Beech Tree News Network

We’re picking up at #6 on our fast-food countdown this week.  Having migrated to the U.S. in the 1960’s, brothers Paul and David Mirage found Chef América in 1977.  Their start-up became a big success selling frozen foods.  By the early 1980’s, the brothers are looking for the next big thing.  They soon spotted two emerging trends.  In the ‘80’s, the microwave was the fastest-growing kitchen appliance sold in the United States.  By 1986, more than 60% of homes have one.  There’s a good reason for that: nearly half of the American labor force was female.  Many of those working women were also mothers.  In the ‘80’s, unsupervised minors, known as latchkey kids, became a phenomenon.  By 1982, some 3 million American children are latchkey kids.  By 1988, there are an estimated 5-7 million of them.  The Mirage brothers realize that if they can create a snack easy enough for kids to microwave on their own, they’d have a winner.  

The brothers spent years developing a way to make microwave food crispy.  The key to their success is a magic inner-sleeve known as a susceptor.  This brilliantly mimics the effects of home-baking.  This device kept the inside hot and the outside brown and crispy.  This cutting-edge technology helps create an easy snack that speaks to the cravings of the latchkey kid generation.  The Mirage Brothers’ ingenuity means this tasty snack transformed mealtime and earns an enduring cult status. I’ve burnt my mouth on many hot pockets, though.  

#5: In 1980, the U.S. government publishes its first set of dietary guidelines that noted the connection between diet and heart disease.  By the mid-‘80’s, dieting had become a $10 billion business.  In 1986, over 60% of American women are on diets.  Everyone was trying to get fit and trying to figure out what they were going to eat.  In the ‘80’s, a humble unit of measurement changes the way we look at food: the calorie.  Counting calories had been made popular by bodybuilders in the late ‘70’s.  In 1981, frozen food manufacturer Stauffer’s launches a meal that promises to be 300 calories or less.  Stauffer’s Lean Cuisine became so popular that stores can’t keep up with demand and sell out.  In 1983, the frozen dinner market was worth $500 million.  A year later, it’s worth nearly $1 billion.  Lean Cuisine makes the painstaking work of counting calories easy.  By the end of the decade, Lean Cuisine is only one diet regime among many.  The calorie counting revolution they helped start remains with us today.

#4: Americans have loved pizza since the dawn of time.  How did we go from eating slices at a local pizzeria How did we go from eating slices at a local pizzeria to expecting whole pies delivered to our door still piping hot? Pizza delivery becomes big business and a national obsession that reflects the eras need for speed.  Nobody likes cold pizza and, in 1984, Dominos gets a brilliant when founder Tom Managhan redefines his brand and the entire concept of fast food.  Their big slogan at the time became “delivery in 30 minutes or your pizza is free”.  Weaponizing home delivery gives Dominos the edge over its rivals.  In the ‘80’s, they became one of the largest fast-food enterprises in the world.  From 400 stores in 1978, Dominos laid claim to 3,000 stores in the ‘80’s.  The runaway success of the promotion eventually begins to speed out of control and Dominos need for speed becomes a killer.  In 1988 alone, there were 20 deaths involving Dominos drivers.  In 1993, a St. Louis woman hit by a Dominos driver was awarded $79 million in damages.  The brakes are finally out on.  After 9 years, the “30 minutes or less” delivery promotion was no more.  Today, Dominos is the highest-grossing pizza chain in the world.  Home delivered pizza has been baked into popular culture.  

#3: The Whopper has been Burger King’s signature dish since 1957.  In the early ‘80’s, competition from Wendy’s and other chains is heating up and Burger King is lagging behind marketing goliath McDonalds.  In 1980, McDonalds has 36% of the market share.  Burger King is in second place with 13%.  In 1982, Burger King kicks off what became known as the battle of the burgers.  In true ‘80’s fashion, they take no prisoners.  Burger King and McDonald’s were the Marvel and DC of their generation.  Burger King claimed in commercials that consumers preferred their Whopper over the Big Mac.  The provocative claims became a whopping big deal.  They enlist a young Elizabeth Shue in their advertising campaign.  If you went into a Burger King and said “the Whopper beat the Big Mac”, you’d get a free whopper with the purchase of one.  Less than pleased, McDonald’ sues and Burger King must shelve the campaign.  A year later, Burger King is at it again.  They were basically telling customers “our burgers are flame-broiled and McDonald’s are sitting in a puddle of grease”.  

