McDonald's Letter: Value Meals Are Gross

To McDonald's:

I'll put it right out on the table: I've never been a big fan of McDonald's. I never liked the food as a kid, and I don't particularly enjoy it now. For me, Wendy's has always satisfied my fast-food needs, with crispy, fresh salads, real white-meat chicken, and an extensive value menu. Rest in peace, Dave Thomas, you are sorely missed.

Nevertheless, because McDonald's is everywhere and does serve consistent, if not delicious, food, I occasionally find myself in one of your fine establishments. Unfortunately, as a reasonably healthy eater, I feel completely unwelcome there. In addition to having too few healthy foods, McDonald's structures their menus so that it costs more to eat a relatively healthy meal than it does to eat an very unhealthy meal. The value meals, for instance, do not give you any opportunity to substitute some of the artery-hardening foods with healthier options. If you want to get, say, a burger and a salad, then you can't get a value meal; instead, you have to order the burger and salad separately, which costs more.

Therefore, for the betterment of me and people like me, I'd like to suggest that you adopt a reform that Wendy's--God bless Dave Thomas' sweet soul--recently undertook: when I get a meal, give me the option to include a salad, or a baked potato, or something kinda healthy instead of the fries. And-- ready for this?--let me have some other beverage in my value meal than soda or super-sweet iced tea. Like--oh, I don't know--water. And not just the pink-colored water that shares a spout with the Hi-C. Like real water. Or seltzer perhaps. Juice? Juice would be nice too. Believe it or not, there are a ton of beverages whose primary ingredient is not high fructose corn syrup.

With a simple menu change like this in place, I'm confident you'd have customers taking advantage of the value meal option more often. You'd certainly have me ordering them.

Very truly yours,

Christopher W.

P.S.

Good call on adding the Chicken Selects a few years ago. That was long overdue.