Society

Only One In Five Of Millennials Have Tried A McDonald’s Big Mac

tl-horizontal_mainThere is an interesting polling figure out this month that shows how different millennials are for American culture and values. Only one in five millennials (defined as ages 18 to 34) have tried that iconic American meal, The Big Mac.

Millennials present an existential threat for McDonald’s which has seen its market share falling, including a drop of 2.6% in the U.S. for the first three months of 2015. McDonald’s is increasingly viewed as unhealthy and has been ranked as some of the worst tasting fast-food burgers by Consumer Reports.

It is bad enough that Ronald McDonald is in hiding with the creepy clown sightings, but now millennials are stalking the franchise.

It will be interesting to see if this trend is a rejection specifically of McDonald’s or fast-food generally by millennials.

What do you think?

62 thoughts on “Only One In Five Of Millennials Have Tried A McDonald’s Big Mac”

  2. Also, some years ago when I was in college in Northern VA I got anosmia which is a total loss of taste and small. Bang! Two major senses gone. This condition can come from a concussion or be transmitted from others as it is a virus. Not sure how I got it — the ENT doc said it was incurable. I had to rewire my life entirely since everything I ate was tasteless and food shopping became a dull chore. I remember breaking down one night in the cheese section at Trader Joe’s and crying since it didn’t matter what cheese I chose. After losing a lot of weight from not eating I pulled myself together and started eating for texture which gave me some pleasure.

    I spent hours on the net researching this odd condition and discovered there are many many people out there with it. One quote still stands out vividly “having anosmia is like watching a sunset in black and white”

    Luckily in my case it evolved into hyposmia – now my sense of smell is diminished but I can taste. Just can’t identify what the taste is – for example if I were blindfolded I can differentiate between say basil, mint, cilantro or parsley but I can’t tell you what they are. The brain is a funny thing.

    Needless to say that experience made my food fixation even more intense =)

    1. Nick, thanks for the compliment! =) My bro and sis and are major foodies – we love to shop for food, cook and read recipe books for fun. When I am really stressed my therapy is to head for the kitchen and begin cooking. I attribute to this from growing up in a small German village where we had only 2 small supermarts – we went to the bakery for bread, the butcher for meats, the fish monger and vans from various farms would bring and sell eggs, fruits and veggies. there was also a Farmer’s Market each Saturday in the neighboring village. Local farms would let us pick peaches, apples, pears, berries, etc. and sell them by weight. In many ways in restrospect a simple way of living.

      My parents were school teachers so during breaks we would get in our Westphalia camper and hit the road – traveling to other countries and sampling their cuisine was always such a treat. We learned early on that each country had its own unique cuisine and to embrace it. Food and culture are deeply interwoven. That’s one reason I am so happy to see regional foods in the US make such a comeback. When I visit my siblings in Vegas I always have to bring vinegar-based barbeque sauce out to them. And for my part I return home with Mexican spices I can’t get here.

      My idea of a good time is cooking and having people over for an evening of eating and a lively discussion.

      When the globalists came up with the EU there was a lot of controversy as Brussels insisted on standardization. The Italians and French were especially ticked off as all the stringent rules interfered with the way they prepare their cheeses, etc.

  4. Many of the millenials I know eat off the dollar menu. The Big Mac is too expensive.

  5. I question the veracity of the survey that produced this unlikely data. There’s no way it’s true.

  6. Also, I have learned to follow the college kids to find good, but cheap eats. A few weeks ago I took an older friend of mine (70 yo) to see Killer Mike speak at College of Charleston. She asked where we were gonna eat and I said at the laundromat. Looking resigned she said ok – no doubt picturing a supper of vending machine fare. She was amazed to be introduced to the fabulous Persimmon Cafe located inside the facility – salads, soups, paninis, craft beers, coffees, etc. Said it was the best meal she’d had in a long time.

  7. College kids here seem to prefer Waffle House – consistent quality and inexpensive. The real draw though are the people working there – mostly kind and funny black ladies. These women are unflappable – able to maintain their composure even when the place fills up during the early 2:00 AM hours with drunken partiers.

    I was delighted to see Sean Brock – one of the “star chefs” take Anthony Bourdain to “my” Waffle House. Only thing is I don’t anyone who eats pork chops or steaks there but then Brock is a carnivore. What a hoot!

