• @jedibob5
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    1203 months ago

    '90s-'00s McDonald’s primarily appealed to kids, as the colorful characters and Happy Meals were a big part of the draw.

    '10s-'20s McDonalds has pivoted to marketing towards adults, in part because they had come under fire for marketing greasy, oversalted calorie bombs to children as the US obesity epidemic took off. The other reason is that mid-to-low income adults became a much more lucrative demographic after decades of wage stagnation basically created an entire generation that’s too tired and overworked to cook for themselves but too poor to go out to eat anywhere else.

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod
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      493 months ago

      Don’t forget that generation also saw home economics classes removed from school, so if they don’t learn to cook from their parents they just don’t learn to cook.

      • Flying SquidOPM
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        103 months ago

        My daughter had whatever they call home ec now (consumer science?) last year when she was in sixth grade. They baked cookies.

        And that was about all I did in home ec back in the late 80s too. That and sew a stuffed animal dog.

        So I don’t know that home ec is actually all that worth it. Not the way it’s been done for decades, anyway.

        Industrial arts was the same way. He had us make wooden tulips after telling a bunch of horror stories about how the power tools would maim you, so I refused to use them. And had I used them, I know now as someone who has used them since that cutting tulip pieces out of a piece of wood with a jigsaw is not much of a learning experience.

        • @garbagebagel
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          73 months ago

          Yeah I definitely didn’t learn to cook at all from home ec. I remember sowing more though and I did learn the basics at least there but it was reinforced in my house, whereas cooking was not as much, so I can’t really tell if it stuck because it was a home thing too.

          I think things like, what we called tech Ed that sounds like your industrial arts, was really more about introducing kids to the concepts and they could find out if it was something they were into. Most people would never attempt or maybe even know how to attempt woodworking if not introduced in school.

          • Flying SquidOPM
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            33 months ago

            Wouldn’t they have to have the tools at home to continue woodworking? That’s pretty expensive. Isn’t that just telling kids ‘here’s something you might learn how to do someday if you aren’t poor?’

            • @garbagebagel
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              23 months ago

              I guess you got a point there hobbywise but I was thinking more like if they’re thinking about college and whatnot, if those activities are something they enjoyed in high school they might consider going into internship or trades for that kind of thing.

      • @[email protected]
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        -283 months ago

        Alternatively, they could take some initiative and use this wonderful tool called the internet…

        • @[email protected]
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          243 months ago

          Did you miss the tired and overworked comment? Feeling exhausted and burned out doesn’t inspire most people to spend a large amount of time and effort learning something new.

        • @fidodo
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          93 months ago

          Telling people to suck it up and just do it is a great way to feel smug while achieving nothing.

        • @jedibob5
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          93 months ago

          I don’t think online resources are necessarily a replacement for in-person classroom instruction, and even if they were, it’s not a reason to take the option of home ec classes away from those who want it.

          That said, I think it’s at least a good thing that so many good internet resources on cooking exist, and it helps mitigate the problem to some degree. Still, it takes time and energy to seek out those resources, learn from them, and put them into practice. Not easy to do for anyone who has been worked far past the point of burnout and are still just scraping by.

        • @[email protected]
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          63 months ago

          Cool. I checked and found the following types, which one should i go to. /s

          • 90% personal blog/vlog with vague cooking tips sprinkled within

          • instruction video where you need a specific device or machine from sponsor brand

          • overly confident with a sidedish of just as clueless and stupid

          • overly confident with a sidedish of overreliance on uncommon tool/machine they assume everyone has

          • recipe which actually makes no sense taste wise but sounds cool on paper and generates clicks

          • legit recipe but ingredients and keywords changed into google buzzword ones (bacon gets more hits then Italian ham)

          • some actually good kitchen instructors that you need to know about in advance cause there burried below the mess.

          I really enjoyed cooking with dog actually, shame that after my workday i am no longer in a condition to operate anything that can burn

        • Semi-Hemi-Demigod
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          53 months ago

          Yeah, those folks who work 16 hours and have no cooking knowledge should go out and buy a bunch of pots and pans and knives and a ton of ingredients. They don’t need to sleep and have plenty of extra money to waste on ruined food.

          What a douchey take.

          • @Num10ck
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            13 months ago

            really they could start somewhere and simple and build from it and be MUCH better off than fast food daily, for nutrition and money and time. throw some raw chicken on a grill and flip it over after 12 minutes. cut some veggies/fruit up. eventually add sauces or cheese or something.

            • @[email protected]
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              03 months ago

              Tell me your work isnt sucking 100% of your energy without saying so.

              To be fair though thats a good thing, no job should exhaust people to the point of rendering them unable to take care of themselves but for many of us that is not reality.

              • @Num10ck
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                -43 months ago

                doesn’t sound sustainable. either partner up and/or reframe your work/life balances.

                • @[email protected]
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                  43 months ago

                  It isn’t sustainable, which is what i am trying to explain my doctor.

