My Happy Meal Includes a Strawberry Shake

The start of a brand new year, one of the coldest days so far in the northeast and I have a craving...

for a strawberry shake.

I find it is best to just give in to the craving.  After all, how often do I eat this way?  McDonald's is definitely on the rare side of the scale.  How pretty was that shake though?  So thick and sweet topped with whipped cream and a CHERRY!  When did that happen?

I would like to think every bite of food shared with others and creating memories leads to feeling Fed Well, but if the golden arches proclaim it to be "pure joy," well, that sounds pretty fabulous.

I spend my day job in consumer research and product claims are a part of my work.  Is it puffery to claim every bite will be "pure joy?"  

Does it matter?  With the level of brand recognition McDonald's enjoys, do their slogans or tag lines really weigh heavily on their consumer's mind?  I know what the food tastes like, I know it is convenient and I know it will currently satisfy a craving.  Enough said.

I am a little suspicious about them calling out the 100% pure beef claim.  Do they want me to think about the pink slime?

I really used to enjoy a traditional hamburger happy meal sometimes until they changed the fries to apple slices.  If I go to McDonald's, again, I know what I am getting myself into and look forward to the deep fried, salty, and bit of "bad."  Slipping me fruit is agitating.  I create my own version of the old favorite and upgrade the fries and enjoy my strawberry shake.

Was it pure joy?  No, but it was just what I wanted at the time and the memory will sustain me for quite awhile.  The best memories of fast food meals go back to my teen years when a friend worked at the local chain...I escape for a few minutes and am left feeling happily Fed Well.