Deactivating McCrap

According to this New York Times article:

* The enormous success of McDonald's Dollar Menu, where all items cost $1, has helped stimulate 36 consecutive months of sales growth at stores open at least a year. In three years, revenue has increased by 33 percent and its shares have rocketed 170 percent.
* McDonald's turnaround has come not from greater sales of healthy foods but from selling more fast-food basics, like double cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches, from the Dollar Menu.
* McDonald's has marketed the Dollar Menu to teenagers, young adults, and minorities who are already plagued with an especially high incidence of obesity and related health problems like diabetes.
* McDonald's chief marketing officer says the Egg McMuffin "is a very nutritious sandwich." (Man, how do you sleep at night?)

So they are slick marketers of mass-produced lethal crap to people who don't know better or who are simply vulnerable to their messages. Could McDonald's rate higher than Big Tobacco on the "evil chain?" At least Philip Morris doesn't advertise cigs on Sesame Street, have a freaky-looking clown for a mascot, or build germ-infested playgrounds in convenience stores. I use McDonald's only for the semi-clean bathrooms when I'm heading to an early-morning race or ride—convenient and symbolic.

Later this year, McDonald's will get hammered by both a movie version of the excellent Eric Schlosser book "Fast Food Nation" and a follow-up book aimed at teenagers. I'm lovin' it. Read the MSNBC.com story.

There's no doubt: McDonald's sucks.