                  I already stopped working full time and i landed an otherwise perfect job for me, i have no real bosses and a lot of freedom to choose my work.

                  I just happen to be autistic is all. The way my energy works doesn’t fit with this “work hours concept” a good work balance of me would be going to the office late when its dark, calm and quiet so i can focus, do twice the amount of work in half the time and just go home when i feel tired combined with a no strings attached guaranteed livable income.

                  I can’t partner up to start my own business because the concept of profit is immoral to me. My current job provides tax-paid free healthcare for kids in contrast.

                  The clutch is, so many people aren’t autistic and have it so much worse. Jobs where your boss gets upset because you’re sick, getting pressured to work overtime and still not being able to afford rent. How about cacao farmers who work permanently to pay of a debt to their employers and get fined for missing a days work?

                  The modern world is not sustainable and headed for disaster.

    • @postmateDumbass
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      43 months ago

      Also those grease bomb refugees that were 5-15 during the 90s?

      They were 25-35 for the '10-'20 pivot.

      They never had a chance…

  • @undergroundoverground
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    923 months ago

    No, it doesn’t look like a prison. It looks more like a school or a factory.

    …wait a minute.

    • 𝔼𝕩𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒
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      243 months ago

      It’s not terribly far off. The barebones brutalist style where the chairs are attached to the floor, hard plastic molded tabletops. Lack of items that can be moved or taken completely conveys “do your business and leave”. Obviously a screen that size that wouldn’t be that accessible in a prison, but it only adds the harsh nature and lack of human touch of the room.

      7/10 definetly reminiscent of chow hall.

      • @Telodzrum
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        123 months ago

        brutalist style

        This is in absolutely no way consistent with the brutalist movement.

        • 𝔼𝕩𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒
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          43 months ago

          “Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design.”

          I would welcome expanding my knowledge but what style do you consider buildings of few decorative designs other than their harsh geometric edges and shapes? The inner walls of a prison are often the outer wall. Just straight rows of cinderblock. Inside and outside, the structures lack other architechtural stylings because it creates hiding places or is viewed as extra work/cost during construction.Everything ends in a corner or an edge - no soft edges. As far as my experiences are concerned, that lines up pretty well unless you would rather use the word “spartan” in terms of how little decoration the state puts up.

          • @Telodzrum
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            123 months ago

            This is a great example of how reading a WIkipedia article imparts a lot of information and absolutely zero knowledge. This, this, and this are all extremely good examples of brutalist design. The McDonald’s in the OP in no way is reminiscent of such aesthetic concerns. Both are spartan, certainly; but then, so is a lot of post-modernist design (to say nothing of the various minimalist movements throughout time). I’m not here to debate whether or not prisons are brutalist in design, that’s far too sweeping a category to sum up in one school of design and additionally it’s not the point of the conversation here.

            • 𝔼𝕩𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒
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              3 months ago

              No, I see your point - brutalism is making an interesting structure and shaping internal spaces using building materials as a limitation.

              Where prisons are function-over-form and may appear to meet the style - it is merely coincidental and is not usually artistic expressionism but rather necessity to perform a task.

              McShungles is just ultramodern design that comes from a Corp cheaping out

      • @son_named_bort
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        63 months ago

        That also describes the old McDonald’s. All the seats in the older photo are also attached to the floor with hard plastic molded tables.

    • Flying SquidOPM
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      233 months ago

      I was thinking ‘Apple’ when I saw it, but I didn’t make the meme. So I put it in the title instead. If you change ‘prison’ to ‘designed by Apple,’ it works better.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        no i mean OP. unless OP outright says otherwise, it’s fair to assume they probably have at least a marginally similar opinion to the original creator otherwise why would they post it?

        edit: ok they came and said it outright lol.

  • @Daft_ish
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    453 months ago

    I’ve don’t think this person has seen prison.

  • @I_Fart_Glitter
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    453 months ago

    I grew up with this McDonald’s, it had a jukebox. My sister had life threatening food allergies, so we only ever went there to get orange juice, but I still loved it.

    • Flying SquidOPM
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      193 months ago

      The Rock 'n Roll McDonalds in Chicago was pretty cool when I went to it as a kid. Looks like it’s gone now.

    • @Rolando
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      173 months ago

      Your sister risked death so you all could hang out at a place with a shark’s head biting a surfboard. Respect.

      • Flying SquidOPM
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        63 months ago

        If there were ever anything worth risking death over, it would be to hang out at a place with a shark’s head biting a surfboard.

        Also, that was like all we had to do back in the 80s when cartoons weren’t on.

    • Cyborganism
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      3 months ago

      🎶 Denver, the last dinosaur. He’s my friend and a whole lot more!🎶

  • @fidodo
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    373 months ago

    Old MacDonalds was a trip gone bad

  • @cley_faye
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    323 months ago

    I miss everything having distinctive features, personality, and allowing themselves to use colors and shapes.

    Restaurants, business logo and branding in general, apps, everything getting normalized to the death. I know a large part of that is accessibility and cost reduction, but it’s a bit sad.