      1. Got nothing to do with “class” Bourdain has to answer to his pro HRC / pro TPP corporate masters if he wants his show to continue. I understand that so he gets a pass – love that guy!

  8. I have a hard time with this. ASU has a McDonald’s in their Memorial Union and it is busy all the time. However, a lot of students only live on their meal ticket, so it may be true.

    1. Paul, Young people do still go to McDonald’s, but Big Macs are not cool. Too much fat. The “special sauce” is not for them. The shift to breakfast all day was targeted toward the young who sleep till noon and wanted breakfast after the former 10:30a cutoff. I’m seldom in McDonald’s. When I am, it’s for an Egg McMuffin or an ice cream cone treat for walking 10 miles. I always observe. When I’m on the UW campus many are ordering breakfast in the afternoon.

      1. Nick – I noticed McDonald’s has gone back to serving an all day breakfast. That way that late waking students can have breakfast at 2:00 pm.

        1. Their breakfast foods are pretty good. That’s a reason to trade in them on demand.

          1. DDR – I respectfully disagree. We were w/o electric for 3 days post Hurricane Matthew and wound up going to McDonald’s for breakfast. I would have been happy with a can of tuna or cold beans but my husband wanted eggs. Everything was like plastic and heavily salted. First time I had been to Mickey-Ds in years and hopefully the last.

  9. I read that Home Depot stock isn’t doing as well as predicted due to Millenials. They are not interested in fixing anything and not interested in getting started in home ownership by buying a fixer-upper. It’s either a new condo, financed by their parents, or they will live with their parents or in a rental. I’m surprised about McD’s, though. I thought they were all raised on McNuggets. I think the poll should have ask about McNuggets instead of Big Macs.

    1. I am a millenial, and what really affects most of the people in my age group is simple confusion. They don’t know who they are, or where they are going. People used to just assume they would graduate high school or college, get a job, get married, have kids, and buy a home somewhere.

      But Boomer Philosophers like Hugh Hefner and Gloria Steinem, started making it all about sex, and that has now spread to where even male-female sexual relations have been politicized. Boomers sent the jobs and factories overseas, and then imported no skill-low skill cheap labor aliens to do the low wage jobs. Gee, under those circumstances, hiding your head under the proverbial blanket is just a defense mechanism. It simply isn’t the same United States that it was back in the 1950s, or even early 60s and 70s.

      Boomers could take on a 30 year mortgage and have the confidence that their job would match that time frame. Fat chance of that now unless you work for the government, or in some industry that gets major part of its money from government. I am lucky compared to most people in my age bracket, because I have basic financial security provided by my ancestors.I am not rich, but my house and car and education are paid off, and I have enough assess to money to not have to rely on a full time job. Although I could easily get one if I wanted to. Further, if the poop hits the fan, I will probably be able to survive, and the rest of my family. Because my father has made provisions for the zombie apocalypse. Me and the cats will simply go to one of the farms, and hunker down with our guns, food, and off-grid capability. On the good side, we will all have time to catch up on our reading!

      Note to self: Buy lots of extra guitar strings for the Zombie Apocalypse.

      Squeeky Fromm
      Girl Reporter

      1. I think you nailed it Squeek. The old paradigm the Boomers had – go to college or learn a trade and you could build a reliable future with financial security. Hell, even those with no training to go to Detroit or other industrial cities and get a decent paying job. I am Gen X and when the temp (referred to as “contracting”) trend began to take hold in the 90s I noticed things beginning to change. Workers were treated as disposable objects (I won’t even say “assets”). Personnel was renamed to Human Resources and things went downhill from there. This affects people from all walks of life whether family practitioners or manufacturing workers or secretaries. The “gig” economy is furthering the downfall.

        Even the military has changed – my Dad and so many others joined and received on the job training or the GI Bill for college. Now many career military are being turfed out before their 20 years which greatly impacts their retirement benefits. A friend of mine who has 17 years in the Army sez when the slogan changed from “From be all you can be” to the “Army of One” the move to dispose of troops began. He just got a new assignment and breathed a sigh of relief as it looks like he’ll make it. Being Asian-American probably helps – many of his white brothers and sisters have been gotten rid of.

