Is McDonald's under-rated as a bike stop?

[steveindenmark]

I think some people are taking McDs out of context. I don't think it is supposed to be a gourmet experience. It is a warm, dry, clean....in Denmark, it is always spotlessly clean, place to refuel.

I prefer Burger King, but it is just the same. Spotless. At least you know what you are going to get as it is uniform in most countries. But I have been in cafes all over Europe, especially the UK, where it is a mystery how H&S let them stay open.

 

[nickyboy]

Me too all the littering is depressing, I have a friend who blames MacDonalds for this, I have to point out to him that its the people who discard the litter who are to blame.

This is a pet hate of mine. I do think McD bear some responsibility for it.

I live on the edge of a National Park. There is a McD nearby and is a popular drive through for folk travelling Manchester - Sheffield. The problem is the customers have finished their food while still in the National Park. There are no bins etc, So people chuck their McD rubbish out of the car. If you cycle the Snake Pass you will always see McD branded litter by the side of the road somewhere

I've emailed McD about this, asking them for suggestions on how to alleviate this...it's a National Park for goodness sake and does McD no favours in terms of PR. No reply

 

[vickster]

Why are there no bins? Surely it makes sense to have some in the park? Obviously people should take their rubbish with them but if they aren't able to comprehend that, enable them to dispose of it thoughtfully

 

[nickyboy]

Why are there no bins? Surely it makes sense to have some in the park? Obviously people should take their rubbish with them but if they aren't able to comprehend that, enable them to dispose of it thoughtfully

I dare say there are bins in car parks etc. But folk are just driving through the Park and don't want to keep the rubbish in the car. So they chuck it out of the window

 

[User16625]

McDonalds are crap. I love burgers but you dont get decent ones at McDonalds. Burger vans tend to do the nicest.

 

[vickster]

McDonalds are crap. I love burgers but you dont get decent ones at McDonalds. Burger vans tend to do the nicest.

At least you know McDonald's use beef...I reckon horse meat would be the least of your worries from a van burger! Rat, pigeon, seagull...

 

[mjr]

Taking the burgers as an example, there are no preservatives in them, unless you count the pinch of salt added for flavour.

Burgers, which they won't serve you without at least a chemical-laden bun of Chorleywood non-bread?

Some of the stuff is probably as you describe, but with careful menu selection, it is possible to have something that's tolerably healthy.

Do you enjoy menu roulette?

But I have been in cafes all over Europe, especially the UK, where it is a mystery how H&S let them stay open.

You can look up how on https://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/ (and a summary score should be displayed on a green and black sign in the cafe) but I think you may be confusing bright lights and plastic surfaces with healthiness.

Me too all the littering is depressing, I have a friend who blames MacDonalds for this, I have to point out to him that its the people who discard the litter who are to blame.

Is this like how deaths are all the fault of the killers and the people selling arms to probable killers are completely blameless?

Why are there no bins? Surely it makes sense to have some in the park? Obviously people should take their rubbish with them but if they aren't able to comprehend that, enable them to dispose of it thoughtfully

How the hell are you going to cover a national park with enough bins so that thoughtless people can always see them at the time they're going to dump their litter? The Broads national park is 303km², for example. How many bins would it need?

[QUOTE 4515004, member: 45"]Wouldn't that be the same for any takeaway rubbish they've finished with?[/QUOTE]
Not really. MacDonalds takeaway wrappers seem to saturate and start falling apart particularly quickly, so selfish people who care more about keeping their car clean than keeping Britain tidy dump them. Also, there seems almost no chance of being fined for littering when many laybys have flytips nearby.

 

[mjr]

At least you know McDonald's use beef...I reckon horse meat would be the least of your worries from a van burger! Rat, pigeon, seagull...

Is that like how we knew Tesco used beef?

 

[nickyboy]

[QUOTE 4515004, member: 45"]Wouldn't that be the same for any takeaway rubbish they've finished with?[/QUOTE]

Yes. But the difference is that there is a McD drive through just outside the National Park boundary on the main Manchester - Sheffield route so it is very popular. Also the rubbish is McD branded so you might have thought that McD would take an interest in the message this sends when you see their packaging littering a beautiful area. Apparently not

 

[Fab Foodie]

McDonalds are crap. I love burgers but you dont get decent ones at McDonalds. Burger vans tend to do the nicest.

When I've stopped p155ing myself laughing I'll try and and compose a reply ....

 

[Starchivore]

Loses points for heart disease risks in my book.....

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4515039, member: 45"]So now you're moaning that McDonalds packaging is biodegradeable.

People who eat take-out food would continue to eat it from elsewhere if McDonalds didn't exist.

People who throw litter out of their car will throw litter out of their car wherever they bought it from.

I'm not saying that littering isn't a problem and that McDonalds have some responsibility for this, but I can't see how it would be any different if another food outlet was being used instead.[/QUOTE]
I'm pretty sure they could use biodegradeables that would last the car journey home before leaking grease into the upholstery. A thin d2w carrier bag would probably suffice, although I'm sure there are lots of other options. They'd all cost them more money, though, than having their patrons lob litter on the verge.

Equally, I think the sheer prevalence of Mucky D litter suggests that there's something about them which makes it more likely to be littered. Within about a hundred metres of their nearest outlet, there's also a KFC drive-through, a Greggs take-away and a Costa - then there's two hypermarkets, a Subway and another Costa within 250m, yet it's Mucky D litter that's most common.

[QUOTE 4515039, member: 45"]FWIW I believe that years ago in France McDonalds had to clear all of their litter within a radius of their restaurants. I'm not sure whether this is still the case there or anywhere else.[/QUOTE]
Bloody well ought to be here, too. Set it at 10 mile radius.

As I point out above, McDonald's is one of the few companies that does appear to take an interest in litter and it's one of very few companies that actually sends it's staff out to pick it up.

I've never seen them go outside their retail park boundary. It's a PR stunt.

40 minutes later and it starts to get worrying.

He's had to pop out to get a coffee?

 

[Accy cyclist]

Probably getting twice as much twice as digestible twice as good food - it ain't snobbery when the chosen thing is better than Mucky D!

On the rare occasions where our group either can't agree (happened once in the last four years) or exceed the capacity of the lunch stop (twice), we've just agreed the restart time and place.

I've just remembered this. The other month our group went to Myerscough College (very posh agricultural college) and back for the ride out. Nothing in the cafe was priced up, so i thought ey up, this'll be expensive! I fancied a piece of custard tart, so i got a portion which was about the size of a quarter of a small saucer. When i got to the till up came the price. £3,50 bloody pence!! I ate the thing in about 1 minute. Then i sat there thinking after, that for £3.50 i could've got 2 portions of chips and a bucket of mushy peas from a chippy for that much money!

 

[mjr]

When i got to the till up came the price. £3,50 bloody pence!!

Why didn't you ask, ya fool?

Cafe we were at on Saturday (Knicat, by Downham Market rail station) had big pieces of carrot cake or bread pudding for 95p each. Not sure how much the custards were but can't have been much more. Sadly, I was full up after my £2.50 filled omelette and salad. Coffee was only average, though.

Do you think your group will go back to that College any time soon? Last time our group got stiffed (£4 for a slice of cake and no other eatery open within 3 miles - I had the £6 soup+slices) was about three years ago and we've not been back to that one since!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Do you think your group will go back to that College any time soon?

Yes i honestly believe they're daft enough to.
"But look at the lovely view and the gardens" said one of the group. In between dodging the swarm of wasps and inhaling the stink of cow sh!t!!