I often see this happen, and I never saw a person tell the staff. When I see this happen I always tell an employee and they always immediately fix the problem...
I actually find myself ordering less food at these screens. When I'm face to face with an employee, I want to order as quickly and concisely as possible to not cause confusion or waste their time. When I'm at the screen, I can play around by adding or removing things from my order, and do the math on what upgrades are worth the price, etc.
It’s like it’s just emphasizing people’s existing spending habits. Like the underlying issue is not the machine or the store alone. We all have the power to control our own lives even if outside circumstances are stacked against you.
Agreed. When I see the total on the screen I won't think twice about deleting items to get to my desired price. When I'm in front of a worker I don't want to frustrate them by adjusting my order. Nice try McDonalds 😂
Same, although usually I've already decided exactly what I want on the drive over. And it's often just burger and a coke. Unless it's breakfast, then it's double sausage egg, two hash browns, coffee and two orange juices.
FERN really knows about dark patterns and even implemented one while showing the ad. Here is what he did: 1. He doesn't say "This video is sponsored by" Or anything similar when the ad starts. 2. The ad progress bar and badge don't start when the ad starts so someone who notices a change of content will keep focusing on the video thinking it's part of the content. 3. Even when the badges show they are inconspicuously subtle and small. Like how small "close ad" buttons are.
I think the other benefit to McDonalds that's not mentioned in the video is that it moves the wait time until after you've already committed to buying from them. Under the old counter system you could walk in, see the queue, and decide if you wanted to wait that long or go somewhere else. With the terminals, you walk in, see an available terminal by the door, order, and then go to the counter where you get a sense of how long you'll be waiting. It's moves one of the "obstacles" to ordering (the queue) until after you've paid, so you're not considering it in the decision making process.
@@Ultrabored95lmao get a life dude. You have no idea what other peoples’ situations are and blanket statements are absurd. How about go figure out your own, clearly lacking, life, instead of telling others how to live theirs.
4:12 wording: - "yes" is positively attributed whereas "no" has a negative touch. - on consumers perspective, "only" suggests that youre missing out on something. Very negatively attributed. - "Make it a meal?" suggests that the individual burger cant satisfy your hunger. spacing: - the individual burger is centered instead of tucked to the writing leaving wide open spaces, which suggests that the burger is lonely, and needs some friends. It also appears smaller. writing: - price is tiny. - 2 rows look cleaner than 3.
Lots of tubers are doing this now. You can spot them from a change in audio and a change in the tone of their voice; (and often wardrobe change); as soon as this happens, skip a minute or two. The content is usually pretty repetative so you wont really miss anything that important on the other side of the ad.
now 😂as if it was a new thing, in video promotional advertisement has been a thing for soooo many years, i can't even remember a time when they weren't
@@Ninjario74 Yeah, but, they were easy to spot, _now_, they are integrating it within the story of the video so you dont notice, and getting pretty good at it.
As a former McDonald's manager, yes we were aware from the first introduction of these machines that the average order size was much higher. People are more willing to indulge in their gluttony without the shame of having to face the judgment (whether perceived or real) of a human. Also just being able to browse through the menu at your own pace causes you to order more food you don't actually want since you're not being rushed to make a decision. This is also why the McDonald's app and ubereats / skip is pushed so much. Ubereats orders were always much larger than orders placed at the counter.
@@arwaphernelia1444 on the other side you need more employees for larger orders. Its very common that cashiers also work in the kitchen now and there is no one standing constantly at the counter
In the store i worked at, they introduced these machines in the late 2010s. The orders got bigger, which meant more revenue and cashiers got fired so less money spend on labor. Before it was 4 employees with registers in the front, then it was 3 of those machines with 6 displays and just 1 cashier who just had to scan some of their receipts. Those terminals are literally bad for everyone. The customer it's more crap they actually didn't want and McDonald's workers lost their jobs and the remaining ones had more orders to prepare with less workers present at the restaurant. @@arwaphernelia1444
@@arwaphernelia1444 in my experience, these machines did not cut jobs rather they freed up labour. At least where I live, increases in minimum wage did more to cut jobs than anything else. But I quit McDonald’s in 2021 when I graduated from college.
Curious. I found 2 small differences from the terminals that you showed compared to Portugal, where I live. 1- we don't have "small" and "normal", we have "normal" and "large" menus, which I feel like is less misleading. 2- for the payment, we get two big buttons of the same size, for paying by card or going to counter. I wonder how much control each country has over its terminal layout
I've struggled with having a stammer/stutter for all my life and the introduction of these things was such a blessing. Before that I always used to settle with whatever I could happen to say at the time or ask someone else to order for me, which just feels a little humiliating. I can remember entering places when they were first introduced and just feeling immense relief, now I can fully independantly feel guilty about eating junk food
also every introvert is sighing with relief LOL. however the downside is extroverts are now struggling with loneliness on a world level and its a medical epidemic 😲
I have a similar issue. I freeze up in public sometimes. It’s random, and I can’t feel it coming on. But, for sure I know that it happens more when I’m feeling pressured because there is a line of hungry people behind me. These interfaces have made me so much happier. I can take my time and think without having to speak.
One good thing about fast food is that I know exactly what I want when I walk in the door, regardless of which restaurant in the chain I'm going to. It's not often that I change my order, and I know that what I get will be what I can eat
Me either, people must be too easily manipulated if the video is true. I'm in the habit of scrolling through things to find what I want as most of the time nothing I want is listed at the top (from McDonalds menus to eBay listings with ads at the top) so I just automatically scroll down and start looking half way down the list, because I'm just so used to that process. Also I've never felt guilt after eating McDonalds, but maybe that's because I view it as a treat and only get it a few times a year, so that always makes it exciting sitting down to a fast food meal as it happens so rarely for me.
@@Berkeloid0 I agree, and not to mention my stomach is half the issue. The video brought up about how people are ordering a full meal, like burger and fries with coke, then adding chicken nuggets, then adding a dessert, and my stomach is just like Woah there cowboy, calm down. You had me full by the burgers and fries, much less adding the nuggets and dessert. I NEVER Order dessert with a full meal. Never. Period. It just is impossible for my stomach so I know better than to even try. I literally have to go out of my way to just buy the dessert if I want dessert and nothing else. So these temptations are never an issue for me, and like you said, I tend to get one of two things every time basically so it never changes. I *exclusively* only order the app using deals. I browse through multiple apps to find the best deals, like Wendy's or BK or Mcdonalds and see which one has the best deal. I don't mind taking the time to do it either. If there's multiple good offers in the same restaurant, I play around for the best deal. So personally, I don't think there's any trick that could get me to spend more, not without making the entire customer base spend more. I haven't even ordered off the regular menu in ages. I exclusively order deals and rewards.
You and me are 'old-school' but many many others are liberal and flexible so open to this marketing trickery. I can't stand these machines, they take too much time to order, too many clicks so I avoid them entirely.
As a UX/UI designer, I know all these things already, but it's still nice to see people informing the public of dark patterns. There are of course, good patterns too in digital interfaces, it's just about morals and trying to advocate for the user and defend them vs letting the business take advantage of them
It's interesting to learn about the psychological tricks being employed behind the scenes. It really shows how design can nudge us into spending more without us realizing it at first glance.
Design is everywhere, from the roads to the packaging of the food you eat. It's essentially an invisible psychological trick, for example thicker road dash lines, which makes you slow down.
Exactly, wtf is this video about even.... This machine has made me lose shame when i buy the cheapest deal/discounted burger or use coupons and has made me save money in McDonalds, previously in person orders i spent more if I visited. Who are these obese iPad kids that call themselves adults that spend 30 to 50 $ or Eur in McDonalds? What's wrong with you people?
Would like to point out that here in the UK, the offer to pay in cash is hidden and only accessible when you decline to pay in card. You physically have to click cancel to choose to pay at counter.
In the netherlands the “pay at register”. Isn’t on the screen you have to “cancel” the payment on the pay terminal to get the button on the screen. That is very sneaky. Problem less then half of workers know about the posibilty to pay with cash
Same in the UK. Only found it out when my bank cancelled my card because they were switching Visa to Mastercard and had no other choice. I find it surprising though, as surely not having a prominent cash option would only incentivise people to order at the counter? After all, that’s the only place you know for sure that you can pay with cash
@@flakvr Plenty of reasons why, a lot easier to take your time and look the menu over if you don’t know what you want instead of having to make a cashier stand there while you decide, in which case that’s what the terminal could be used for. And if you’re wondering why people would want to still use cash I recommend reading up on why a cashless society won’t be as good as everyone makes it out to be.
@@vumas because it looks like it's talking about a video that's made BY mcdonalds and Fern at the same time, and it's also specifying that it's animated even though that's fern's whole thing, although it could still be someone with very bad english grammar
The number one reason is they dont want to tell a person that they want: Two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda. Its less shame to order this on a machine
Honestly, more than the things mentioned in this video, the major profit is, they no more need 2 extra employees to take orders. Which also leads to customers not needing to deal with the whole TIPPING thing. Not to mention, you can also order from the phone itself and choose as Dine-In or PickUp (available in some countries), so the fact that you also no more need to queue, increases customers they can serve as well.
funfact: that soda they're charging you probably $2 for only costs them pennies. Every restaurant and fast food place wants you to order a soda with every order as the 2000% upcharge basically makes them free profit. So it's not a "deal" when they shove a drink into every bundle.
