The Street: After Musk Took Over Twitter, McDonald’s, Starbucks Stopped Tweeting. “Ronald McDonald is not the only one experiencing the silence of the tweets. Coca-Cola’s, Starbucks, Sonic Drive-In, General Mills, and Dairy Queen are among the companies that seem to be stuck in 2022. And while Twitter is getting the silent treatment, all these companies have been active on Facebook and Instagram.”
MarketWatch: Amazon, Microsoft, McDonald’s and Citi to examine their impact on civil rights and racial equity. Will more companies follow suit?. “After years of shareholder pressure that ratcheted up after the racial reckoning in summer 2020, some of the world’s most influential companies have agreed to independent racial-equity or civil-rights audits to consider how their policies, products and practices affect the civil rights of and equality among employees, customers and society.”
Coconuts Manila: Tater Tragedy: McDonald’s Philippines halts sales of large fries due to potato shortage. “If you’ve recently left a McDonald’s counter frustrated and clueless as to why they’re out of larger french fry sizes, then the fast food chain has some answers: McDonald’s Philippines has announced that the global shipping crisis has caused a shortage of their beloved french fries.”
Business Insider: An Oregon McDonald’s is so desperate for workers it hung a huge banner outside calling on 14-year-olds to apply. “A McDonald’s in Medford, Oregon, has a banner out front advertising that it is hiring 14- and 15-year-old workers. ‘There are always staffing issues, but this is unheard of,’ the Biddle Road restaurant operator, Heather Coleman, told Insider. She said the situation is unique in her family’s 40-year history operating McDonald’s franchises.”
Wired: They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War. “OF ALL THE mysteries and injustices of the McDonald’s ice cream machine, the one that Jeremy O’Sullivan insists you understand first is its secret passcode. Press the cone icon on the screen of the Taylor C602 digital ice cream machine, he explains, then tap the buttons that show a snowflake and a milkshake to set the digits on the screen to 5, then 2, then 3, then 1. After that precise series of no fewer than 16 button presses, a menu magically unlocks.”
CNN: McDonald’s social media person cries for help: I am more than just the McRib. “Many companies have tried injecting more personality into their Twitter feeds to humanize their brands. Companies often interact with each other on Twitter. Many of them are competitive: Dunkin’ and Wendy’s got into a Twitter spat in mid-October. But the McDonald’s Twitter conversation was actually heartwarming. Here’s how it all went down.”
CNET: This app will tell you if the local McDonald’s ice cream machine is broken. “We all know the heartbreak of wanting nothing more than a cheap ice cream cone from McDonald’s, only to find when we get there that the machine is apparently broken. Thankfully, people will never run out of reasons to build apps, and there’s now one called mcbroken that’ll tell you whether the machine at your local McDonald’s is working.”
CNN: McDonald’s sales tumbled 30% last quarter, but it’s optimistic about a turnaround. “McDonald’s is having a rough year, as shown in another dismal quarterly earnings report — but there are signs of recent improvement. Total sales sank 30% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, McDonald’s announced Tuesday, falling to $3.77 billion. Net income plummeted 68% to $483.8 million. The figures reflect the April to June period, the first full quarter of coronavirus effects in the United States.”
USA Today: McDonald’s to require customers wear masks at all U.S. restaurants starting Aug. 1 as COVID-19 cases increase. “McDonald’s will require customers to wear masks or face coverings when entering its 14,000 restaurants nationwide starting Aug. 1. The fast food giant is the latest business to announce it will mandate masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19 as cases spike. The coronavirus causes the disease COVID-19.”
Consumerist: McDonald’s Now Accepting Job Applications Via Snapchat. “McDonald’s tested ‘Snaplications’ — the twee name the chain is using for the program — earlier this year in Australia, and is now opening up the process to U.S. job seekers starting Tuesday.”
A McDonald’s in Sweden is testing what may be the first Happy Goggles that don’t involve alcohol consumption. “McDonald’s Sweden is launching a promotion that invites kids to turn Happy Meal boxes into virtual-reality viewers. Dubbed Happy Goggles, some 3,500 of them will be made available at 14 restaurants over the weekends of March 5 and March 12. The price is about $4.10.” They’re very Google Cardboard-y.
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