        Also, some young people do not want the house in the burbs with the garage filled with crap. They would be happier living in a flat and being able to walk, bicycle or take public transport to get places.

        You are very lucky to be able to live your lifestyle IMO — and especially have a farm where you can be self sufficient. That is a real luxury!

        1. Well, the farms are the emergency exits. I live in the burbs, and have a pool! Although, technically I live in a “tiny house”, what was called “The Music Room” and my BFF Penelope Dreadful, rents the house from me. I am fortunate in one way, I guess. But I would have probably been happier back in the 1950s, when there was more doing, and less thinking. Thinking about the basics has resulted in 40% of young Japanese being single virgins. The same thing will eventually happen here. Probably with less virginity, though.

          If I ever sell this place, I will buy some land, and just recreate the “Music Room”, which is about 400 square feet, and make it maybe 600 square feet and then maybe add an additional 300 or 400 square feet separate building to hold some of the things I have. Maybe like a “Tinyish House” with an accessory “Tiny House” building for my books and things. I would also install a pool, and a covered porch/patio because I do spend a lot of time outside. Around here, you could do all that for under $100,000 and still have a nice place. Plus, being that size, the upkeep is minimal.

          The only problem is, that if you live out in the country, you have to worry every time you leave about some stupid druggies coming in and robbing the place. Lot of meth heads out in the sticks, anymore.

          Squeeky Fromm
          Girl Reporter

      2. Boomers could take on a 30 year mortgage and have the confidence that their job would match that time frame.

        “Boomers” would be people born around 1948 +/- 9 years. When most were of an age to be buying a house for the first time, the country was addled by escalating currency erosion, episodic panics over fuel supplies, and serial recessions the last of which tossed more people out of work than the Great Recession. The decline of manufacturing employment was already palpable. The attrition rate of marriages was as high as it has ever been (bar the brief period ca. 1946 when a mass of war marriages went under). Believe me, the public discourse in 1978 was not characterized by much confidence. There was a pervasive feeling of entropy.

      3. But Boomer Philosophers like Hugh Hefner and Gloria Steinem, started making it all about sex,

        Hugh Hefner was born in 1926 and Gloria Steinem was born in 1934. Neither were ‘boomers’ as the term is conventionally used. If the generation shtick amuses you, Hefner was ‘greatest generation’ and Steinem was ‘silent generation’. Hefner’s audience was certainly not composed predominantly of boomers until he’d been at it for 20 years or more. He spoke first and foremost to his own contemporaries and those just younger dissatisfied with the ethic which prevailed during their young adult years. Same deal with Steinem, who was attempting to speak to the frustration of a certain sort of suburban type (who might or might not have been born in the span of years in question).

        1. Technically, I did not say that Hefner and Steinem were Boomers, but Boomer Philosophers. Which if you think about it, the popular idea writers of any generation are mostly from the generation or two before them, simply as a practical matter. For example, I think Margaret Mead had an extremely deleterious effect on sexual mores, and the sad thing is that what she wrote about Samoa was probably total BeeEss. And, there was that whole Ruth Boaz thingie she had going. But she was hardly a boomer.

          But, I am only in my young 30’s – sooo I have to read about this stuff and learn it from others, so I thank you for the extra information! My older relatives tell me that things started getting economically iffy in the mid-70s, like you said, particularly after gas prices shot up. And, as one of my uncles points out, women entered the job force in a bigger way. He says that companies used to pay married men more than single men, or single women, because they had a family to support. Then, the gender equality stuff started, and then nearly everybody just getting hired started getting lower wages.

          Squeeky Fromm
          Girl Reporter

          1. Squeek, that works both ways – when more men entered traditionally female occupations such as teaching or nursing wages went up. What I despise about Steinem and her ilk is their attitude towards women who chose to stay at home and not have careers. Because let’s face it – how many women are forced to put their kids in storage and work at stupid, mentally draining jobs that they hate just to keep it together financially?

            Steinem likes to pretend that homemakers are oppressed throwbacks – like most Liberals she is either / or. My female friends who have children are a mixed lot – some (those who live lean and can afford it) stay at home and others are in the work force. One friend has the best of both worlds in that she can work part time in their own firm so she is there for the kids and gets to use her business skills as well.

