Or, "In which Stephen Green becomes my favorite pundit"*
http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2015/01/29/quarter-pounder-blues/McDonald's is having problems. Increased competition, increased input costs are causing declining sales.
Vodkapundit (Stephen Green) points out that there is also the problem of the Health-Nazis (HA! Godwined in the originial post!) pressuring them to change their menu. (which has led to their myriad of choices, and is likely part of the problem)
Personally, I don't even like it for my children- and it's not a matter of their health. A single fast food meal once or twice a month (which is how often they get it) will have ZERO effect on their health.
McDonald's food has declined in quality and their new "healthy" menu (especially in the kid's meals) is awful. Their apples taste of chemicals and I kick myself every time I forget to tell them to hold the apples and give us more fries instead.
Perhaps the mega-business can recover, but, as Vodkapundit pointed out, it's going to be hard to win the families back from the competition.
Which leads me to the * in the alternate headline:
My childhood favorite, Steak ‘n Shake, is aggressively expanding outside of its midwestern/southern heartland, offering diner-level service and cooked-to-order meals made with beef which is readily identifiable as such.
My childhood favorite as well. It is now my daughter's childhood favorite, too and we live 5 minutes from the closest Steak and Shake.
The have a VAST array of menu items- but they are pretty much all burgers. They know to keep it (relatively) simple. Give people variety, but keep it variety within a theme. Many other businesses are following this model and it was, ironically, the model that lead to McDonald's success.
I can honestly say I don't think there is anything McDonald's could do to make us head there rather than Steak and Shake. (Amusingly, they are literally next door to each other in our town.) The difference in price is minuscule (literally $3-$4 dollars for the entire family), especially when Steak and Shake offers free kids meals on the weekend. Even if McDonald's prices were half of what they are now, I'm not sure that would be enough inducement.
So, in conclusion:
beancrock.