Outside my window in the South of Market section of San Francisco, it’s pretty easy to tell when we’re having an economic downturn. The traffic becomes incredibly light. That is true for much of the Bay Area during rush hour. But there is one place where there is still a logjam of cars. The drive-thru at McDonald’s.
Eating healthy meals can be time-consuming and/or expensive. During bad economic times, people tend to drop the healthy stuff and head towards the dollar menu drive-thrus. They also tend to put off health care issues unless they are immediately serious. Add that up and you’ve got a lot of people who are going to show up with diet-related illnesses in years to come.
Hitting up the drive-through is cheap, no-hassle and easy to rationalize; those off-the-charts levels of fat, sodium and sugar feel like they can be dealt with in better days. Owing in part to psychology like this (lower fuel costs helped too), McDonald’s Corp. this week announced that it has defied the worldwide economic downturn, posting a first-quarter profit of $980 million, up 4 percent from last year. Burger King’s most recent U.S. sales figures were also up 1.6 percent, according to the chain.
In a recession, buy golden arches.