It is a deal if the bundle cost is less than the total of the individual items. So they make a profit. Big deal. New flash: restaurants make money from selling drinks!
I used to work at a gas station. The manager told me that the soda and coffee had the biggest profit - and that's why so many places are offering huge sodas for under a dollar now. She actually said that the cup is the most expensive part of a soda sale.
Soda's aren't actually that cheap, they are decently cheap but not so much so, a company typically pays(location dependant) about $100 for a 5 gallon bib, and they used a 1:5 syrup/water ratio, so a bib should make 25 gallons of soda for 3200 oz, at up to 44oz per cup that's about 72 44oz cups (not including wasted product by stupid people) so the final value per bag is roughly 140-210 in sales, - $100 for investment (not including the price of cups, lids, straws, CO2, and water) businesses could make as low as 40 or even less per Bib (which is why Ice is so prominently used to reduce the cost per cup not so that the purchaser has a better tasting drink, but so companies can save some money on an otherwise low profit product, ice is where their money is at), but even so between outright waste and the cost of everything else, the profit margins arent really that great
where i live if you choose normal menu you can actually take second fries instead of a drink which is exactly what i do still expensive but hey if you take out that's def a way to save a couple of bucks unless you don't eat that much 😅
I've been using these machines for my orders ever since McD started rolling them out here in HU about 2 years ago! As an introvert, it's a dream come true! Too bad for them, I almost always order the same "double cheeseburger+medium fries+0.4l regular Coca Cola with no ice"-meal that I used to order at the counter back in the day and decline all of the up-sells all the same :] When I first saw the UI on these machines, I was like: "Okay, this is awesome, but these machines will either generate a lot of obese people or a lot of wasted food, or both!"
In the UK they recently added a pop up that i find quite disgusting business practice. After you select what burger, that you want a meal and you get the option for medium or large. If you pick medium, after you select side and drink and go to add it to your order. A new pop-up comes up asking if you would like to make the meal large. AFTER you have already selected the medium size. I find it so gross for the pennies of profit vs the damage being done to consumers and their wallets
It does not hold a gun to your head to upsize, most people I serve are just indecisive and I have to suggest a ton of items day by day, an average of 5 minutes just on deciding per day per customer really ruins my other tasks of cleaning and maintenance
Think that's bad? When I was a teen, I worked part-time at a McD's franchise. One thing I was supposed to do, was ask every customer if they wanted to "Supersize" the combo. You can think of it as "extra-large" fries and soda to go with whatever it is. It would have been an even bigger impact when it was a face to face question, or a human asking another one. However, I did NOT ask that question to any customer. I figured if that's what they'd like to order, they'd say so. I don't think anyone else working there asked that question either. Whatever you order, I'm giving you exactly what you asked for. I might ask clarification if I'm not sure. If the customer didn't technically order the combo, but ordered the same items a-la carte (e.g. "A medium Sprite, medium fries, and a Quarter Pounder please!"), I'd ring it up as a combo to make it cheaper. I actually considered customers to be kind of a slight annoyance, and at my location it was nearly always a skeleton crew anyway. I get paid the same whether they come in or not, so if they do come, I want them to go away. I lacked enthusiasm (c'mon, it's /McDonald's/), but you'd get exactly what you asked for, because the last thing I want you to do is come back and complain, where I have to deal with you again. Wait times were a little longer, though that was because due to lower sales, almost everything was being made to order. But that also meant everything would be freshly cooked! A few customers did order Supersize, but most didn't.
Being an ageing millennial, I flat out refused to use these things at all when they came out. I only get McDonalds maybe once or twice a year, but same for the other fast food joints, I just don't like them. This is *the thing* that made me an old man shouting at a cloud. I've actually found using the regular face to face to be several orders of magnitude faster.
I order exactly the same amount of food with these machines as I did ordering from a server. Servers would nudge as well. “Do you want to make that a menu for only €X more?” And if you order a menu “Do you want to make that a large menu?” The difference as you said is that there is no time pressure at the machine while in front of the server there is. Hence you are more likely to upsize with a server than a machine. If you go in knowing what you want you order what you want.
Exactly. This video is a low IQ take. If you are stupid enough to originally get a small cheeseburger meal, but "accidentally" order a family meal, that is entirely on you and not the machine. You have bigger problems and should probably get a carer to supervise you for daily activities. Terrible take.
@@logicaldebateUSA I’m originally from Canada but I have lived in Switzerland for 25 years and presently the UK for the past 2. The video seemed to be of German origin so I used the terminology McDonald’s uses in Germany but they call it a menu in Switzerland and a meal in the UK. It is identical to the North American combo.
I think it's probably more that at the counter you have to admit to another human being that you're a glutton and face their judgement when you start adding on extra burgers and nibbles. With the machine, only you see what you order and it comes in a paper bag so you can hide your shame. If you're not gluttonous then your order will remain the same and this change has no effect on you, but a majority of western people are, whether they like to admit it or not.
I was at the McDonald’s convention in Barcelona and got to see the new terminals they’re coming out with. You can basically order your food by just telling it what you want without touching the screen. It also takes very complex order like removing a topping from a cheeseburger or if you want your coffee made a specific way. McDonald’s is stepping up there game.
tbh that sponsorship transition was really good. didnt realise at first it was an ad, but then noticed the extra progressbar and "Ad" in the corner. actually thought it was just an example used to further explain how the UI design works
Interesting video. I worked for many years in classic dining, and I don't see anything particularly new on these screens. If I wanted to sell a starter, I would ask the customer if they preferred a small green salad or a soup to start, but I would never ask, "if they wanted a starter." Similarly, for mineral water: "do you prefer mineral water with or without gas?" and never "do you want mineral water?" All this to say: with or without screens, we are all subject to this kind of upselling. It's the consumer's job to know what they want or don't want.
Who expect gym bros care about calories. Like really anyone in family meeting oh no how much calories in this or this. Well they have this in denmark about calories and no one cares
Just yesterday I was at Burger King since a long time. I just wanted a chilli cheese Burger and chilli cheese fries. I clicked on the burger and was confused. I got 2 options: take the burger with a small menu or take the burger with a normal menu. I was about to go back in the interface, then I just noticed a button under these options, that was greyed out and looked like its not pressable: "go on without a menu". AND I just ordered the burger and chilli cheese fries :)
@@Jan-ns6xhsame bro, 1 minute later I would’ve left this BK cause I’m not buying sh I don’t want. Took me minutes too to find the „only the burger button“ cause I feel the opacity was decreased too 💀😂 they so cheeky nowadays man
I'm under 40 and I will not use the screens. You don't need to be old to understand it's a scam, both to reduce the amount of labor they have to pay for and trick you with dark patterns.
I hardly go to McD's these days but a while back I went to one because it was on my way (and at the end of a long bike ride) and I stopped in for a 1/4-pounder and an ice water. It was my first time using an SOT and I liked it. I knew exactly what I wanted, was able to select what I wanted, pay, it was no problem. No more asking a worker for a "small Coke" and him turning around and handing me a small vanilla ice cream cone. No more hollering over the noise of the restaurant. It's always been with me that when I'd go int any fast food restaurant I'd have it decided in my mind ahead of time what I'll get so for me it's pretty straightforward.
@@eadweard.they are insisting the 2 billion they spent on the ordering screens are being offset by price increases but like everything else its just late stage capitalism. McDs could pay a living wage and still keep prices low but CEOs wouldn’t be able to buy another jet and they would lose a small percentage of shareholders 😒
Someone who lives in India, price of regular food for you in the West is insanely high. For $20 you can do a 3 people dinner with desserts at a good restaurant.
In the UK we have these machines and the first page encourages you to sign in to the rewards program, you get 1 mcpoint for every penny spent and can use them to get food rewards. I have a neat hack - you can sign in yourself and then go away, then if someone else goes up to that machine you get points on their order, do it a few times and get free food. (But not too many because if you get a wise customer they might spend your points if you have enough to redeem!)
Last i heard, McDonald's was backtracking, because the price increases had led to such a drop in sales volume.... They are returning to low price menu items and volume
Same here, I actually can't recall a single time I added anything extra to my original order on one of these machines. Maybe some people just have bad short-term memory and weak resolve.
@@Rogertheengineer- "Maybe some people just have bad short-term memory " I´d bet my money you are included and first sentence was rubbish :) Nevermind :)
10:30 "Otherwise [...] a giant conglomerate like McDonald's wouldn't use them" Even if there was absolutely zero revenue benefit, they would absolutely still use them. SOTs: - Don't take legally mandated breaks/mealtimes - Don't have to be paid a minimum/living wage - Don't call out sick - Don't require training - Take up less floor space - Won't unionize - Have lower legal liability - Won't offend customers Whereas you used to have two, three, four or more registers, you can now just have one to handle any edge case customers, and every other worker can be dedicated to making food. This reduces labor costs.
Never thought of how other people perceive ordering their meals over SOTs, usually when I go to McDonalds I just ordered what I came for knowing full well that I shouldn't eat too much fast food.
