Tag: McDonald

My McBite

My first American solo supper was a big Whopper, at the time, sold by the leading Burger King.

The next day, I sampled McDonald known for its fries. You may say, I got myself into a blind-fold test not unlike Coke vs Pepsi tasting.

To this day, my number-one choice would be In-and-Out. But seeing McDonald opening its first restaurant in Vietnam, the taste of my first McBite brings back warm memories. Of friendship and winter cold, of people who care for total strangers in Happy Valley (petition to change Beaver Stadium to Paterno Field now surpassed 61,000 designed goal mark).

Penn State in the mid-70’s was the place to be: fast football, fast food with no fast lane. None of us would think of driving “fast and furious”. Just walk and jog, any time of the day and night. You would have to be really anti-social to not land a date on the weekend. We were “trapped” there in the valley.

Guess where we would go for a bite off-campus? Hardees, Roy Rogers, Arby’s, Burger King and of course, McDonald.

Who would have guessed with automation and standardization that the last has become first? Not a bad legacy for a traveling milk-shake machine man from Oak Brook, IL. Later, I traveled the same trail, going West. From suburban Chicago graduate school over San Bernardino ” until the sun comes up from Santa Monica”.

I have  had my shares of McBite, on road trips or just to baby-sit generations of kids in my family: niece and daughters.

Vietnam will get its first McBite after this year’s Tet. The once forbidden foods will taste so divine.

It’s not the burger nor the fries. It’s the culture of efficiency, cleanliness and consistency across the franchising empire.

Doing the same thing 10,000 times. Bruce Lee would have been scared (of someone practicing the same kick 10,000 times).

It all started with identifying and solving a problem: milkshake takes time and slows down the fast-food delivery process.

America’s beat generation was into outdoors (Happy Days): outdoor movies, outdoor picnic (station wagon) and outdoor concert.

Mr Kroc spotted an opportunity and zoomed in on it. The rest was history.

You bet I will get my first McBite when it finally arrives here in Saigon. And I won’t even wait to be asked “You want fries with it?”

(As of this edit, promise said, promise kept. See My McBite pt II VN).

Out here, like last night, Saigon young demographic was into outdoor cruising (on motorbike) as well. And McDonald here promises “drive through”. I think they meant “ride through”. Whichever way, the young patrons should know that they will be enjoying their first taste of milkshake, which started it all.  There is no turning back once automation and standardization took over. Algorithm and formula, mechanical precision and predictability. All hallmarks of 21-century society living on technique.

Taste just happens to be a side order. Bonjour McDonald, bye-bye  memory. The future is officially here. Turn back not, just like the time when I had my first McBite. Deep down inside, I knew it’s symbolic but nonetheless solid that my life has taken a turn for good. It’s that melodramatic. But you have to understand the context of  spending winter cold Christmas alone in Happy Valley, PA.

On being an influencer

Like it or not, we all are either on the receiving or giving end of Influence.

But few understand what constitute sphere of influence.

A study on the subject, by Cialdini , lists below elements:

– Like (ability). This is self-explanatory. When you like someone or are liked by someone, nothing can go wrong.

This explains the “a priori” principle: we read into a situation or person due to our early imprints (trust that face that resembles mother’s – Oil Olay commercial uses “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face ” to resonate and resurrect that trust). Charismatic personalities, cinematic and telegenic figures all got our vote of confidence (Kennedy-Reagan).

– Social proof. The majority get to decide and have the final say (free election, trial by jury). We took this at face value (in experiment, a decoy looked up to a highrise. After a while, a huge crowd gathered to look up to the sky as well.) Conformity principle is a sub-set of this: pagelink, youtube, McDonald (billions burgers served).

– Consistency. We need that congruence between past choices and new ones. That way, we can live with ourselves.

e.g. membership fees and bulk buying (Costco and other Reward cards). Ultimate antidote to “buyer’s  remorse” (Zappos free-shipping for returned merchandise – relies on people’s resigning to a faith accompli).

– Reciprocity.  “loss leaders“: they first scratched our backs, then, we scratch theirs. Customer life-time value is worth much more than an initial and temporal “loss”. This is where brand and habit buying takes over ( path of least resistance ). Casinos give out VIP free rooms and/or buffet.