            Arlie R. Hochschild wrote an interesting book about how work impacts women “The Time Bind” in 1997. I gave it to my sister to read and she internalized it. After she had kids she had to return to work and put them in storage as she had student loans. She paid them off and quit and has not looked back since. Being a homemaker suits her and the family – fresh meals vs frozen/take out, involved in the kids’ sports/schools and the community. Downside is less money and few, if any vacations.

      4. One other thing, Squeaky. I think you’d have to scrounge with some thoroughness through Steinem’s public writings to find much of anything about sex. Steinem never had a domestic life and floated from one term-limited squeeze to another, but she was never a public promoter of libertine behavior and her very best work skewered Hugh Hefner and his enterprises for their grossness.

      5. You confused Steinem with Helen Gurley Brown (who wasn’t a boomer either and did not herself practice what her magazine and books preached).

          1. Squeek, Steinem thankfully does not speak to the majority of the younger generation. When she made that comment during the primaries that women who supported Bernie only did so because “that was where the boys are” that cooked her goose. The only people I know who revere Steinem are women in their late 60s and up. Her strident my way or the highway does not work anymore.

            Sadly her message that wymen must stick with wymen still resonates with too many Boomers and Gen Xers who will vote for Crooked Hillary. I have received many emails from my feminist friends who profess to be offended by Trump’s tapes. I sent them an email today asking “would you stay with a rapist?” along with the video of Kathleen Wiley. Not one response.

            1. It is a very strange election indeed. Women are faced with the choice of voting for a woman who stayed with an alleged rapist, Bill Clinton, or voting for Trump an actual alleged rapist. Neither man has been convicted but women are voting against the alleged rapist and in favor of the woman who kept her marriage together.

              1. Who is an “actual” alleged rapist?

                Women who respect themselves are certainly NOT voting for HRC. Not only does Bill have a history so does she for harassing those very women her husband abused. Pitiful. Horrific. Disgusting.

                1. Ivana his wife accused Trump of raping her. A 13 year old plus multitudes of others have accused him of sexual assault. Many young women are coming forward tonight to accuse him of sexual assault. Have fun and remember the polls are rigged. 🙂

                  1. Women and their mothers say a lot of crap during divorce proceedings. We hear a lot of “I caught my husband having sex with the dog!” stories down here from our divorce clients’ mothers. Plus, he molested the child from the female clients. I guess there is a generational bias in the lies.

                    Plus, you should check out the story and see where the suit is coming from, and who is paying for it. It lacks credibility IMHO.

                    Squeeky Fromm
                    Girl Reporter

            2. And how many of those same women have carried on like crazy during a suburban sex toy party? And how many of them have been to see Chippendales, or the Thunder Down Under? And the “p” word offends them? Hogwash. Heck, half the people int he country are screwing around on Tindr, watching porn, or reading 50 Shades of Gray, yet they are oh sooo shocked over what Trump said. Absurd. Here is one I did for Penelope’s Twitter on Hypocritical Megyn Kelly:

              https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CucxE4gVMAEwMBZ.jpg

              Squeeky Fromm
              Girl Reporter

              1. Squeek, you slay me with your scathing creative output. A Fox newz slut for sure. Sigh, all this furor over Trump’s tape and nary a word in the MSM about the Wikileaks dump. But both the alt right and alt left is on it. Still won’t move the brain deal Partisan demoncrats, but from what I see more people are moving to Trump, Stein and Johnson.

                funny story – a friend of mine in what is known as Whitetopia (middle) TN has a bro who is a Trumpster and pretty much a racist. He works as a bricklayer and his boss is a Demoncrat. Anyway, he hired a black guy from Georgia hoping to reset the balance as most folks there are Trumpsters. The guy shows up, works well and hard and after a few days politics comes up. Turns out not only is the guy a Trumpster, but an avid fan of Alex Jones. The boss went crazy – “how you be black and from Georgia and be a Republican?” Guy says his daddy taught him the value of hard work and the toxic results of welfare. Says he wants to make America great again. Now my friend’s bro, for the first time in his life, has a black buddy. Stronger together right? =) Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!

                1. Charles M. Blow Verified account
                  ‏@CharlesMBlow

                  “His Hands Were All Over Me” is trending. Lord, help us… #Trump It is a tough night for sexual assault victims but they are courageously coming forward.