I was gonna brag that these silly tactics don’t work on me, but then I got pulled straight into the watch advertisement. Didn’t even notice until a solid minute, good work 👍🏻
It's worked the opposite for me. I wanted a Big Mac. But realize the McDouble gives me about 80% the burger for about 50% the price. Then I just click the "Happy Meal" because I don't feel any shame in ordering the kid's meal when I am infront of a kiosk vs telling another human being to give me the kids meal
I thought I was losing my mind that no one else feels like this is a non-issue. I love this channel but have been using mobile-order/kiosk in the rare times I get fast food for years and nothing in this was relatable. Felt like my mom explaining why her diet isn't working...
Not really... if they knew what they were doing they would understand the massive hypocrisy of illegally putting an unacknowledged paid advert in the middle of a video where they're criticising the ethics of someone else's selling techniques actually makes more people hate and distrust the channel. It's a counterproductive move. A little bit of short-term gain for a lot of long-term damage.
@@tobythetoaster5337 It does take some creative effort to try to integrate an ad into the video, even if it's a bit unethical at best. Also, many viewers do want to support their creators, so they don't really mind if use these tactics to earn revenue
@@PutItAway101 The issue is that it's simply not comparable. Dark patterns are unethical but not properly regulated, which is their problem. Misleading adverts and unannounced sponsors like in this video ARE illegal in many countries. So while the irony is not lost on me and is likely very much intended, it undermines the rest of the video because it's not the same. More to the point, there's nothing that connects that irony. There's no statement made after-the-fact to point it out, which may be clever filmmaking but is still ILLEGAL.
Best parts of the kiosk screens for users: no social anxiety as the worker in front of you waits, no miscommunication as the orders are input, and I can experiment with different possibilities of what I want such as no ice in beverage.
@@juliemunoz2762 some of us are introverts and social interactions range from awkward to downright painful. No amount of counseling is going to make an introvert into an extrovert. At most I can mask my true self and pretend to be someone I'm not. That's fine if I'm having limited social interactions. Maybe Colin is a more extreme introvert.
@@juliemunoz2762 You know the people there don’t want to work there and they’re going to show it why bother if it’s just gonna be awkward the whole time if you can just go and get your order quickly without dealing with people with attitudes then it makes things easier
These restaurants are typically run by unhygienic pimple faced school kids - what's there to be socially anxious about? You should be more anxious about what they do to your food while they're bashing it together instead of having to talk face to face for 10 seconds.
Hot take: I don't think this affected me at all, I still just get a bacon egg and cheese biscuit with added egg, but faster. I think people just have a short attention span and no self-control these days.
I did get fooled once when I bought a happy meal toy that my mom wanted (it was the pricey BT21 ones) and it popped up as a recommended. Ever since then, since I'm trying to be more frugal, I'm a lot more selective with the McDonald's screens esp since I only like something particular if I ever want to go back to McDonald's (a simple cheeseburger meal with medium fries and drink)
That’s exactly the problem. These companies get advice from companies that monitor our habits on our devices on public networks, which helps them design these devices and boom, that’s how we end up saying “it’s just 80¢ extra” until it’s a year later and you’re out of an extra $250-1500
I present to you two counter measures: 1. Plan ahead. Don't enter the restaurant without knowing what you want to buy. Stick to your plan and allow yourself one extra item max. 2. Don't go to fastfood chains. Try a real restaurant.
@@mirzu42The prices of fast food where I live (USA) have gone up even more than restaurant food. So a lot of the money-saving appeal of fast food is gone. It’s still always going to be faster than a restaurant, but the more expensive it gets the more attractive regular restaurants get.
honestly i order more because i finally know wtf they're selling besides "a cheeseburger." im not unhappy with what i end up buying. its just regular marketing tricks, they're showing you a huge screen full of ads before you order. this isn't more unethical than ads on tv or the internet, just more immediate.
I never would have thought that people would order more than they expected when using one of these. The unpersonal aspect of these machines makes me order less items than I intend.
@@LearnCompositionOnline I honestly think a lot of younger people (especially in the US where everybody is clamoring for your money) aren't susceptible to these tactics and buy less. Case in point they are discontinuing self-checkouts and restaurants arent doing so well.
@@RinoaL yes in my case I buy way more if there's a cashier in front of me since I need to think fast and are more willing to impulsively buy any craving. However on drive thru I buy less. As it's so fast that I just buy the usual classic meal I know I will like, instead of thinking about if I should buy something new
Damn, that watch ad inside the video really fooled me. Good work honestly. After too many seconds I was wondering what a watch has to do with this video, lol.
That was, by far, the most seamless and unexpected segway into a sponsor from any video I have ever seen on youtube so far. Kudos to that! (Also great vid too, btw!)
I wonder, is this a major issue for people? The presented way people are affected by the machine’s system in the video felt heavily exaggerated, I’ve never ever had any issues with this, let alone even heard of anyone doing it. The way it’s presented made it almost sound like it’s a well-known thing people don’t have ANY self-control when they see additional fast food popping up. I love Fern, it’s not necessarily criticism to them, I just wonder if I’m alone about that?
You're definitely not alone in thinking that as I'm the same way. However, you just have to consider that if it didn't statistically benefit the company, they wouldn't be doing it. So it clearly works on enough people for them to invest so heavily in it. It's a shame, but human beings are not rational creatures. A lot of the time we are being manipulated without even realizing it, just as fern demonstrated in the video.
@@thestateof6970 Great reply! And agreed. I suppose the lack of narrative definition developed my comment, as it felt unclear whether Fern was explaining “this is what McD thinks you think”, or they were saying “This is how most people think”.
Same way supermarket arranges things to separate commonly bought together items with another aisle of tertiary items. You might think it's not applicable to you but if it doesn't work in increasing sales then they wouldn't bother taking the time to arrange them in the first place. This is because there's so many costumers and so many visits per costumers. For example, this trick might work on you every time but if 1 time out of your 20 or 30 purchases you buy something you didn't plan to buy before, then it works enough.
This is actually interesting. I face no such problems when i go to McDs in my home country. But when im travelling to a foreign country with vastly different menu items, i do fall into this trap
@thestateof6970 But maybe the reasons why it works is different than what the video shows. I think people order more because they finally know what McD offers, not because of any dark patterns. You can just compare everything better without being in a rush. Before those I never knew what to order. Now I do. But I still won't spend more than I need.
Something not mentioned in the video is language. In Switzerland with our 3 main languages I never know if I'll be able to communicate my order properly with the staff. The self checkout machines solve this problem, particularly when I want to customize ingredients
The dark pattern encouraging card payment is actually *less* severe in Germany than it is in the UK McDonalds (I assume as Germany is still more cash-based). In the UK there is *no option* for paying with cash or card initially, it only gives you a number for the register if you go into the card payment system and press the cancel button on the screen or the reader, I think you might even have to do it a few times, and only then does it give you the ticket to go to the register and use cash. I don't think the reason is to do with overspending though - I think it is about discouraging people from going to the register, there is only 1 register and it is not even staffed all the time so having to use it is a bad experience which probably discourages people from coming to McDonalds again. Also eventually I am sure they want to have 0 registers and a fully cashless McDonalds so then they can hire less staff and increase profit.
In regards to staffing, we never have any people dedicated to registers already at least for the McDonalds I work at. Somebody simply helps customers when needed. The removal of the cash option also likely won't happen untill theres just not enough people paying cash, rather than what corporate wants. 400€ per day in extra sales lets say from cash is worth it.
Had my first experience with them a month ago. In a McDs and a KFC. Found them to be quite convenient and easy to use, especially for a guy who's not familiar with the menu at all. It was my first KFC ever and the first McDs in at least 5 years. McD's was really straightforward and easy to use. KFC's was easy to use too, but it constantly pesters you with things to add so you spend more money. I just select the combo offer. It shows you what you get and the price. Just select the options withouth a price tag and you'll get what you want. I didn't think there was something evil in their design. But yeah, I see people serminghly struggling to use them.
You missed the second benefit for McD, as it also reduces staff, especially during peak hours. Several years back it was common to see about 5 cash registers with 1 staff each during peak in the store (plus drive through and a manager or runner) now you tend to see 2 registers but at most 1 front staff plus the drive through and manager or runner. During peak hours front of house staff and kitchen was about equal, now front of house is a lot less. This could be about 1/3 of staff reduction in peak hours. Thats a very big saving!
Initially when they introduced these there were codes you could input over and over with no limit, adjusting the code depending on the meal you wanted. I did this for years, buying full meals for £1.99 until they eventually fixed it so the surveys generated unique codes a few years ago. I'll be honest, I purposefully make my order as difficult as possible now as it's the only way to guarantee it'll be warm. Usually I'll have to stand at the small cash till to get a receipt for a survey as the printers never seem to work.
once I discovered a funny bug on these McDonald's SOTs of my little town in the countryside of São Paulo, Brazil: every meal, no matter how expensive they were, you'd pay about 2 dollars (10 BRL) if you chose a bottle of water as a drink option (a meal usually costs 10 dollars, or 50 BRL)
its funny how you think these tricks wont work on you when they've been optimized to subconsciously make people like you feel like you're not buying a lot
Believe me, after a long 12 hour shift on a friday evening, this will also work on a very smart guy like you! And that's also exactly one of the moments people visit a McDonalds, when they're very hungry, stressed and don't have any energy left to cook something healthy at home.