– Scarcity. How many times have we seen an ad, then rushed to the store, just to find out the item was no longer available. Then, with a rain-check , we are more convinced (influenced) due to scarcity. Right now, investors are worried that I-phone 5 are in short supplies.

– Authority. The ultimate pair-association in advertising: Angelina Jolie , Sean Connery and the Gucci bags.

We want to identify with and project ourselves onto these icons. After all, 007 has ducked the bullets for 50 years.  What if we can be like them (immortal), in some ways? Well, they travel light and high on Gucci. That purse got cloud.

It got their endorsements. Their “Likes”. After all, 007 must know how to choose his “gadgets” .

Now you know. We influence and be influenced by others. A test: put your parents through this check list. See if each and every single item fits the bill. I bet you they did. Our parents: our ultimate influencers. They first gave us life (reciprocity), then they sustained us (sorry, I have to use the past tense in my case) – commitment and consistency, from cradle to the grave.

Then when they were gone, there are no replacement (scarcity). Of course, they were the authority (I still wanted to buy those sesame-seed cakes my Dad and I used to eat after our weekly noodle  breakfast or mom’s fermented rice for snacks).

And I like them. They liked me. Social proof: everyone likes and loves their parents. Period. Case closed.

Knowing these principles, you can improve your sphere of influence, or be innoculated against unsubstantiated claims of social proof, or build better resistance against those who initiated reciprocity cycle (Hari Khrishna free roses at the airport).

Be the best influencer you can be. It’s a world-wide web in need of good and selfless influencer like yourself. Keep feeding the network, pay forward. When good men just stood by and did nothing, we would end up with the wild wild web.

The flow

We woke to all sorts of noise, among them the flow of traffic.

Resting by the lake after my few-mile run in the heat, I noticed all sorts of creatures: squirrels, rabbits and ducks.

As peaceful as could be, yet we don’t often say “I’ve got peace like a lake”. We say, “I ‘ve got peace like a river”.

River flows. Water moves. Ocean and  tide. Moon and Mars. Can’t stay still. Thought flow, money flow from hand to hand.

New games got invented everyday. Skin rejuvenation, sex drive rejuvenation and self-reinvention. Press “reset”. Be kind and rewind.

Get to be old hats.

One birthday piles up on top of another.

Summer time.

Vacation time.

Sabbatical.

Just lay low. Under the radar. Poor man’s vacation. But vacation nonetheless.

Dollar Stores are still doing well. Costco is expanding. And any kind of drinks is still sold for a buck at McDonald’s.

Money is changing hands, but not a lot .

Us, playing and making a living by being in the middle, got less, by the percentage.

Nokia shut down its offices at home. Industries see a lot of volatility and fluctuation.

Brands however endure especially in uncertain times: Ford, Coke and Costco. Sweet and more sweet as we got sweated.

Got to reward ourselves. Got to have that Gatorade, under the scorching sun. Can only stand in opportunities’ way that long. Not without taking a break . Jackson Brown says, ” opportunity likes to dance with those who were already on the dancing floor”. So swing and sway, but stay the course. Go with the flow of music. The tempo will change. It always does, even in the worst of times. Even now, things don’t stay static. It flows even when we are asleep.

Pass the torch

At 95, the founder of Peace Corps left us to figure out world affairs by ourselves.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/sns-ap-us-obit-shriver,0,2461815.story

I used to shine my dad’s shoes, while he slicked his hair back. From where I sat, he appeared a towering figure.

Men from that generation ( like Burt Lancaster’s “From Here to Eternity”) stood erect,  principled and was willing to pay hefty price

(the costs of WWII got the US a deficit of 110%).

With GI bill, they went back to school, and from there, a two-front race (with Japan on the economic front, and Russia the cold front). We saw a shift to industrialization (and suburbanization and standardization, so sterile that the Flower Generation revolted by putting stickers on their Beetle’s bumper to “brand” themselves). With cheap fuel, we got drive-in movies, and McDonald’s drive-through.

Sinatra and Elvis the Pelvis first pushed the envelope, then the Baby Boomer gen questioned everything. Skepticism ruled the day.

(I still remembered one classmate’s comment that “they kept us in school to keep the unemployment rate down”).

Their legacy remains with us today (coffee-house, open source, social network etc..).

