THE PLANK APRIL 2, 2008
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Today's Wall Street Journal has an interview with Burger Kind CEO John Chidsey. I found this passage, where he explains why fast food companies are thriving, pretty telling:
If you look in the fast-food hamburger space, it is unfortunate for the greater economy as a whole, but we benefit from the pressure people feel from a disposable-income standpoint. People who cannot afford to go to Applebee's, cannot afford to go to Chili's, we are the beneficiaries of that squeeze.
--Jonathan Chait
11 comments
Carbs are cheap; Protein is expensive.
- The Ignorant Populist
April 2, 2008 at 6:46pm
House foreclosed? Here's how to win it back: Invest in fast food. Don't have money to invest in stock? Use your $600 rebate check from the government. See, it'll offset the loss of your home in no time!
- rozenson
April 2, 2008 at 7:16pm
Wait till the inner-BK landscape starts changing too, when people start to migrate to the regular and away from the double whopper. That'll mean we're really in trouble!
- ironyroad
April 2, 2008 at 7:28pm
It also makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. When humans begin to worry about their ability to care and provide for their loved ones - or if they see trouble on the horizon - they instinctually pack on as many pounds as possible to compensate for potential food shortages in the future.
- virginiacentrist
April 2, 2008 at 8:26pm
What is this "hamburger space" and why isn't NASA sending probes to explore it?
- ratnerstar
April 2, 2008 at 8:27pm
Well, as a lifelong bachelor for 37 years, I'd say I stopped going into restaurants where you tip a waiter or waitress about 10 years ago. I've always averred that it's woefully wasteful. Why the hell should I pay extra just for someone to bring my food to the table? I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself. And the way I see it, food is just something I need to survive. That's why I either get 99-cent items at Burger King, Jack in the Box, or McDonalds or buy 99-cent microwavable items from the grocery store -- I don't need overpriced baby-back ribs from Chili's and the like. It's just frigging food any way you slice it. What really cracks me up are elderly people who go to overpriced cafeterias for food they're perfectly capable of fixing at home, because they're the ones who gripe that Social Security isn't enough income yet blow crucial dollars of their income for eating out. Nowhere in the Constitution is it written that they're entitled the money to eat out, nor is it written that a family of 4 is equally entitled to eat at Appleby's and T.G.I. Fridays and the like every weekend like so many families robotically do as if they're all pod people. So bravo to fast-food places that are getting improved business nowadays. They offer nondescript food at good prices that may not be as tasty as meat at Outback Steakhouse but are perfectly fine nevertheless.
- kevincollins
April 2, 2008 at 9:58pm
Wow, I was hopped up on caffeine and yet still managed to miss this typo:
" Burger Kind"
King!
- bcbaird
April 2, 2008 at 10:21pm
Jon, did you really mean "Burger Kind"? Is that some kind of farce?
- thetraytiger
April 2, 2008 at 10:57pm
Kevin you pretty much summed up why you're a bachelor.
- peter1943
April 3, 2008 at 12:32am
I also think it's funny that Mr. Chindsey (the CEO) chose to refer to his strategy as a "barbell" strategy. Traditionally that sort of distribution (large at the low and high ends and small in the center) is referred to as a "fat tail" distribution but I can see why that would prove problematic for Burger King.
- dhchait
April 3, 2008 at 1:32pm
It must be true that fast-food chains benefit from economic bad times--Ronald McDonald moved from a ground
- Anonymous
April 9, 2008 at 8:24pm