This is such an interesting video. Fascinating to learn about the techniques they use to 'encourage' you to spend more and more. What i find particularly funny is the 'animated' rewards when you upgrade your order actually have the opposite effect on me, but I never noticed it before. For example, that little animation when you upgraded, would have pushed me to empty my cart and start again because i dont like the idea that I was being rewarded for spending more, it makes me feel like I'm being duped.
Those kiosks are amazing, I don't have to worry about the worker getting my order wrong at the beginning. I don't have to worry about the subconscious time limit as I make my decision with the worker. The only thing I ask for these kiosks is that it is often disinfected and the touch pad work without always applying a hard press.
They still get it wrong sometimes. Some workers are lazy or they can't read the order ticket. They rather fool around rather than focus on the customer. I'm serious. I like the idea of the kiosk but I wish they made it simpler to use. Sometimes, it takes multiple attempts just to hit any button on the screen or the kiosk gets slow and bloated.
Hey 👋
Check out our long-term partner Holzkern and get an exclusive 10% off your order using the code “FERN”: fern.deals/holzkern (ad)
no
no way fern had 1 like 😭😭😭
There is however a very simple fix to these machines. Be a vegan, and the machine suddenly fails terribly at selling you anything extra.
@@MarijnRoorda well at that point you wouldnt even go to mcdonalds cuz they dont really sell good food
crazy ad transition
2.1 billion and that machine still wont print my receipt every time i use it lmao
@Prince_Najeebbot
remember when Mcdonald was affordable ?
No printed receipts is a major problem Here in Australia
I often see this happen, and I never saw a person tell the staff. When I see this happen I always tell an employee and they always immediately fix the problem...
Eat least it helps you better then the average employee
I actually find myself ordering less food at these screens. When I'm face to face with an employee, I want to order as quickly and concisely as possible to not cause confusion or waste their time. When I'm at the screen, I can play around by adding or removing things from my order, and do the math on what upgrades are worth the price, etc.
Yes, exactly! I spend a lot more _time_ when using these machines, but less money.
Oh so just wasting the time of those behind you in line 😂 jk
It’s like it’s just emphasizing people’s existing spending habits. Like the underlying issue is not the machine or the store alone. We all have the power to control our own lives even if outside circumstances are stacked against you.
Agreed. When I see the total on the screen I won't think twice about deleting items to get to my desired price. When I'm in front of a worker I don't want to frustrate them by adjusting my order. Nice try McDonalds 😂
Same, although usually I've already decided exactly what I want on the drive over.
And it's often just burger and a coke.
Unless it's breakfast, then it's double sausage egg, two hash browns, coffee and two orange juices.
FERN really knows about dark patterns and even implemented one while showing the ad. Here is what he did:
1. He doesn't say "This video is sponsored by" Or anything similar when the ad starts.
2. The ad progress bar and badge don't start when the ad starts so someone who notices a change of content will keep focusing on the video thinking it's part of the content.
3. Even when the badges show they are inconspicuously subtle and small. Like how small "close ad" buttons are.
Ad? Nah.... Firefox + uBlock Origin + Sponsor block deals with that
@@Gurra_Gforce Those can really take out an ad that's part of the video though?!
@@burnthompson286Yes
@@netoxicky wow, how do you know it isnt accidentally removing part of a video you want to watch?
@@kosmique 2:05 - 2:50 is the ad he's referring to. How does adblock remove it when it's part of the video?
I think the other benefit to McDonalds that's not mentioned in the video is that it moves the wait time until after you've already committed to buying from them. Under the old counter system you could walk in, see the queue, and decide if you wanted to wait that long or go somewhere else. With the terminals, you walk in, see an available terminal by the door, order, and then go to the counter where you get a sense of how long you'll be waiting. It's moves one of the "obstacles" to ordering (the queue) until after you've paid, so you're not considering it in the decision making process.
If this video came out 30 seconds sooner, it would’ve saved me $5.50 because I just bought two sausage egg McMuffins and only really needed one dammit
the pain is real
No. You needed zero. Please. For your own sake. Make better decisions moving forward. Remove McD from your life.
@@Ultrabored95 Chill man lmao
@@Ultrabored95says the guy with the FIFA profile pic, enjoy getting farmed by EA..
@@Ultrabored95lmao get a life dude. You have no idea what other peoples’ situations are and blanket statements are absurd. How about go figure out your own, clearly lacking, life, instead of telling others how to live theirs.
4:12
wording:
- "yes" is positively attributed whereas "no" has a negative touch.
- on consumers perspective, "only" suggests that youre missing out on something. Very negatively attributed.
- "Make it a meal?" suggests that the individual burger cant satisfy your hunger.
spacing:
- the individual burger is centered instead of tucked to the writing leaving wide open spaces, which suggests that the burger is lonely, and needs some friends. It also appears smaller.
writing:
- price is tiny.
- 2 rows look cleaner than 3.
"burger is lonely, and needs some friends" ):
E
I feel like the burger
I like it, you sir has taste in User Experience, and Apple should hire you.
@@Leonardo-nf7cl hope it gets better buddy
I was like “why is he talking about this watch so much” and it took me a minute to realise it was an ad lmao
Lots of tubers are doing this now. You can spot them from a change in audio and a change in the tone of their voice; (and often wardrobe change); as soon as this happens, skip a minute or two. The content is usually pretty repetative so you wont really miss anything that important on the other side of the ad.
There is also a bar in the bottom of the screen most of the time. Showing the time left on the ad.
Sponsorblock works like magic for ads like these
now 😂as if it was a new thing, in video promotional advertisement has been a thing for soooo many years, i can't even remember a time when they weren't
@@Ninjario74 Yeah, but, they were easy to spot, _now_, they are integrating it within the story of the video so you dont notice, and getting pretty good at it.
2:20 the sponsor segment transition was smooth as hell it made me stand up
As a former McDonald's manager, yes we were aware from the first introduction of these machines that the average order size was much higher. People are more willing to indulge in their gluttony without the shame of having to face the judgment (whether perceived or real) of a human. Also just being able to browse through the menu at your own pace causes you to order more food you don't actually want since you're not being rushed to make a decision. This is also why the McDonald's app and ubereats / skip is pushed so much. Ubereats orders were always much larger than orders placed at the counter.
Yeah, I think that's the largest factor
i imagine introducing these machines meant cutting jobs, wouldn't that "increased" profit if you are spending less on employment?
@@arwaphernelia1444 on the other side you need more employees for larger orders. Its very common that cashiers also work in the kitchen now and there is no one standing constantly at the counter
In the store i worked at, they introduced these machines in the late 2010s.
The orders got bigger, which meant more revenue and cashiers got fired so less money spend on labor. Before it was 4 employees with registers in the front, then it was 3 of those machines with 6 displays and just 1 cashier who just had to scan some of their receipts.
Those terminals are literally bad for everyone. The customer it's more crap they actually didn't want and McDonald's workers lost their jobs and the remaining ones had more orders to prepare with less workers present at the restaurant.
@@arwaphernelia1444
@@arwaphernelia1444 in my experience, these machines did not cut jobs rather they freed up labour. At least where I live, increases in minimum wage did more to cut jobs than anything else. But I quit McDonald’s in 2021 when I graduated from college.
1:41 is that a real human? What
A German. So more or less a human 😅😅
Pretty sure they were under heavy makeup because he was an “insider”
I saw the title and thought it would be the ice cream machine 😭😭😭
i thought so too!!
@@MegInWhispers😂😂
ME TOO BRO ITS ALWAYS BROKEN 😭😭😭😭😭
In my country, Egypt, it's not always broken. But they're always out of ice-cream.
Me too, I thought it was gonna be about how the "ice cream machine is broken" meme helped Mcdonald's stay relevant and gain money or smth like that
Curious. I found 2 small differences from the terminals that you showed compared to Portugal, where I live.
1- we don't have "small" and "normal", we have "normal" and "large" menus, which I feel like is less misleading.
2- for the payment, we get two big buttons of the same size, for paying by card or going to counter.
I wonder how much control each country has over its terminal layout
I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda ~ Big smoke
‘’I had to do it... I just see the opportunity. When I'm gone, everyone gonna remember my name... Big Mac!’’
All we had to do, was follow the damn Train CJ
Big Smoke doesn't need to be upsold. He knows better than to get thinned out like CJ did on the east cost.
Make that a Diet Coke.
And theeeeeeenn?
I've struggled with having a stammer/stutter for all my life and the introduction of these things was such a blessing. Before that I always used to settle with whatever I could happen to say at the time or ask someone else to order for me, which just feels a little humiliating.
I can remember entering places when they were first introduced and just feeling immense relief, now I can fully independantly feel guilty about eating junk food
also every introvert is sighing with relief LOL. however the downside is extroverts are now struggling with loneliness on a world level and its a medical epidemic 😲
I have a similar issue. I freeze up in public sometimes. It’s random, and I can’t feel it coming on. But, for sure I know that it happens more when I’m feeling pressured because there is a line of hungry people behind me. These interfaces have made me so much happier. I can take my time and think without having to speak.
real
@@cocoadragon8554 introverts are struggling with loneliness too.
