p>
<p>How do you know that? Is there a survey you can cite?</p>
<p>In September of last year, Crain's Chicago Business reported this:</p>
<p>"This year, McDonald's lost its perennial first-place position as the chain with the most “kid appeal,” according to Sandelman & Associates Inc., a restaurant research firm in Barrington. For the first time in 25 years, the top spot went to Chick-fil-A Inc., the Atlanta-based chicken sandwich chain that has eight outlets in the Chicago area" http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140906/ISSUE01/309069980/mcdon…;
<p>I think Chick-fil-A's funny cows and playgrounds help make them kid-friendly. McDonald's has been trying to revive child-friendly Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar, despite critics. Sandelman goes on to say that no matter what McDonald's does, it is the company people love to hate.</p>
<p>Does McDonald's need self-service kiosks? No. Not if it takes 9 minutes to complete an order, as this story's video says. It needs something to shorten the order process. It also has a kid problem. Instead of kiosks to choose condiments that backs up the kitchen, it needs a game app that is played in-store.</p>
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McDonald's game apps for kids
The problem with game apps is that young children do not own smartphones. If they did, I think these games would attract them:
* Angry chicken nuggets
* Ronald Hair Salon: Create different color hair and styles for Ronald's McDonald)
* Feed the hamburglar: The goal of the game is to help the Hamburglar find the fries, burgers, nuggets
* McDonald's coloring book app
* Make the Grimace smile
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McDonald is always trying something new
<p>Mcdonald has a huge history of trying new things. I realised how big McDonald is from this list and really got me thinking about it... http://thewowfact.com/10-astonishing-facts-about-mcdonalds-that-will-ma…;