Why do people love to sneer at McDonalds so much

[FinnyStory]

And blame them for obesity?

A Big Mac has 508 calories, a lot but not excessive if that's your lunch once in a while. A Costa Brie and Bacon panini has 517 calories, a no more satisfying or nutritionally valid choice surely?

In Prezzo, their hummus starter has over 600 calories! They have mains at over 1000 calories and their menu is similar to many other restaurants more acceptable to MNetters, which is why I looked them up, not because I have anything against Prezzo.

At least in McDonalds you can choose a salad or a lighter wrap if you want it, very many coffee shops and cafes don't even offer those things.

IMO McDonalds have made far more effort on these things than most and yet as soon as people talk about obesity, it won't be long before families who frequent McDonalds are vilified, although a gastropup or more upmarket restaurant chain seems to be considered OK?

I also used to work there. Staff couldn't be bothered to learn my (foreign) name. They called me J which I found highly ignorant

Laughing my arse off at people saying mcdonalds invented fast food when stalls and shops selling hot takeaway food for the (actual) plebs were found in pompei

@Eng123

I think the other image problem McDonalds have is the litter. I once saw a family get up from a park bench and leave their litter all over the bench - bin was only 20 feet away too. It's this sort of behaviour that I associate with McDonalds though I know it's a minority.

That same family would have done exactly the same if they'd brought a packed lunch made up of Waitrose items!

I don’t sneer, but I hate the smell when people eat the stuff on buses, as they often do around here, since McD is so near the bus stops.
I’m afraid the same people often leave their smelly McD rubbish on the bus. 🤬

@user1497207191

It's because McDonalds started the whole problem of high calorie, fast food.

Did you not notice all the fish & chip shops that were open in the decades before Mc Donalds then?

Mmm the good old days when chips were cooked in dripping and were to die for.

@Kazzyhoward, I doubt that the sort of people who habitually drop litter and don’t give a shit, will usually shop in Waitrose anyway.

If that sounds snobby, tough.

@minnieok

Pure snobbishness. I've said this for years. We enjoy a McDonald's from time to time, shouldn't be a staple but nor should most supermarket sandwiches (look at the salt content as well as the calories) and plenty of people buy them daily. Don't get me started on pret. If you eat a balanced diet and exercise a bit then treats are just fine - eating at McDonald's 4 x a week and a sedentary life not so good

100% this. As has been said earlier in the thread, McDonald's has improved ingredients together with their transparency. Some poeple judge to make them feel superior temporarily.

Plus it is also pretty much the only place that has ever rejected me for a job!!

@user1497207191

It's because McDonalds started the whole problem of high calorie, fast food.

Did you not notice all the fish & chip shops that were open in the decades before Mc Donalds then?

Yes, there were fish and chip shops - but they weren't necessarily in the middle of the main shopping street of the town. The average fish and chip shop, pie shop (or fast food emporium in ancient Rome!) was likely to be a single shop with no particular marketing strategy. If it was near you and you knew about it, you went there.

I am simply trying to describe my lived experience of being a child when McDonalds arrived on our local high street. Given the relative lack of other places to go in the 1970s and early 1980s, McDonalds was a phenomenon. A revolution. It had a brightly lit shop with plastic seats, it had advertising, it had milkshakes, it had neon signs, it had a huge mural of Ronald McDonald leaping over mop-headed milkshake characters (remember those?). You ate with your fingers, perched on a high seat and gaily threw everything you didn't want into a flappy dustbin before you left to carry on with your day. It commodified the whole service experience.

Funny how there is always lots of Greggs litter near to a Greggs shop, Costa cups near to Costa takeaways, fish & chip wrappers close to chippies. Why single out McDonalds? You see more McD litter because more people go there. In proportion to numbers of customers, their litter is probably similar to all the other litter sources.

I was talking about the 1970s and early 1980s. Costa did not exist on the UK high street, Greggs wasn't everywhere like it is today. Yes, now litter is everywhere from dozens of sources but back then it was noticeably more littered when you walked past a McDonalds.

As I said upthread, it had a lot of appeal in the grey 1970s but I do wish it had gone down the diner-style route with washable plates!

@JanewaysBun

McDonald's burgers are mega thin, it's basically a burger slice! Five guys is so much nicer and you get way more topping choice. Also prefer burger king burgers as they are more meaty

Five guys is also more than twice the price!

It’s not about the fact it’s calorific and comparable to other meals, it’s because it’s fatty, salty and cheap.

I worked in quite a lot of different pubs and restaurants, both chain and independent, when I was younger.

McDonalds was the cleanest kitchen by a country mile. The sort of cleaning they do daily didn't happen in some of the independent places on even a quarterly basis!

It’s not about the fact it’s calorific and comparable to other meals, it’s because it’s fatty, salty and cheap.

Couple of times a year I have their sausage and egg McMuffin breakfast. Don't care about salt or fat, it's exceptionally tasty.

My problem is that the food is really not nice.

I had to have an egg and cheese McMuffin a few years ago (Travelodge in the middle of nowhere and the only food option was the adjacent McDonalds at 7.30am)

It was like rubber - utterly horrible. 2 bites and it went in the bin.

I've just looked up the nutritional quality of it. 270 calories - 40% of the calories from fat and 22% of my daily sodium intake. No way is that close to being healthy and many people have this for breakfast every day.

Couple of times a year I have their sausage and egg McMuffin breakfast. Don't care about salt or fat, it's exceptionally tasty.

I don’t find it exceptionally tasty by any manner of means, and their rubber like eggs I’m surprised you think are, but I am not averse to mcdonalds as a quick and easy meal.