When I stutter, it always makes me embarrassed. I totally understand this viewpoint
One good thing about fast food is that I know exactly what I want when I walk in the door, regardless of which restaurant in the chain I'm going to. It's not often that I change my order, and I know that what I get will be what I can eat
Exactly. Never had a problem stated in the video.
Me either, people must be too easily manipulated if the video is true. I'm in the habit of scrolling through things to find what I want as most of the time nothing I want is listed at the top (from McDonalds menus to eBay listings with ads at the top) so I just automatically scroll down and start looking half way down the list, because I'm just so used to that process. Also I've never felt guilt after eating McDonalds, but maybe that's because I view it as a treat and only get it a few times a year, so that always makes it exciting sitting down to a fast food meal as it happens so rarely for me.
@@Berkeloid0 I agree, and not to mention my stomach is half the issue. The video brought up about how people are ordering a full meal, like burger and fries with coke, then adding chicken nuggets, then adding a dessert, and my stomach is just like Woah there cowboy, calm down. You had me full by the burgers and fries, much less adding the nuggets and dessert. I NEVER Order dessert with a full meal. Never. Period. It just is impossible for my stomach so I know better than to even try. I literally have to go out of my way to just buy the dessert if I want dessert and nothing else. So these temptations are never an issue for me, and like you said, I tend to get one of two things every time basically so it never changes. I *exclusively* only order the app using deals. I browse through multiple apps to find the best deals, like Wendy's or BK or Mcdonalds and see which one has the best deal. I don't mind taking the time to do it either. If there's multiple good offers in the same restaurant, I play around for the best deal. So personally, I don't think there's any trick that could get me to spend more, not without making the entire customer base spend more. I haven't even ordered off the regular menu in ages. I exclusively order deals and rewards.
You and me are 'old-school' but many many others are liberal and flexible so open to this marketing trickery. I can't stand these machines, they take too much time to order, too many clicks so I avoid them entirely.
@@shuki1 This has nothing to do with old school vs new school and everything to do with just knowing exactly what you want.
As a UX/UI designer, I know all these things already, but it's still nice to see people informing the public of dark patterns. There are of course, good patterns too in digital interfaces, it's just about morals and trying to advocate for the user and defend them vs letting the business take advantage of them
You don’t even sound like you went to school . 😂😂😂😂why you on RUclips lying😂?
@@OkOk-lp5svoooo I know everything already. What a bum 😂
that sponsor transition was the smoothest thing ever i didn't even realise it was an ad
Ikr like I had to rewind it to see
Ikrr, i was genuinely interested at first
holy shit! same bruh
SKIP
I was wondering if it was part of the video and displaying something relevant to the video
It's interesting to learn about the psychological tricks being employed behind the scenes. It really shows how design can nudge us into spending more without us realizing it at first glance.
Design is everywhere, from the roads to the packaging of the food you eat. It's essentially an invisible psychological trick, for example thicker road dash lines, which makes you slow down.
@@PrograErrorslow down is for safety. It's not a trick. The only trick is your car extended warranty😂
AI ass comment
@@kosmique😂😂😂 AI detected, no I like your joke 😂
@@PrograErrorno they don't 😂😂
I walk in, get my 20 chicken nuggets, medium fries, and have to waste 30 seconds saying "no I don't want to give you more money"
Don't forget the vanilla milkshake
Fr. If you get walked into the upsell and spend more than what fastfood should cost you, you've failed lmfao
yo fr, like no im not spending a extra $3 to the mcdonalds house
yep i know what i want and get out. guess most people are just simple minded
Exactly, i know what i want and only want that, who cares about bigger burgers lol just give me my nuggets 😂
2:03 the smoothest ad entry I have ever seen 😂
Me only having $10: "Yep can't afford that. Can't afford that one either. Okay I can only afford these. Perfect."
exactly
right lol i make sure i dont overspend
Exactly, wtf is this video about even....
This machine has made me lose shame when i buy the cheapest deal/discounted burger or use coupons and has made me save money in McDonalds, previously in person orders i spent more if I visited.
Who are these obese iPad kids that call themselves adults that spend 30 to 50 $ or Eur in McDonalds? What's wrong with you people?
Pretty much me. But normaly I have just 5-8€.
If you're struggling you should probably meal prep and eat better tasting, cheaper and healthier meals.
Would like to point out that here in the UK, the offer to pay in cash is hidden and only accessible when you decline to pay in card. You physically have to click cancel to choose to pay at counter.
and often it doesnt have any paper to print a receipt left
Well yeah I wouldn't expect each machine to have an entire cash system in it
@@AtactHD I think he means more so like the option to go to the counter and pay in cash, not pay at the machine itself.
Same in belgium. Might be changed now.. but 1 year ago same trick
@@AtactHD 5:45 in the video, the option to pay in cash is visible, not at the machine, but at the till
that sponsor transition was smooth
FR BROOO
they always do transitions like this, also on their main channel @Simplicissimus
Both channels have the same amount of subs 1.57 million lol@@Noel-vm8hn
@@Noel-vm8hn Do they? I don't remember such poor production quality from this channel
I hate when they're this smooth with it, I've already seen half of the ad before I realise I'm watching an ad.
this video is actually so informative and amazing animated and explained like all your other videos dam man great job
In the netherlands the “pay at register”. Isn’t on the screen you have to “cancel” the payment on the pay terminal to get the button on the screen. That is very sneaky. Problem less then half of workers know about the posibilty to pay with cash
Same in the UK. Only found it out when my bank cancelled my card because they were switching Visa to Mastercard and had no other choice.
I find it surprising though, as surely not having a prominent cash option would only incentivise people to order at the counter? After all, that’s the only place you know for sure that you can pay with cash
I walked the f out once when that happened.
Why would you want to order at the interface from hell and then pay at the register?
@@krystiankowalski7335 its a pretty good trick to use if you have cash instead of a card!
@@flakvr Plenty of reasons why, a lot easier to take your time and look the menu over if you don’t know what you want instead of having to make a cashier stand there while you decide, in which case that’s what the terminal could be used for.
And if you’re wondering why people would want to still use cash I recommend reading up on why a cashless society won’t be as good as everyone makes it out to be.
10:19 I'm glad this point was made in the video because the comments section is quite literally filled with people giving their anecdotal "not me!"
McDonald's 10 minute animated video by Fern is gonna be a hell of a fun for sure.
Indeed!
this is the most AI generated looking comment I ever saw
@@Someone-sc2hk explain how
9 minute 45* sponsor doesn't count
@@vumas because it looks like it's talking about a video that's made BY mcdonalds and Fern at the same time, and it's also specifying that it's animated even though that's fern's whole thing, although it could still be someone with very bad english grammar
@ 1:56 did we just merge into an advertisement????
That very slick of you.
never seen such a shady ad taking me out of the video as this video
and I really love your content
I thought it was pretty creative lmao
Not at all, the add seemed pretty standard to me
The number one reason is they dont want to tell a person that they want: Two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda.
Its less shame to order this on a machine
Underrated comment
I don't understand how this shameful, is this a Western thing?
@@jstan5802 try ordering like that in an Asian restaurant and see if people judge you. Fat shaming is even more prevailent in Asian countries
Yes I can secretly order much more
That’s an American thing. We never order by numbers in the UK
Fern not dropping an assassination video? Unbelievable! 🤯
@Prince_Najeeb Bot tactics are not going to work. 😝
@Prince_Najeeb bot :3
e
Well... For me that's an assassination video. An assassination of your health and wallet
they did drop an assassination video 2 weeks ago?
Honestly, more than the things mentioned in this video, the major profit is, they no more need 2 extra employees to take orders.
Which also leads to customers not needing to deal with the whole TIPPING thing.
Not to mention, you can also order from the phone itself and choose as Dine-In or PickUp (available in some countries), so the fact that you also no more need to queue, increases customers they can serve as well.
funfact: that soda they're charging you probably $2 for only costs them pennies.
Every restaurant and fast food place wants you to order a soda with every order as the 2000% upcharge basically makes them free profit.
So it's not a "deal" when they shove a drink into every bundle.
It is a deal if the bundle cost is less than the total of the individual items. So they make a profit. Big deal. New flash: restaurants make money from selling drinks!
I used to work at a gas station. The manager told me that the soda and coffee had the biggest profit - and that's why so many places are offering huge sodas for under a dollar now.
She actually said that the cup is the most expensive part of a soda sale.