They would rather go overseas to teach ( Peace Corps) and to build (Habitat for Humanity), than to bomb.

“Ask not…”.

Have you seen “Special Olympics” just for disabled children?

The husband sent young American volunteers overseas, while his wife cheering “Special Olympians” at home

(son-in-law kept promising that “I’ll be back”). Bono who sang “I still haven’t found, what I am looking for” had a close-tied memory of them.

“Nobody does it better”. I often got a knock on the door just to see two guys in short sleeves and black tie (the Mormons). At least, they dedicated themselves to learn a foreign language (good enough to get appointed to ambassadorship in China). At the end of life (in this case, 95-year-run), what would be our legacy?

No longer with hair, boomers (born in between 46-64) are retiring en mass, but still with elastic age (male) and cosmetic surgery (female).

Hefner just got engaged again, while Demi Moore hooked up with man demi-age.

The Greatest Generation preceded Boomers’ and their strong stance gave rise to a Hegelian anti-thesis ( “the Kids are all right” or Elton John on the magazine cover again, this time with husband-and- baby to redefine the nuclear family). So, the Industrial revolution (itself anti-thesis to the agrarian past) is now winding down to pass the torch to the digital natives. Each generation must define their space, whether it is a cow barn or a cubicle, or caught in a smokestack or smokescreen. And when they are on the move, it’s in their own term and time-table. Many chose Peace Corps. Others simply back-pack on this Lonely Planet, a self-imposed draft. Louis L’Amour was right,

the problem with mankind is that he cannot stay in one place.

Today, people still want to study abroad, but not in Oxford or Cambridge. They are turning East, just as Harvey Cox predicted 40+ years ago (remember the George Harrison learning the sitar, which we will hear again in Norwegian Wood, the film).

It’s get too crowded, hence innovation by necessity. There aren’t that much room at the top, hence flat organization.

As a famous line from the sixties “what it is ain’t exactly clear”. But something is definitely happenin!.

The torch will get passed on. Time does the very best of us in. Stay hungry, stay connected.

 

Recovering in Joseph’s way

There are some positive upward movements today.

Brought to mind Joseph story i.e. recovery from the seemingly bottomless pit (put there by who else but his own brothers).

But Joseph managed to press “reset”, reinvent himself (befriending the warden), to eventually rise to be Chief of Staff.

What did he have ? Persistence, ability to turn revenge into reward, and finally took the high road (of forgiveness).

We can take a page or two from that play book.

Great men were great not because they managed to avoid the bottom.  Precisely the opposite: they face it and not face down.

(Churchill’s line : never, never, give up. Although he later admitted to making a mistake by going by the gold standard during post-war resettlement).

Just make sure your stance is sturdy . My trainer said he could tell the shape you are in by watching how you squat.

What ever the stage of grief we are in, press “reset” and move on .

I have seen companies that thrived (McDonald’s and McAfee), folded (Circuit City and Bebo) or acquired

( Burger King by 3-G Capital and Hertz by Dollar.)

In crisis there is opportunity (builders in San Bruno are called back to work).

So begins our long climb out of the pit. One step at a time. Oh, don’t forget our Joseph who decided early on that the best revenge is sweet success, success that spills over and lifts everyone, frien-emies included.

 

Defunct fast

Fast food companies got fast funding last week: Wendy, then BK.

For the past two years, I have stopped by BK twice, each time, for the buy-one-get-one-whopper-free deal.

We will look back to this Recession as a house-cleaning era, when BK might mean bankruptcy, or Burger King.

HUD Secretary was interviewed on Capital Connection this weekend. However articulate he was, the housing sector and homeless prevention program have room for improvement.

Winter is coming. And I know a thing or two about volunteering to help the homeless.

The vicious cycle of not having a permanent address to receive the assistance checks.

(Just like many of us who were just above the poverty line, wishing sometimes we fell below it to qualify for assistance).

In fact, right after the interview, the show went on with latest poll figures showing voters’ discontentment i.e. intention to switch from coffee to tea.

I have seen change at work, from hot war to cold war, from RCA to Apple. (BTW, Ritz was acquired by Marriott, Rolls by Tata, surprising?)

Where is Bob Dylan? The time, they are a changin!