                2. I believe it. Blacks are the ultimate rednecks. The ranks of conservative blacks is growing, but there are still far too many on the Democratic Party Plantation, and the Democrats want to keep them barefoot and pregnant. Maybe one day, more of them will figure it out.

                  Squeeky Fromm
                  Girl Reporter

                  1. Squeek, the Progressive numbers of blacks is growing as well. The educated black gen Xers and Millenials who went for Bernie big time are not going to vote for HRC. They see right through Obama and are voting for Jill although she won’t win. The thinking is Trump for 4 years and then a Progressive like Tulsi Gabbard or Nina Turner. The DNC is aware of this – in the Wikileaks files released Killer Mike was mentioned several times.

                    1. Who cares what Michelle says? Speaking on behalf of a lying corrupt woman whose husband was impeached. Whose husband has curtailed civil liberties way beyond Bush. Who killed thousands of innocent women and children by drones and bombs. We are tired of the Establishment elite. The only people listening are delusional Hilbots.

                      The only Democrat females I respect are Tulsi Gabbard and Nina Turner – both women of integrity.

      6. “Note to self: Buy lots of extra guitar strings for the Zombie Apocalypse.”

        GHS Boomers (no pun intended) or Ernie Balls?

  10. I feel very fortunate to live in Charleston which has a plethora of locally owned restaurants. Thankfully people are paying attention to the quality of ingredients and the whole farm to table concept. This keeps small farms and ranches in business. Independent films such as Fast Food Nation, Food, Inc., Supersize Me, etc. have all helped consumers pay attention to what they are eating. Regional cuisine has made a comeback and more people are familiar with diverse ethnic foods due to the cooking channels on the Food Network. I think it is a positive evolution. When I moved to the US in the mid-80s it was impossible to find decent bread or any type of ethnic foods other than “chinese”

    I did not grow up with McDonalds so it is not part of my cultural heritage. I still find it strange that some people like to eat in their cars.

  11. How I truly wish that the draft was never done away with. I remember eating cold C-Rats in a mud filled bunker and heating coffe with a little piece of C4 compound and making believe it was my moms stew. Please note “making believe ” 2 years really wouldn’t hurt these kids, actually they wouldn’t come home kids anymore.

    Ah but I could dream.

    1. So you recall killing people or facilitating murder as an overall positive experience?

      1. Pacifism on the part of anyone who hasn’t withdrawn from contemporary society is drivel.

    2. I agree Judge. Boot camp has a way of turning self-centered children into the kind of men and women necessary to sustain a free society. Of course that means boot camp has to first unwind the damage done by the progressive public education system. A nation must always have a force prepared to defend it’s sovereignty, that should not even be questioned. How that force is used is though is largely a design of the political class and they in turn are empowered by an ignorant, apathetic and dependent society. How cowardly it is for anyone to blame the soldier sent to war when they are the one that elected the leaders that made the decision to send them there.

    3. How I truly wish that the draft was never done away with.

      The career military don’t.

      That aside, we do not have the manpower requirements which would make conscription at all advisable. The military now encompasses about 2% of the male workforce, and annual first enlistments indicate that perhaps 12% of the male population will do a stint in the service during the course of their life. Among the 1930-38 cohorts, about 55% of a typical cohort were on active duty at some point and another 9% were not but did put in time with the Guard or Reserves. About 2/3 of those who were never in the service were disqualified categorically or contingently consequent to the medical exam &c. Among some cohorts born during the early 1920s, about 80% of the young men were on active duty at some point. The military just does not have the manpower requirements to encompass 64% of the male population, and, to be plain, the 13th through the 64th percentile are going to consist of young men less suited to military life than the 1st through the 12th percentile who volunteered. We might have more penetration if we had a megareserve of the sort Israel has. Not sure Reserve duty would provide the young with the full monty or much close to it.

  15. I am a boomer and have not been into a MacD’s in years – never ate there much anyway even when one was three blocks away

    Much more of a choice today it seems and places like Subway sell healthy – and my local Jack in the Box hires people that don’t seem to understand English or the menu so getting what you want is a struggle – so why go to a place that messes up the not all that healthy meal??

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