That's why I get at least 6 refills no matter the 2 toilet trips and additional time spend
Soda's aren't actually that cheap, they are decently cheap but not so much so, a company typically pays(location dependant) about $100 for a 5 gallon bib, and they used a 1:5 syrup/water ratio, so a bib should make 25 gallons of soda for 3200 oz, at up to 44oz per cup that's about 72 44oz cups (not including wasted product by stupid people) so the final value per bag is roughly 140-210 in sales, - $100 for investment (not including the price of cups, lids, straws, CO2, and water) businesses could make as low as 40 or even less per Bib (which is why Ice is so prominently used to reduce the cost per cup not so that the purchaser has a better tasting drink, but so companies can save some money on an otherwise low profit product, ice is where their money is at), but even so between outright waste and the cost of everything else, the profit margins arent really that great
where i live if you choose normal menu you can actually take second fries instead of a drink which is exactly what i do still expensive but hey if you take out that's def a way to save a couple of bucks unless you don't eat that much 😅
I've been using these machines for my orders ever since McD started rolling them out here in HU about 2 years ago! As an introvert, it's a dream come true! Too bad for them, I almost always order the same "double cheeseburger+medium fries+0.4l regular Coca Cola with no ice"-meal that I used to order at the counter back in the day and decline all of the up-sells all the same :]
When I first saw the UI on these machines, I was like: "Okay, this is awesome, but these machines will either generate a lot of obese people or a lot of wasted food, or both!"
Yep. Big mac no sauce medium meal with nuggets no sauce and an iced tea no sugar, every time. Can't upsell this taste.
@@_piercerI’d say they already upsold you on the nuggets a long time ago
A Happy Meal with a simple hamburger 😅
If you can't talk to a stranger for a few seconds you'll likely never meet again in your life, you're going to have problems.
@@cattysplattrue, social interactions are extremely vital and shouldn't be minimized by machines
I straight up found myself saying "No?" and "Who does that?" out loud with this one lmfao
Same here, I know what I want to order, so I order that and nothing else.
Exactly
Literally did the same thing lol
10:19
Many people come with just vague idea that they wanted to eat something
I absolutely hate how smooth that ad transition was
In the UK they recently added a pop up that i find quite disgusting business practice.
After you select what burger, that you want a meal and you get the option for medium or large. If you pick medium, after you select side and drink and go to add it to your order. A new pop-up comes up asking if you would like to make the meal large.
AFTER you have already selected the medium size. I find it so gross for the pennies of profit vs the damage being done to consumers and their wallets
Well it is still your choice tho
@@yodukenukem Yes, one you have already made
It does not hold a gun to your head to upsize, most people I serve are just indecisive and I have to suggest a ton of items day by day, an average of 5 minutes just on deciding per day per customer really ruins my other tasks of cleaning and maintenance
Think that's bad? When I was a teen, I worked part-time at a McD's franchise. One thing I was supposed to do, was ask every customer if they wanted to "Supersize" the combo. You can think of it as "extra-large" fries and soda to go with whatever it is.
It would have been an even bigger impact when it was a face to face question, or a human asking another one.
However, I did NOT ask that question to any customer. I figured if that's what they'd like to order, they'd say so. I don't think anyone else working there asked that question either.
Whatever you order, I'm giving you exactly what you asked for. I might ask clarification if I'm not sure. If the customer didn't technically order the combo, but ordered the same items a-la carte (e.g. "A medium Sprite, medium fries, and a Quarter Pounder please!"), I'd ring it up as a combo to make it cheaper.
I actually considered customers to be kind of a slight annoyance, and at my location it was nearly always a skeleton crew anyway. I get paid the same whether they come in or not, so if they do come, I want them to go away. I lacked enthusiasm (c'mon, it's /McDonald's/), but you'd get exactly what you asked for, because the last thing I want you to do is come back and complain, where I have to deal with you again. Wait times were a little longer, though that was because due to lower sales, almost everything was being made to order. But that also meant everything would be freshly cooked!
A few customers did order Supersize, but most didn't.
Being an ageing millennial, I flat out refused to use these things at all when they came out. I only get McDonalds maybe once or twice a year, but same for the other fast food joints, I just don't like them. This is *the thing* that made me an old man shouting at a cloud. I've actually found using the regular face to face to be several orders of magnitude faster.
I order exactly the same amount of food with these machines as I did ordering from a server. Servers would nudge as well. “Do you want to make that a menu for only €X more?” And if you order a menu “Do you want to make that a large menu?” The difference as you said is that there is no time pressure at the machine while in front of the server there is. Hence you are more likely to upsize with a server than a machine. If you go in knowing what you want you order what you want.
Exactly. This video is a low IQ take. If you are stupid enough to originally get a small cheeseburger meal, but "accidentally" order a family meal, that is entirely on you and not the machine. You have bigger problems and should probably get a carer to supervise you for daily activities. Terrible take.
Menu = combo? What country are you from?
@@logicaldebateUSA I’m originally from Canada but I have lived in Switzerland for 25 years and presently the UK for the past 2. The video seemed to be of German origin so I used the terminology McDonald’s uses in Germany but they call it a menu in Switzerland and a meal in the UK. It is identical to the North American combo.
I think it's probably more that at the counter you have to admit to another human being that you're a glutton and face their judgement when you start adding on extra burgers and nibbles.
With the machine, only you see what you order and it comes in a paper bag so you can hide your shame.
If you're not gluttonous then your order will remain the same and this change has no effect on you, but a majority of western people are, whether they like to admit it or not.
@@logicaldebateUSAIn Ukraine it’s also called a menu, not a combo. But the interface is very similar to the one in the video
9:55 "a real blessing for introverts" made me laugh so much
It’s true though
so true 😭
bro fr u dont know how happy i was when they added these machines
Yeah but the peak is to cook at home, there are absolutly no one there
I avoided other fast food restaurants because they didn't have the machine, it feels terrible to be undecided with a big line behind you
0:48 two cheeseburgers please, nothing more. Thanks
Gets two singles instead.
I get 2 cheese burgers, 4 nuggets and a diet coke, that’s it, gotta leave before I buy a weeks supply to keep in the fridge to reheat 😂
I was at the McDonald’s convention in Barcelona and got to see the new terminals they’re coming out with. You can basically order your food by just telling it what you want without touching the screen. It also takes very complex order like removing a topping from a cheeseburger or if you want your coffee made a specific way. McDonald’s is stepping up there game.
Their*
here in poland you can already customize a lot, i've ordered coffe without sugar once because of that mistake :(
And stepping up their prices whilst the quality of the food gets stepped on. It's no longer fast food either.
Speaking to the terminal is not a good design imo, most people want to make their order "anonymously"
The food in US sucks from McDonald's bro!
The editing on this is SO on point. It gives me New York Times podcast-vibes. Very very professional. They won a new subscriber!
oh lucky them i'm sure they appreciate that one sub
@@gfuentes8449When it’s individually done 1.64 million times I’m sure they do champ
tbh that sponsorship transition was really good. didnt realise at first it was an ad, but then noticed the extra progressbar and "Ad" in the corner. actually thought it was just an example used to further explain how the UI design works
Interesting video. I worked for many years in classic dining, and I don't see anything particularly new on these screens. If I wanted to sell a starter, I would ask the customer if they preferred a small green salad or a soup to start, but I would never ask, "if they wanted a starter." Similarly, for mineral water: "do you prefer mineral water with or without gas?" and never "do you want mineral water?" All this to say: with or without screens, we are all subject to this kind of upselling. It's the consumer's job to know what they want or don't want.
Buyer beware is just a lazy attempt to tolerate manipulative crap
I bet if checkout screen showed calories the orders would cut in half
They should be forced to show that. 2300 kcal is absolutely insane.
The EU should do that!!!!!!!!
@@DodgerX people are lazy and impulsive
Who expect gym bros care about calories. Like really anyone in family meeting oh no how much calories in this or this. Well they have this in denmark about calories and no one cares
they show it on the screens and physical menu cards
Watching this while eating madonalds is horrifying 💀
0:20
Did you get the extra nuggets?
Madonalds
They got you
@@geigertec5921 🥹
Just yesterday I was at Burger King since a long time. I just wanted a chilli cheese Burger and chilli cheese fries. I clicked on the burger and was confused. I got 2 options: take the burger with a small menu or take the burger with a normal menu. I was about to go back in the interface, then I just noticed a button under these options, that was greyed out and looked like its not pressable: "go on without a menu".
AND I just ordered the burger and chilli cheese fries :)
You passed the Mission
Respect +
@@Jan-ns6xhsame bro, 1 minute later I would’ve left this BK cause I’m not buying sh I don’t want. Took me minutes too to find the „only the burger button“ cause I feel the opacity was decreased too 💀😂 they so cheeky nowadays man
2:09 I've never seen such and smooth transition to an ad
gotta love waiting for your food and a 70 yo man is screaming wondering why no one will take his order lol
At that price I'd scream too if I had to use a screen myself
@@WaltherPPK909what price?
@@hundredandtenthat price
I'm under 40 and I will not use the screens. You don't need to be old to understand it's a scam, both to reduce the amount of labor they have to pay for and trick you with dark patterns.
Don't worry, that 70 year old is living in a house he bought in his yearly 30s and is laughing at somebody like you in the basement
I hardly go to McD's these days but a while back I went to one because it was on my way (and at the end of a long bike ride) and I stopped in for a 1/4-pounder and an ice water. It was my first time using an SOT and I liked it. I knew exactly what I wanted, was able to select what I wanted, pay, it was no problem. No more asking a worker for a "small Coke" and him turning around and handing me a small vanilla ice cream cone. No more hollering over the noise of the restaurant. It's always been with me that when I'd go int any fast food restaurant I'd have it decided in my mind ahead of time what I'll get so for me it's pretty straightforward.