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich put it well in this weeks’ NY Times Op Ed  that unemployment is structural (top percentage of wealth earners get to keep more than ever before, leaving the shrinking middle class unable to afford life they are capable of ). Super Frugal instead of Super Power. US turns Britain i.e. less action in world affairs (can’t afford it to spread defense funding every where). It’s fitting that a new domestic infrastructure overhaul bill , Obama’s Great Society, is announced on this very day.

When still at Penn State, I tried both Burger King and McDonald. At the time, I did not know better, so I liked Mc Fries. BK , meanwhile, offered me bigger burgers for the bucks.

I did not know at the time that Hardees was home of then defunct Burger Chef (just like Arby’s now absorbs Wendy “where’s the roast beef?”).

American business landscape witnesses all sorts of consolidation: oil, airline, telecom, fast food industries, car rental and car companies.

Telecom executives are now pitching cars. “May the best car win”, push-talk advertising (from former Nextel exec).

Somehow I wish to hear from the other side of this prolonged Recession, “May the best worker rise”. The rest can join in Network-like protest: ” I am mad like hell, and I won’t take it any more”. I am glad for blog, for Web 2.0 and whatever invention that comes next. It shows human are still in charge, despite the forces that try to keep them down.

As a book’s title, let’s have the audacity to win. Not to keep the status quo, but to be true to forms. After all, each of us exists for a reason. Mine is not different from yours: a shot at life and an invitation to prom. That’s all. But these days, the barriers to entry seem enormously high.

Thanks to all the structural impediments  and bills that came due, one won’t hear “Happy Labor Day” from 9.6 percent of the population for a while. Let’s fade in “Monday is Happy Day.” instead.  How I wish we could bring back the innocent 50’s, and yelp! Grease.

reverse culture shock

After a transitory lay over at a third country, I found myself in one of the entry points, in this case, Atlanta:

Southern hospitality, chicken recipe, and of course, airport price tagd. Ten bucks, with no drink. Welcome back, Mr Nguyen.

I prepare my breakfast now. No longer a Saigon sitting down on a low stool, ordering broken rice and pork chops (with fish sauce and hot chili pepper over it).

Instead, breakfast consists of oatmeal, coffee and grapefruit juice. All the supposedly healthy diet for sterilized living.

The news said we were pulling out of Iraq, but no we don’t. Thousands will be staying behind until next year.

Blair is still the un-appointed spoke person on the subject, and even foreshadowing the next war.

This long holiday will bring back workers who are exhausted, consumers who are burned out and soldiers who face labor-surplus economy.

Even the Web is purported to be dead (Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine). In its wake, we found thousand of offsprings aka apps.

In telecom, we thought caller ID was an intrusion. Wait until call centers crawlers pulled up every bits of credit info about you and I before we got a “hello, may I help you”.

It will be caller FICO.

It wouldn’t be strange if the fast food industry started to size their serving according to customer’s profile the way Coke added sugar according to regional preferences:

larger burgers in the South, trimmer ones for NY City, for instance. BK was sold for a whopping 3.3 B yesterday. Location, location, location. Instant access to thousands of location worldwide, near McDonald’s. K Mart, even during bankruptcy, still made a profit on prime real estate.

Back to reverse culture shock. I got up early, way early this Labor Day weekend. In the dark, I wondered where I was. Then I realized things haven’t changed a bit. All those awful stats such as 4% unemployment back in 2000, now nearing 10 in 2010 etc… Land of the free. There are tons of work to be accomplished, but Congress is not going to take on serious tasks before going home. So they say. I went to a Metro PCS store just to be sent home at 9:15 AM. Sorry, HQ won’t open until another hour (KS).

I understood Metro to be a MVNO, hence no instant access to Sprint central computer. I understood America original design of checks and balances. I understood the victimized mentality of citizens facing big bureaucracy. Speed of change varies according to institutions. But it is still a shock to come back to a place where services are not up to standard, but pricing remains at yesterday’s high. We are trapped in a time warp, thinking we are still in post-war period, when the GI bills will make everything OK for returnees i.e. a Chevy in the driveway, and a chicken in the pot. Well, look at car sales figures. GM predicts worse sales, and of course, BK was sold. It is the equivalent of Pepsi on the chopping block.  Give me a few more days. I hate it, but will have to get used to it. Remember 2000 and Y2K? Every decade comes with its own black eyes.