    In my town, subway stations where all themed around what’s above them. No two stations where the same (there isn’t a lot, so there’s that). Now that the network is getting extensions and the old stations are remade, they’re all flat, white walls with square lights, flat uniform labels (harder to see, since they’re lined with the walls). If you were dropped in one without indication, it’d take some time to even know where you are.

    • Flying SquidOPM
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      153 months ago

      And just none of it is fun anymore. Noble Roman’s Pizza, before it became gas station pizza, had windows where kids could watch them make the pizza and they showed old silent movies and cartoons on the wall. It was awesome.

      Now? Even the McDonalds playgrounds I’ve driven past look depressing.

      • credit crazy
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        113 months ago

        Tbh I’m finding that to be quite the trend for everything today as a car guy do see some cars being cool and fun but compared to the 50s when even their equivalent of a Prius shit box was still trying so hard to look like a god damn spaceship rocket thing with so many colors that almost every car had two colors per car green and pink where common place today everything is ether trying to look like a ford focus or a SUV brick granted I currently work at a Toyota dealership so I’m constantly surrounded by Toyota cars that are in my opinion are the blandest of bland cars that only good because of their reliability Honestly even when modern cars try to copy old car design they always end up looking like the old car having a allergic reaction

        • @Soleos
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          83 months ago

          I mean there you go, Toyota’s are appliances. They have to look bland because their style has to remain inoffensive after decades on the road.

          That being said, I’m impressed with how much style they’ve managed to put on the new Prius while still aiming for long-term fleet vehicle role. I also like what they’re trying to do with the BZ4 styling wise, even if it’s a compromised first gen product.

          There’s also always the Supra and LC500 :3

      • Queen HawlSera
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        43 months ago

        in my state, NC, they don’t even have the playgrounds anymore (I think they outlawed fast food joints being allowed to have play places, as I typically only see them when I vacation in Virginia)

    • @UsernameIsTooLon
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      63 months ago

      I think there’s now a law about the modernization/regulation of fast food restaurants. Just so we don’t have a bunch of leftover Pizza Hut buildings anymore when a store closes.

  • @LazyBane
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    293 months ago

    Probably good that a junk food merchant isn’t marketing to kids to heavily.

    • Queen HawlSera
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      63 months ago

      What makes you think they’re marketing to kids?

      I mean we are living in an age where Call of Duty’s audience is 14 year olds and Pokemon’s audience is like 40

    • @bitwaba
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      13 months ago

      They’re not marketing to kids because those kids grew up and are adults now.

      • @LazyBane
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        23 months ago

        They’re not marketing to kids becuase:

        A) it’s illegal in some countries

        B) It should rightfully be looked down on

    • @[email protected]
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      33 months ago

      nordic prisons are unironically way nicer than this, they’re basically particularly boring and secure dormitories with normal looking (if very clean) rooms.

  • @Stovetop
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    203 months ago

    Gotta love the bottom picture.

    Gigantic displays that can theoretically put whatever message you want on there before people interact with them.

    Each has two printed leaflets taped to the sides.

  • @[email protected]
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    203 months ago

    That tree looks like the stranger on the street who offers to babysit your daughters for free.

    • @helpImTrappedOnline
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      23 months ago

      And you say “okay… come on over” and make sure that stranger is never seen again.

  • @[email protected]
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    203 months ago

    Idk if other countries had this period, but there was a time where mcdonalds in sweden all had these semi-transparent glittery green glass mosaics on the walls and that is 100% the nicest it has ever been, it was actually nice to look at and the generally dark interiors made it very comfortable to be there.

    The current interiors are… okay, but so fucking uninspired… At least they have some wood panels here and there, but christ would it kill them to tone down all the stark white?

      • @[email protected]
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        33 months ago

        it was! It baffles me that they changed it because during that era it was genuinely quite nice to go to mcdonalds and just hang out over some food.

          • @[email protected]
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            13 months ago

            I mean, i definitely think the new touchscreen displays for ordering are pretty cool.

            My conclusion is more that capitalism sucks and higher-ups are blithering idiots who make worse decisions than a random number generator.

            • @[email protected]
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              3 months ago

              This is true. Its one of my better arguments for revolution.

              This society is not for you, in the sense that even with all the efficiency of machinery/automation and economies og scale and expert craftsmen, its probably still less work for your clumsy not-a-boat-maker ass to look up a wikihow and build a boat from scratch than it is for you to ‘earn’ enough to buy a boat.

              Its less work and expense to grow food from scratch to feed starving kids in your community than it is to lobby the government to use food that would have been thrown away to feed kids.

              And I don’t know if any random stranger would make good decisions that wouldn’t get lots of people killed, but making any random dipshit off the street supreme emperor of earth, you wouldn’t get, on average, worse decisions than our current oligarchs. Like, basically anyone could do better. Maybe not good enough; we’ve got some apocalypses on the horizon, but at least not worse. And I think we could do better than random dipshit emperor if we put our anything to it.