So that's why they tripled their prices in the past 10 years
good luck getting 39,995 more subs
@Prince_Najeeb Make actual good content instead of begging, not our fault your parents dont want to give you a gaming system.
its inflation, you can literally use one of those online calculators if you want
Not sure how this explains the price increases.
@@eadweard.they are insisting the 2 billion they spent on the ordering screens are being offset by price increases but like everything else its just late stage capitalism. McDs could pay a living wage and still keep prices low but CEOs wouldn’t be able to buy another jet and they would lose a small percentage of shareholders 😒
Someone who lives in India, price of regular food for you in the West is insanely high. For $20 you can do a 3 people dinner with desserts at a good restaurant.
That ad was smooth 2:00
they went from trump to hitler to mcdonalds that's crazy
it's all the same
Because they all share some things in common. I'll give you a hint: it's not positive
@SodaWithoutSparkles do you mean power ?
@@raymondel-haddad7312 depends if you're looking at the anode or cathode
jews
In the UK we have these machines and the first page encourages you to sign in to the rewards program, you get 1 mcpoint for every penny spent and can use them to get food rewards. I have a neat hack - you can sign in yourself and then go away, then if someone else goes up to that machine you get points on their order, do it a few times and get free food. (But not too many because if you get a wise customer they might spend your points if you have enough to redeem!)
Won't take long for those to be devalued because too much customer complaints.
that’s in literally every country with mcdonald’s
Oh wow you’re a genius, I’m definitely gonna give that trick a try 😂
Last i heard, McDonald's was backtracking, because the price increases had led to such a drop in sales volume.... They are returning to low price menu items and volume
never ordered more than I wanted
Same here, I actually can't recall a single time I added anything extra to my original order on one of these machines. Maybe some people just have bad short-term memory and weak resolve.
i never wanted more then i ordered.
10:19
@@Rogertheengineer- "Maybe some people just have bad short-term memory "
I´d bet my money you are included and first sentence was rubbish :)
Nevermind :)
Yea, just decide what you wanna buy beforehand. It's not that difficult
10:30 "Otherwise [...] a giant conglomerate like McDonald's wouldn't use them"
Even if there was absolutely zero revenue benefit, they would absolutely still use them. SOTs:
- Don't take legally mandated breaks/mealtimes
- Don't have to be paid a minimum/living wage
- Don't call out sick
- Don't require training
- Take up less floor space
- Won't unionize
- Have lower legal liability
- Won't offend customers
Whereas you used to have two, three, four or more registers, you can now just have one to handle any edge case customers, and every other worker can be dedicated to making food. This reduces labor costs.
I am not saying this is one, but it is not that giant conglomerates never made multibillion dollar mistakes
Der Gerät schläft nicht
They don't call out sick, they break down. They don't require training, they require maintence. And anything can be offensive to the wrong person.
Never thought of how other people perceive ordering their meals over SOTs, usually when I go to McDonalds I just ordered what I came for knowing full well that I shouldn't eat too much fast food.
I was gonna brag that these silly tactics don’t work on me, but then I got pulled straight into the watch advertisement. Didn’t even notice until a solid minute, good work 👍🏻
Your guys transitions into an ad placement are seamless. Great video, like always
2:31 who else slipped into this add for a mean as watch?
Ironic fern making a video about scam SOT screens only for him to scam us into watching his ad…
@@pewpewpowerabsolutely hilarious and so very meta
It's worked the opposite for me. I wanted a Big Mac. But realize the McDouble gives me about 80% the burger for about 50% the price. Then I just click the "Happy Meal" because I don't feel any shame in ordering the kid's meal when I am infront of a kiosk vs telling another human being to give me the kids meal
I've never experienced or know anyone who's ever over-ordered at McDonalds.
Me neither
I thought I was losing my mind that no one else feels like this is a non-issue. I love this channel but have been using mobile-order/kiosk in the rare times I get fast food for years and nothing in this was relatable. Felt like my mom explaining why her diet isn't working...
Same. This seems like a west problem.
As my comment said "Who even falls for this?", tragic if thats the case
you haven’t seen every single person whose using these
I’ve never seen a more seamless sponsor transition than this one. Fern knows what they’re doing.
right! I didn't realise when the ad started!
Not really... if they knew what they were doing they would understand the massive hypocrisy of illegally putting an unacknowledged paid advert in the middle of a video where they're criticising the ethics of someone else's selling techniques actually makes more people hate and distrust the channel. It's a counterproductive move. A little bit of short-term gain for a lot of long-term damage.
@@PutItAway101I agree. I don’t quite understand why people marvel at “seamless ad transitions,” as if it’s something that should be commended.
@@tobythetoaster5337 It does take some creative effort to try to integrate an ad into the video, even if it's a bit unethical at best. Also, many viewers do want to support their creators, so they don't really mind if use these tactics to earn revenue
@@PutItAway101 The issue is that it's simply not comparable.
Dark patterns are unethical but not properly regulated, which is their problem. Misleading adverts and unannounced sponsors like in this video ARE illegal in many countries.
So while the irony is not lost on me and is likely very much intended, it undermines the rest of the video because it's not the same. More to the point, there's nothing that connects that irony. There's no statement made after-the-fact to point it out, which may be clever filmmaking but is still ILLEGAL.
Best parts of the kiosk screens for users: no social anxiety as the worker in front of you waits, no miscommunication as the orders are input, and I can experiment with different possibilities of what I want such as no ice in beverage.
You’re just making yourself weaker and more miserable. If talking to a cashier makes you anxious, you should seek counseling to deal with it.
@@juliemunoz2762 some of us are introverts and social interactions range from awkward to downright painful. No amount of counseling is going to make an introvert into an extrovert. At most I can mask my true self and pretend to be someone I'm not. That's fine if I'm having limited social interactions. Maybe Colin is a more extreme introvert.
@@Ziegfried82don’t be cringe, introversion is not as big of a thing as self proclaimed “introverts” claim it to be
@@juliemunoz2762 You know the people there don’t want to work there and they’re going to show it why bother if it’s just gonna be awkward the whole time if you can just go and get your order quickly without dealing with people with attitudes then it makes things easier
These restaurants are typically run by unhygienic pimple faced school kids - what's there to be socially anxious about? You should be more anxious about what they do to your food while they're bashing it together instead of having to talk face to face for 10 seconds.
Your brand deal ad placement is very unique and seamless
Hot take: I don't think this affected me at all, I still just get a bacon egg and cheese biscuit with added egg, but faster. I think people just have a short attention span and no self-control these days.
I did get fooled once when I bought a happy meal toy that my mom wanted (it was the pricey BT21 ones) and it popped up as a recommended. Ever since then, since I'm trying to be more frugal, I'm a lot more selective with the McDonald's screens esp since I only like something particular if I ever want to go back to McDonald's (a simple cheeseburger meal with medium fries and drink)
The reason is exactly because people are constantly being shoved with these dark patterns
That’s exactly the problem. These companies get advice from companies that monitor our habits on our devices on public networks, which helps them design these devices and boom, that’s how we end up saying “it’s just 80¢ extra” until it’s a year later and you’re out of an extra $250-1500
Same here.
Still esting the same, just witing less time...🤷
@@tiffanymcdonald7195 You can't be spied on a public network. Also how does your 80 cents turn into 1500 dollars?
I present to you two counter measures:
1. Plan ahead. Don't enter the restaurant without knowing what you want to buy. Stick to your plan and allow yourself one extra item max.
2. Don't go to fastfood chains. Try a real restaurant.
Well if the whole point is to not use so much money a real retaurant def wont work lol.
lol #2 is really all we need
Wendys "surge pricing" isn't helping lol.
@@mirzu42The prices of fast food where I live (USA) have gone up even more than restaurant food. So a lot of the money-saving appeal of fast food is gone. It’s still always going to be faster than a restaurant, but the more expensive it gets the more attractive regular restaurants get.
honestly i order more because i finally know wtf they're selling besides "a cheeseburger." im not unhappy with what i end up buying. its just regular marketing tricks, they're showing you a huge screen full of ads before you order. this isn't more unethical than ads on tv or the internet, just more immediate.
I never would have thought that people would order more than they expected when using one of these. The unpersonal aspect of these machines makes me order less items than I intend.
Me too. Only animals without self control fall into tricks
@@LearnCompositionOnline I honestly think a lot of younger people (especially in the US where everybody is clamoring for your money) aren't susceptible to these tactics and buy less. Case in point they are discontinuing self-checkouts and restaurants arent doing so well.
@@RinoaL yes in my case I buy way more if there's a cashier in front of me since I need to think fast and are more willing to impulsively buy any craving. However on drive thru I buy less. As it's so fast that I just buy the usual classic meal I know I will like, instead of thinking about if I should buy something new
Damn, that watch ad inside the video really fooled me. Good work honestly. After too many seconds I was wondering what a watch has to do with this video, lol.
That was, by far, the most seamless and unexpected segway into a sponsor from any video I have ever seen on youtube so far. Kudos to that! (Also great vid too, btw!)
I wonder, is this a major issue for people?
The presented way people are affected by the machine’s system in the video felt heavily exaggerated, I’ve never ever had any issues with this, let alone even heard of anyone doing it.
