McDonald's hamburgers are not excellent. You know it. I know it. And, as the Wall Street Journal reports, McDonald's knows it. The company and its operators are acutely aware of how they've struggled in the face of competition from higher-end chains like Five Guys, Steak ’n Shake, and Shake Shack that have peeled off younger consumers by offering, well, better burgers. The Journal quotes a memo from a “top McDonald's franchisee” stating that only 1 in 5 millennials have even tried a Big Mac in their lives; we are apparently a generation immune to the charms of the special sauce. “The number of hamburgers sold at McDonald’s U.S. restaurants has been flat for the past few years,” the paper adds, “and was growing only at a 1% to 2% annual rate before that, according to former high-ranking McDonald’s executives.”
The trouble McDonald's is having with the youngs isn't so different from what other aging, iconic brands are experiencing. In 2014, for instance, the Journal reported that 44 percent of adults between 21 and 27 had never sipped a Budweiser (aka Bud Heavy, aka not Bud Light). The parallels between the two stories are somewhat obvious—both are somewhat bland flagship products aimed at a mass market that's been fragmented by a new variety of tastier (or, in some cases, cheaper) options popular among young consumers. American food and drink are getting better and more regionalized, which makes it tough to keep people interested in boring Big Macs and Buds.
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