In 1984, McDonald’s concocts the ultimate Whopper stopper: spending $100 million on an ad campaign featuring a pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander, and launches its own version of The Whopper: the Mc-D.L.T.  The Styrofoam carton that contained the sandwich was enormous.  Under pressure from environmentalists and out of awareness of the hazards of Styrofoam, McDonald’s throws the misfire into the trash bin of history.  However, despite fighting off rivals, Burger King never quite steals the burger crown.  Their scorched earth tactics do boost sales 15%, however.  The Whopper and Big Mac are the two best-selling burgers of all time.

We’ve reached the runner-up spot: in the late 1970’s, 7-Eleven is everywhere, with over 6,000 stores worldwide.  Sales of soda and their own invention, the Slurpee, are an important part of the business, In 1976, 7-Eleven tries out a 32-ounze cup the equivalent of two cans of regular soda.  They called it the Big Gulp and that was only the beginning.  In the ‘80’s, government legislation makes the syrupy corn at the heart of the Big Gulp, already an inexpensive ingredient, even cheaper.  In that decade, there was a focus on farm subsidies in America.  Farmers would grow the food and then when it was sold, manufacturers could produce something at such a low cost because it was subsidized by the U.S, government.  That subsidy trickles down to 7-Eleven soda sizes.  In 1983, 7-Eleven’s cup runneth over.  They introduce a 44-ounce super big gulp.  They introduce a 64-ounce double gulp in 1988.  There were no free refills in the ‘80’s.  An attempt by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to ban the sale of sodas over 16 ounces predictably falls flat.  

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for: #1.  Obviously, #1 on any fast-food list is McDonald’s.  Go back to the ‘70’s, however, and McDonald’s wasn’t the kid-friendly establishment it is today.  Their menus were aimed squarely at grown-ups.  Back then, you could get the kids a burger and small fry but there was nothing aimed towards them.  In the ‘80’s, they realized they didn’t need to speak to adults anymore.  They started marketing to kids. A survey in the ‘80’s found that 60% of parents are swayed by their kids when choosing restaurants.  In the late ‘70’s, the concept of pester-power was gaining traction.  MacDonalds charges ad man Bob Bernstein with the job of convincing kids to convince their parents to take them to the Golden Arches.  Soon, Bob has another idea.  “I’m watching my son Steve eat his breakfast cereal.  Steve read the back of the cereal box.  I’d ask him if he’d like to read something other than that box.  Of course, he said no.  I thought to myself that kids should have some kind of fun activity while they’re eating.  That’s what we tried to do with the Happy Meal”.  

A fast-food icon isn’t made overnight.  Macdonald’s tries out the Happy Meal in a handful of states.  It tested very well so it got challenged as to whether it should be a menu item.  Executives decided to go for it and, in 1979, the happy meal is rolled out on menus across the country.  It’s not the food that catches kids eyes.  The toy was the thing.  In 1981, advertising is de-regulated.  Commercials directed at kids flooded the screens.  In another stroke of marketing genius, McDonalds starts toy tie-ins with major movies and tv shows.  Because of Happy Meals, McDonalds becomes the largest toy distributor in the world.  The happy meal is #1 for a reason.  It combines marketing genius, convenience and a product that fills a need nobody knew they had until it was served up.  McDonald’s sells 3.2 million happy meals a day.  (80’s Top 10, NatGeo).  

Below are links to my podcast Blendertainment: 

https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=lw4gR-7xQ22E-zhy...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172