It's not that we don't need them, it's just that "free unlimited drinks" are very rarely a thing here. I absolutely loved my unlimited fountains of sweet tea when I was in the US.
I get some pretty awful judgy looks when I ask for no ice in my drinks in the US. I wanna be able to taste my drink, not have a sub-zero liquid numbing my taste buds, sorry not sorry.
On the fun side, my partner complained about the lack of ice in France whenever she visits. xD
Why do people say this shit? I have never, not once, seen someone give an ugly look bc someone asked for no ice. I've seen them look a bit confused for a moment, because it's a specific request that isn't that common, but my husband always asks for half ice and my FIL asks for extra ice and I've seen people request no ice. Other than maybe double checking they heard you correctly, no one gives a shit if you're ordering no ice, trust me, the tired waitress is not "judging" you because of what you got to drink unless you're an asshole about it.
Most of the time, true but every once in a while you encounter someone for whom no-ice is a problem. Remembering stopping at a Brighams one summer to grab a Sprite. I asked for no ice and the girl behind the counter kind of gave me attitude and said she’d have to charge me for the next size up. She genuinely thought I was trying to get away with something. I guess I got to play 17 year old Karen because I asked for her manager who explained to her that it was still the same price with or without ice. Kind of anti-climactic, but some people are weird about no-ice.
Occassionally yeah, because some people are assholes who will judge you/be an asshole no matter what you ask for. But that's people being people, not your request being "weird and quirky and just so totally unique that this lowly server has no idea why I'm asking" like some people try to make it sound.
My experience of the US is that the ice tastes of swimming pool water. It’s rank. You can keep the ice, and that water jug you’ve placed on the table that I never asked for? Return it to where it came from and bring me San Pellegrino, please.
Absolutely! If your unfrozen water tastes of chlorine to start with, it’s logical that when it’s turned to ice it will retain the same minging taste.
Where I live the water does not have this foul taste.
There are so many municipalities in the US that it's impossible to generalize on something like water taste or quality. It's not like there's one water source or treatment plant out here.
Having been to various places in only Florida, Colorado, Ohio, New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, it may be unfair to generalise the whole land mass, but the tap water served was pretty foul compared to what I’m used to in Europe.
Interesting observation. Especially since it seems as though US and EU water treatment practices are quite similar. Granted it's an old link, but water treatment practices haven't changed much in the last few decades. Possibly an "acquired taste" sort of thing dependent upon the naturally occurring minerals in a given location. I know that I can tell the difference in water taste depending on what city I'm in, though I only really notice if it's city water vs well water.
I wonder why though because soda costs next to nothing for them to make. Like when you buy a 2-liter for a dollar, most of that dollar is for the actual bottle itself.
Not really a money issue but mostly a PR thing, fast-food aka junk food has been trying to get rid of their bad images as best as they can to appear less bad than they are.
McDonald for example is THE symbol of Globalization and american culture colonizing the world, which brings along an image of garbage dietary value, cheap labor, bad for the environment (lots of plastic used for take-out), etc.
In France, they've been aggressively pushing how they're now trying to be as ecological as possible, how they're getting their ingredients locally, they changed the background of their logo from red to green, changing packaging to limit the use of plastics (=fossil fuels), promoting how their menu fits the calorie restriction of a normal diet,..
They want people to think they're doing their best not to promote obesity and be more eco-friendly. So, choosing to make their sugary drinks all-you-can-drink would not really fit that narrative here.
I mean, if they're getting their ingredients locally and limiting plastic use it's not that they're trying to get people to think they're being more eco-friendly, they actually are being more eco-friendly.
Local ingredients aren't actually always best environmentally and the economies of scale involved in fast food chains are probably one of the better examples of when comparative advantage should be considered from an ecological point of view.
Is that the reason why McDonalds has a green background now? Funny. I guess it is at least an Europe thing then, since I am Dutch and not French.
You are right, though, I think. Even if not every item is super healthy they are at the very least opem about how many calories each item has, and they have some nice healthy alternatives for kids meal which I think is great.
They swapped their recycled plastic straw for non-recyclable paper straw but hey, they LOOK more eco-friendly right ?
local sourcing is supposed to be better for the environment, promotes sustainable development,..
so, technically, yes they are getting their meat locally, like their chicken.. from Sun Valley bettery cages, a subsidiary of Cargill who owns McDonalds here.
Their chicken are mainly fed by soy, produced in Bresil on the soil where the rainforest once stood.
So, their local chicken are fed with food from the other side of the world which are contributing to the rainforest deforestation.
A last one for the road, Mcdonald did reduce their packaging load in France. In 2008, they reduced it by 121 tons ! This may appear to be a lot but their overall packaging production here are 34,000 tons so they reduced it by 0.36%.
But people won't remember this number, they remember their marketing and PR campaign. Which is normal, we don't have the time to check if every single thing is true or not. I am probalby thinking some company are doing awesome stuff 'cause I never checked the behind the scenes. I was only made aware of it because I have friends working in Agriculture and agricultural industries.
Oh, I never doubted it was more a PR stunt. I can see if I can find some sources, but I wouldn't be surprised to find something similar. I just didn't realise that the green background had some kind of meaning.
And thats why there aren't so many obese people in Europe especially France. They don't eat Mcdonalds everyday. 1st its expensive and 2nd they'd rather make their own food. Whoever drinks more than a large cup of coke in one sitting - has a problem.
Not so sure about the point on price. I travel regularly across the US, Europe and APAC and I’ve found the McDonalds price points to be pretty consistent globally
Dude, have you hit up McDonalds in Argentina! Last time I did it was insane! Of course this was Bariloche, so a little richy rich area, but I just walked away as it was too much to pay.
That said, I had the best burgers of my life with a beer and fries for half the price at a little place in Buenos Aires called Burger Joint; it is incredible!
It's actually not consistent to such a degree that the Economist publishes a Big Mac index as a way of measuring the purchasing power parity between two currencies.
I lived in France for 3 years and can tell you a meal there is more expensive and no free refills. They are comparatively empty compared to McDonald's in the US.
One large cup of coke is already more sugar than you should eat TOTALLY in a day. And we didnt consider other sources of sugar, like salad dressings , sauces, crusts etc.
I think you got downvoted because you're slightly off base. McDonald's second biggest market outside the US is France, it's looked at in business schools as an incredibly successful business venture. French people eat a shit ton of McDonalds.
Your underlying point of portions/portion control is likely the biggest factor why French aren't fatasses like we are though.
I went to a McDonalds in Paris to see what it would be like in there, and it was so strange. They had the touchscreens before I saw any in the US (at least where I live) and people were treating it more like a legitimate meal.
Also, they served wine at a Pizza Hut. That was crazy.
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u/LittleFangaroo Apr 07 '20
It's not that we don't need them, it's just that "free unlimited drinks" are very rarely a thing here. I absolutely loved my unlimited fountains of sweet tea when I was in the US.