"Change back from your dollar!" :: The MacCoin and other mixed signals

In April of 2018, the ACSI's Restaurant Report shared the results of a poll conducted amongst 22,500 people to determine that Chick-Fil-A was America's favorite major fast food chain.

Who cares, right?
But the real punchline is that, while all the other places you know & love followed behind, obviously one poor bastard had to come in last -- McDead last...

There you have it: billions served and none of them happy.

I'm not sure what to do with this information - as much as I'm sure that neither does McDonald's.
In any scenario, I'd say I'm pleased: anyone who endured my mental breakdown re. its grotesque ongoing mutation from kid-friendly wonderland to ice coffee dialysis clinic probably isn't surprised that I retain some level of of bitter excitement over this recent failure.
And the cautiously optimistic part of me is just as excited to wonder if - just maybe - this steady decline in cultural relevance is exactly the wakeup call the company needs to start thinking about back peddling into reheated childhood nostalgia -- the same way every other corporation and entertainment enterprise already have.
It's a stretch, but for better or worse (lately, worse) the restaurant has always found ways to keep me on my toes - up to and including the current madness they've unleashed upon us.

I've had a crush on coin collecting my whole life - with plenty of on-and-off physical engagement. In addition to foreign currency, circulating older coins, and proof sets, the entire concept of novelty money, commemorative coins, and even arcade tokens have always been the closest I could get to the rarity and shininess of pirate treasure.
In a blink-and-you-missed-it ad campaign (I'm not even sure there was one), as of August 2, McD's is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac by handing out gold 'MacCoins' with purchase of the burger as legal tender to be redeemed for another Big Mac anytime in 2018 -- and you'd better believe I was there day-of.

The coins are heavy-duty, wrapped in plastic, with a little square of literature. Of course, I proudly left mine in the package, which prevented me from reading the condom-sized pamphlet and discovering the wonderfully horrible/horribly wonderful truth: there is not but one coin, but 5 coins to collect!

All this means is that my life has a pain-in-the-ass purpose for some duration of time, for the first time, in a long time: Big Macs will be consumed, coins will be obtained.
I gotta hand it to them: it's one of the cooler things they've done in well over a decade (even if the advertising was incredibly soft). And it also illustrates the startling powers of hypnosis they still possess - without even really trying all that hard.

Somewhat coincidentally (in a way that it's probably not), this month is also the 30th anniversary of Mac and Me (as previously pointed out) and of course Shout! Factory has released a special ed. blu ray to commemorate it.

Could this all be a major turnaround for the least popular burger joint in the country? Or, are they having a good month and that's the end of it...?
I know we all know the answer to this rhetorical question, but this is just another reminder that we've still got our eye on what's left of the McWorld, and while we won't let them get away with anything, we should also applaud them when they do good. Positive reinforcement: you catch more flies with milkshakes than you do with salad. 'Cause you don't win friends with salad.

- Paul