Category Archives: Business

McDonald’s has the Worst In-Store Menus

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The font size on the menus in McDonald’s restaurants is way too small. The font size does not honor the integrity of the visual abilities of most people. It’s really quite bizarre. They are the worst in-store menus I’ve ever seen. I wonder if the graphic designers ever stood and looked at the menus after they were manufactured. Maybe an executive or manager made them design them this way against their will!

But I suppose, what can we expect from the corporation that is costing the global population billions of dollars in healthcare expenses due to the unhealthiness of the food they serve? On the other hand, it’s not really all their fault. McDonald’s operates within systems, those being markets and governments and even culture, which tend to emphasize elements first, relationships second, and proximities last. So, for example, elements like money and individuals (people’s own momentary desires and point of view) tend to get the most attention and effort. Relationships often come second, such as relationships with friends, other customers and employees, as well as relationships between food and health, vitality and energy. Last comes awareness and efforts regarding the general health and well-being of the population, the environment, healthcare expenses, and sustainability, all of which are aspects of proximities related to situations involving food and eating. Of course, most of us operate within such dysfunctional systems. So you can’t have really high expectations for most anyone or anything.

What is needed are models which allow for and integrate elements, relationships, and proximities, letting us think about and relate to each as appropriate. The ProxThink growth model is an attempt at a such a model. And it is more than just a set of ideas. The growth model can be implemented in what is called the sustainable proximities approach, which can complement or augment existing systems if needed, as well as be deployed on its own.

Horrible Movie Seats

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I had the most horrible experience at the movies last night. We saw this new film called “A Dangerous Method.” We sat in the second row, far off to the right side. I spent the whole time looking far up and to the left, at gigantic distorted faces (due to the severe angle from my seat). The movie was sold out so we couldn’t move to better seats.

NO ONE should EVER be seated that close to the screen. Well, and have to pay for it. Maybe if they paid me to sit there, that would’ve been different. It was such a strange, uncomfortable experience that it was hard to pay attention to the film. They should not even have seats installed that close to the screen!

I’m not sure if it was the movie theater designers, or the business owners, but people were not thinking when they designed that theater. We were at the Landmark Theatre at 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.

The theater owners and designers both had poor ProxAwareness, as far as being aware of what sitting there is actually like.

Their ProxSet for this situation included the elements of money, and the customer’s experience, and of course other elements. It seems they honored the integrity of the element of money more than the element of the customer’s experience! This strategy can often work in the short term, and often not work in the long term.

Of course it didn’t help that “A Dangerous Method” is so far out of the ordinary experience of most people, that it might as well be a science fiction film. It didn’t honor the integrity of what being a human being is like, to any great degree.

So many films these days depend on some gimmick or contrived situation. I had hoped that “A Dangerous Method” would be different, but somehow it really wasn’t.

I suggest that David Cronenberg take some time off from moviemaking, and spend more time with regular people. Ordinary life is far more interesting and full of possibilities.

Of course I’m not saying there isn’t a market for David Cronenberg’s films. And of course I might have liked the film more, and been less cranky, if I hadn’t had such horrible movie seats!

Landmark Theatres may have other blind spots. I’d be glad to help them do some proximity thinking via seminars, collaboration or idea sessions.