The way it’s presented made it almost sound like it’s a well-known thing people don’t have ANY self-control when they see additional fast food popping up.
I love Fern, it’s not necessarily criticism to them, I just wonder if I’m alone about that?
You're definitely not alone in thinking that as I'm the same way. However, you just have to consider that if it didn't statistically benefit the company, they wouldn't be doing it. So it clearly works on enough people for them to invest so heavily in it. It's a shame, but human beings are not rational creatures. A lot of the time we are being manipulated without even realizing it, just as fern demonstrated in the video.
@@thestateof6970 Great reply! And agreed. I suppose the lack of narrative definition developed my comment, as it felt unclear whether Fern was explaining “this is what McD thinks you think”, or they were saying “This is how most people think”.
Same way supermarket arranges things to separate commonly bought together items with another aisle of tertiary items. You might think it's not applicable to you but if it doesn't work in increasing sales then they wouldn't bother taking the time to arrange them in the first place. This is because there's so many costumers and so many visits per costumers. For example, this trick might work on you every time but if 1 time out of your 20 or 30 purchases you buy something you didn't plan to buy before, then it works enough.
This is actually interesting. I face no such problems when i go to McDs in my home country. But when im travelling to a foreign country with vastly different menu items, i do fall into this trap
@thestateof6970 But maybe the reasons why it works is different than what the video shows. I think people order more because they finally know what McD offers, not because of any dark patterns. You can just compare everything better without being in a rush. Before those I never knew what to order. Now I do. But I still won't spend more than I need.
0:30 Nah, I didn’t feel it I am in diet.
Me neither, I'm broke
Me neither, I exclusively use the coupons
That German insider looked like he was undercover wearing a wig 😭
Was thinking the same thing. Also a fake nose. Looks like a disguise
Something not mentioned in the video is language. In Switzerland with our 3 main languages I never know if I'll be able to communicate my order properly with the staff. The self checkout machines solve this problem, particularly when I want to customize ingredients
Let's be real, with the migrants they employ these days they'd never understand you anyway.
Also great for tourists who know English, since that's practically always one of the language options.
The dark pattern encouraging card payment is actually *less* severe in Germany than it is in the UK McDonalds (I assume as Germany is still more cash-based). In the UK there is *no option* for paying with cash or card initially, it only gives you a number for the register if you go into the card payment system and press the cancel button on the screen or the reader, I think you might even have to do it a few times, and only then does it give you the ticket to go to the register and use cash.
I don't think the reason is to do with overspending though - I think it is about discouraging people from going to the register, there is only 1 register and it is not even staffed all the time so having to use it is a bad experience which probably discourages people from coming to McDonalds again. Also eventually I am sure they want to have 0 registers and a fully cashless McDonalds so then they can hire less staff and increase profit.
In regards to staffing, we never have any people dedicated to registers already at least for the McDonalds I work at. Somebody simply helps customers when needed. The removal of the cash option also likely won't happen untill theres just not enough people paying cash, rather than what corporate wants. 400€ per day in extra sales lets say from cash is worth it.
Had my first experience with them a month ago. In a McDs and a KFC. Found them to be quite convenient and easy to use, especially for a guy who's not familiar with the menu at all. It was my first KFC ever and the first McDs in at least 5 years.
McD's was really straightforward and easy to use. KFC's was easy to use too, but it constantly pesters you with things to add so you spend more money.
I just select the combo offer. It shows you what you get and the price. Just select the options withouth a price tag and you'll get what you want. I didn't think there was something evil in their design. But yeah, I see people serminghly struggling to use them.
The Minecraft munching sound 😂😂 6:23
55 BURGERS, 55 FRIES, 55 TACOS, 55 PIES, 55 COKES, 100 TATER TOTS, 100 PIZZAS, 100 TENDERS, 100 MEATBALLS, 100 COFFEES, 55 WINGS, 55 SHAKES, 55 PANCAKES, 55 PASTAS, 55 PEPPERS AND 155 TATERS
Sir, this is a Wendy's
No way this is 2 million dollars for not printing receipts, not taking cash, AND having a shit touchscreen
That is the slickest ad segue I've ever seen, bravo. I was half-way through before I even realised it was an ad.
Fern has officially mastered the art of smooth sponsor transitions, seriously this one was so smooth.
Love the channel, but don't like them employing similar tactics to what they are criticizing or informing about here
i just use these things because im too awkward to ask a person
Then there’s my stingy ass who’ll just add a tomato to the cheapest chicken sandwich and get a soda at the closest gas station
Beginner. Everyone knows gas station is ripping off people. Closest big chain supermarket is where im at...
@@Dino-oj2pr I got a 40 ounce drink for 70 cents at a gas station the other day. I don’t think it’s going to get cheaper than that!
@@Dino-oj2prbottles are rip offs yeah but most fountains are always cheaper from the fancy gas stations
@@JakoWako Holy shit is is Faygo? Good deal.
@@alexcarter8807 Arco. This one has a huge sign advertising for 69 cents (haha...) while the gas and everything in the store is expensive.
That ad transition was extraordinary.
I didn’t even realize the transition into the ad it was so fcking smoooooth
10:31 oh yes they would, one machine replaces 2 store workers and their upkeep costs very little
You missed the second benefit for McD, as it also reduces staff, especially during peak hours. Several years back it was common to see about 5 cash registers with 1 staff each during peak in the store (plus drive through and a manager or runner) now you tend to see 2 registers but at most 1 front staff plus the drive through and manager or runner. During peak hours front of house staff and kitchen was about equal, now front of house is a lot less. This could be about 1/3 of staff reduction in peak hours. Thats a very big saving!
yikes. the fact that you know this makes me fear for your health.
That's why prices have double!
Initially when they introduced these there were codes you could input over and over with no limit, adjusting the code depending on the meal you wanted. I did this for years, buying full meals for £1.99 until they eventually fixed it so the surveys generated unique codes a few years ago. I'll be honest, I purposefully make my order as difficult as possible now as it's the only way to guarantee it'll be warm. Usually I'll have to stand at the small cash till to get a receipt for a survey as the printers never seem to work.
once I discovered a funny bug on these McDonald's SOTs of my little town in the countryside of São Paulo, Brazil: every meal, no matter how expensive they were, you'd pay about 2 dollars (10 BRL) if you chose a bottle of water as a drink option (a meal usually costs 10 dollars, or 50 BRL)
Water is normally $10?
@@logicaldebateUSA sorry I didn't express myself clearly: the meal costs 10 dollars but with water every meal would cost around 2
Did it get fixed after a few days, or can you still use that trick? :D
@@krystiankowalski7335 it eventually got fixed, unfortunately! But it took McDonald's IT team a good while to fix that lol
@@krystiankowalski7335 it eventually got fixed unfortunately but it took McDonald's IT team a good while to fix that lol
Also important to note that these replace the jobs of people taking orders so that McDonald’s can spend less on paychecks
we will all miss garbage jobs
@@mercier300 there’s no such thing as a garbage job, replacing people’s jobs is not a good thing
@@snaaail Maybe garbage is the wrong word but it's definitely useless. Replacing useless jobs is a good thing.
@@agisler87 it’s most definitely not a useless job
@@snaaail if it's no longer needed then by definition it's useless. For all of human history jobs have come and gone.
Its funny how all these predatory tactics are irrelevant if the client isn't a complete idiot.
it works, because that's exactly what the average McDonalds customer is.
it works to some extent on the vast majority of people i'd say, even if you dont want to admit it
its funny how you think these tricks wont work on you when they've been optimized to subconsciously make people like you feel like you're not buying a lot
@@aanda5104idk, I’ll go in having what I want in mind and I won’t change it. That doesn’t seem like the trick working
Believe me, after a long 12 hour shift on a friday evening, this will also work on a very smart guy like you! And that's also exactly one of the moments people visit a McDonalds, when they're very hungry, stressed and don't have any energy left to cook something healthy at home.
This is such an interesting video. Fascinating to learn about the techniques they use to 'encourage' you to spend more and more. What i find particularly funny is the 'animated' rewards when you upgrade your order actually have the opposite effect on me, but I never noticed it before. For example, that little animation when you upgraded, would have pushed me to empty my cart and start again because i dont like the idea that I was being rewarded for spending more, it makes me feel like I'm being duped.
Dude no wonder you're talking about how this machine increases sales. That ad transition was one of the best I've even seen. I'm not even mad lol
Those kiosks are amazing, I don't have to worry about the worker getting my order wrong at the beginning. I don't have to worry about the subconscious time limit as I make my decision with the worker. The only thing I ask for these kiosks is that it is often disinfected and the touch pad work without always applying a hard press.
You still get the wrong order in the food prep. Human error doesn't stop because of an ordering system.
@@cattysplatyeah but it helps with my social anxiety
They still get it wrong sometimes. Some workers are lazy or they can't read the order ticket. They rather fool around rather than focus on the customer. I'm serious.
I like the idea of the kiosk but I wish they made it simpler to use. Sometimes, it takes multiple attempts just to hit any button on the screen or the kiosk gets slow and bloated.
the way the ads are incorporated to these videos is always done so effortlessly! makes me not skip it, honestly. Great video!!
Always invaluable to get taught about how big companies are playing mind tricks. It really helps to counteract.