There are certain things we've come to rely on during the pandemic[1].
The carelessness of some governments, for example. The arrogance of some local politicians, too, as they tell us to do one thing and themselves do another.
And then there's the utter reliability of fast food at a time of crisis.
When things are rough, we turn to pizzas and burgers because we're all tenderized chickens at heart, in need of simple pleasures when we're all cooped up.
McDonald's[2] and other fast-food entities have managed to survive quite well during these darker days. You wouldn't think, then, that they'd want to upset customers at this delicate moment.
Yet severe grumblings are emerging from McDonald's franchisees and they haven't been caused by hunger. You see, as Restaurant Business reported[3], the franchisees and corporate headquarters have been fighting over, among other things, who pays for all the fancy technology the chain has introduced.
Not so long ago, McDonald's bought a company called Dynamic Yield[4]. This boasted it could predict what customers would order and vary the displays at the drive-thru, using parameters such as the weather, the traffic, and whether there was a bigger line at Burger King. (I hope I'm joking about that last one.)
The purchase seems to have been a success. As the chain rolled out fancier menu displays, business improved. Why, its third-quarter results beat estimates[5], and beating Wall Street is what all executives strive to do, some legally.
Yet here is McDonald's telling franchisees it'll be charging them monthly for all the fancy tech, rather than every six months. Fast food franchises work on extremely low margins. Adding perhaps