Why do people eat McDonalds?

‘cuz it’s fast and cheap (dollar menu). If you’re in the right mood, it can be tasty.

Because their fries are laced with crack. I’m sure of it.

I just need one more, man. I swear..

If you have very little money, you can eat three meals a day there for $10.

If I didn’t work at a farm, surrounded by good, healthy food all day and have a wife that cooks like an angel – it would be an option.

Because there isn’t a good enough reason to boycott for most of us, plus I exercise a whole bunch so anything from there doesn’t really do anything bad to me that I can’t exercise off in an hour.

I am partial to their Diet Coke. Other than that it would have to be a near emergency to eat a Grilled Chicken sandwich. Although, I will say a plain hamburger is pretty good and I will eat one on rare occasions.

Psh, it’s all about the cheeseburger, baby. And we’re totally not talking thanks to your Batman comment. Consider yourself shunned.

24hr drive thru gets me everytime.

Vin, which is more likely? That everyone in the world who eats at McDonalds doesn’t realize “the food and service is always terrible”, or that maybe, just maybe, your experiences and tastes aren’t typical?

Get over yourself. If you don’t want to eat there, don’t. There are plenty of food options. Find one that you like, and get over your obsession with telling other people they’re wrong for liking something you don’t.

I think the majority of Americans choose food based on how it tastes, with the relative healthiness of the food being, at most, a distant second. And while I, personally, believe that there is food out there that is much tastier than Mickey D’s, they have spent a lot of money on taste testing, focus groups, and food “science” in order to figure out just the right flavoring agents to spray on their food to make people crave it.

Also, there’s the ad budget. And, how “cheap” it is, as long as you’re only looking at the cost on the menu and not what it does to your body. (With more and more working class and poor people, this is a concern.) There’s also time constraint – it doesn’t always take 35 minutes in line, and even when it does, that’s still less time than it takes to make a real meal with real ingredients on a weeknight.

Another thing to remember: some parents who have better taste and sense also find it much easier to compromise on those than to listen to the kids whine and whine about McD’s, and will sometimes do anything it takes, including eat fatty garbage food, to shut them up.

Cost, convenience, engineered flavors, an ad budget, and being a cultural institution – it’s amazing more people don’t eat there. People, very often, are sheep.

I found myself picking up breakfast there this month because I don’t typically like to eat breakfast first thing in the morning (and I like to sleep in), and because my work involved bicycle delivery (i.e. I was burning the calories). Eating their food in the car is a relatively easy and clean experience. Also, there coffee is rated well and is much cheaper than Charbucks, and the salads aren’t too bad every so often.

They did a study with kids and placed the same food (not McDonalds) in a plain container and a McDonalds container, the majority of them preferred the McDonalds food…we’ve been brainwashed since birth!

It’s just so convenient and cheap and wonderfully bad for you.
Great, now I’m craving McDonald’s food…

It was great when I was in high school and had 25 minutes between scenes when I was working in the theatre… And I’ll stop by every once in awhile when I’m on roadtrips because it’s fast, cheap, and easy. And it tastes good once in awhile, but after reading The Jungle and Fast Food Nation, I’m waaaaay less interested in fast food and meat in general.

I have a toddler and when I’m in a hurry, it’s way easier to go to the McDonald’s drive thru than to get her out of the car (and usually in the car she’s sleeping so I’d have to wake her up) carrying her in, dealing with standing on line and carrying food while she either walks away or i have to carry her (and it’s impossible to carry her and deal with the food and getting drink, etc). the drive thru is way easier. I always think to myself that if a restaurant in my area had salads and a drive thru I would go there, but no such luck (entrepreneurs take note). And yes, I am aware that McDonald’s has salads.

Also the dollar menu is very tempting when I don’t want to spend $8—$10 that I would spend if i went to a deli or something. I admit to going to McDonald’s about once a week now that I have a baby. Before baby, never (I read Fast Food Nation-that’s part of the reason).

@jca: Fast Food Nation scared the crap out of me, haha. It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten beef, no lie.

Not all beef is the same stuff that the fast fooderies use. I feel a little queasy eating cows that ate chicken manure and litter, too. On the other hand, pasture-raised beef doesn’t have a lot of the same problems, is leaner, and even the fat that remains in it is less bad for you.

also, i know that they serve newman’s own coffee, which is probably why people have been telling me that they have great coffee there.

The coffee is pretty good and cheaper than places like Starbucks and you can get it at the drive thru, which is great for road trips.

I won’t eat the regurgitated garbage that passes for food at McDonald’s, so you are not alone. and mritty’s reply seems a little on the pissy side to me, I wonder who crapped on his fries?

The food tastes good, is easy and fast to obtain, and is inexpensive.

It’s cheap and addictive. Where else can you get a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone for a buck? They now have healthy options on the menu. Check out the McDonalds Nutrition info – it’s not so bad if you eat the right things. Just spend 30 minutes at the PlayPlace and burn it all off. They need to make a PlayPlace for adults.

Because their big mac are effin bomb!...and those fries…ugh….seriously. drools