However the fact remains It’s cheap fatty salty Fast food in general and that’s where it gets its rep from. Yes there is other shite out there, yes it does some healthy stuff, yes burger vans or cheese and bacons sandwiches are also fatty. But McDonald’s is the epitome of fast junk food.

I don’t eat there and neither do my kids, but I don’t sneer at others who do. I simply don’t care what other people feed their children, it’s none of my business. Along the same lines, I don’t expect other people to judge me for not taking my kids to Macdonald’s or making the assumption that I don’t do so because I’m a snob. It cuts both ways.

I don’t find it exceptionally tasty by any manner of ₩means, and their rubber like eggs I’m surprised you think are

I'm surprised you think they are not. Each to their own I guess. It's not Michelin or gastro pub just fast food that on occasion is a nice change and tastes good.

[quote GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]**@Kazzyhoward, I doubt that the sort of people who habitually drop litter and don’t give a shit, will usually shop in Waitrose anyway.

If that sounds snobby, tough.[/quote]
But by the same token, most McDonald's customers won't drop their litter!

We've just enjoyed a McD's for lunch. We put our litter in the bin, as did literally everyone else we could see (we parked in a corner so could see the car park, outside seating area, etc.).

People need to stop generalising based on their own prejudices.

No way is that close to being healthy and many people have this for breakfast every day.

Nothing you eat "every day" will be healthy though will it? You need variation and a balanced diet.

Lots of people have a fry up every day for breakfast. That's not healthy either. Nor are all the people who have a heaped bowl of a sugary cereal every morning.

Of course, there will be a minority of idiots who haven't a clue about healthy eating and will over-indulge, whether that's McD's, Kelloggs Frosties, Full English Breakfast, Costa sugar laden coffee and huge cake, or whatever.

I don’t know either.

I’m well-off and eat at high end restaurants very frequently - Pre COVID I’d probably have eaten every meal of the day out, if that’s any indication.

However I still like McDonald’s even though i know there’s better options out there. It’s just a staple of the British high street after all. I would love a McFlurry for today’s hot weather!

I always think this as well. Yes it's not particularly healthy but not is a latte and toasted sandwich in Costa, and it's cheaper. Definitely snobbery.

On a similar subject, I've never understood what is so terrible about fish fingers. Yes, you can get cheap ones that have grey mush inside, but the ones I buy are recognisable pieces of fish with breadcrumbs on them and I grill or bake them. Is that really so awful? Same with pizza. I'm not a fan of greasy derp pan takeaway pizza, but a decent bought or homemade thin crust pizza is basically bread dough, passata, some kind of veg and/or meat and cheese. But if I mention eating pizza to some of my friends you would think I was feeding my kids crack cocaine.
And some people seem to think its binary, that families either eat 100% convenience food or only ever touch homemade from first principles organic fare. Surely the majority do a bit of both? Last night we had baked salmon, new potatoes, broccoli and sugar snap peas. Tomorrow it will be lentil bolognese. But tonight, shoot me, we're having ham and pineapple pizza and salad. I don't understand the assumption that I often see, both on here and in real life, that if someone admits to or is seen eating any convenience food at any point then that is all that they ever eat.

@Kazzyhoward

No way is that close to being healthy and many people have this for breakfast every day.

Nothing you eat "every day" will be healthy though will it? You need variation and a balanced diet.

Lots of people have a fry up every day for breakfast. That's not healthy either. Nor are all the people who have a heaped bowl of a sugary cereal every morning.

Of course, there will be a minority of idiots who haven't a clue about healthy eating and will over-indulge, whether that's McD's, Kelloggs Frosties, Full English Breakfast, Costa sugar laden coffee and huge cake, or whatever.

But we're not talking about sugary cereals or fry ups, (unhealthy as they are I know some people eat them) the thread is about fast food and McDonalds.

I've seen plenty of my work colleagues rock up every morning with McDonalds for breakfast

@MrsAvocet

On a similar subject, I've never understood what is so terrible about fish fingers. Yes, you can get cheap ones that have grey mush inside, but the ones I buy are recognisable pieces of fish with breadcrumbs on them and I grill or bake them. Is that really so awful? Same with pizza. I'm not a fan of greasy derp pan takeaway pizza, but a decent bought or homemade thin crust pizza is basically bread dough, passata, some kind of veg and/or meat and cheese. But if I mention eating pizza to some of my friends you would think I was feeding my kids crack cocaine. And some people seem to think its binary, that families either eat 100% convenience food or only ever touch homemade from first principles organic fare. Surely the majority do a bit of both? Last night we had baked salmon, new potatoes, broccoli and sugar snap peas. Tomorrow it will be lentil bolognese. But tonight, shoot me, we're having ham and pineapple pizza and salad. I don't understand the assumption that I often see, both on here and in real life, that if someone admits to or is seen eating any convenience food at any point then that is all that they ever eat.

Too many posters are grinding their favourite axe here, aren’t they? I think this, from @MrsAvocet, is a very good summary of the whole situation. You simply cannot judge from one viewing.

Years ago I’d walk 40mins into town, have a Whopper with Cheese plus reg fries, and walk 40mins home. I’d do that maybe two or three times a year, no more.

McDonald's was adjacent, but their ‘added bits’ turned me off, so I never went there.

Currently it’s two years since I’ve eaten that type of meal.

@WitchQueenofDarkness well clearly you can see if they’re obese or not - if not, then they balance out their Maccies every day with not a lot else.

Plenty of people eat unhealthily. But if those same people came in with something from Pret every day the perception is very different.