“Even the napkins are greasy,” a co-worker said triumphantly as she brought back a bag of McDonald’s to the envy of everyone, even though no one would admit it.
Everyone, including me—the health nut of the office. Until recently, I also was the authority on throwing McDonald’s shade.
McDonald’s is going through an identity crisis. How can the company shed its unhealthy reputation and bring back Chipotle-loving Millennials—ironically the generation with which Happy Meals skyrocketed the company in the ’80s and ’90s?
The company’s crosshairs are focused directly on me. I’m 27 years old, concerned with healthy eating and prefer burrito bowls to Big Macs. I buy into the GMO-, antibiotic-, preservative-free hype.
But then I dug into the nutrition facts. Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill—both companies ahead of the clean-eating curve—offer meals of varying nutritional value, ranging from heart-attack inducing to Dr. Oz-approved ingredients.
So does McDonald’s. In fact, when comparing similar menu items among all three, McDonald’s food combinations often contain less calories, cholesterol and total fat than Panera’s and Chipotle’s.
Nutritional information is all that Holly Herrington, a registered dietitian at Northwestern Medicine’s Center for Lifestyle Medicine, uses to counsel her clients, she said in an interview.
Because no matter the certification or marketing campaign, consumers never can be certain of a company’s food origins, she said. “Unless you are growing your own food in your backyard, you’re probably not going to have control over everything.”
Fast food’s rush to offer the cleanest food is all marketing, Herrington said. “Make no mistake, these are still unhealthy foods.”
Despite advertisements, McDonald’s, Chipotle and Panera all seem to be on the same nutritional playing field.
So how can McDonald’s stay on top of its competition?
Take a page from my relationship counselor’s book: You have to love yourself before someone else can love you.
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By so prominently advertising a better-for-you menu, it almost seems as if McDonald’s is ashamed of the very products that made it so successful.
Millennials, like me, want to eat healthily, but they don’t want McDonald’s intruding in that space.
McDonald’s is a guilty pleasure. It’s not an everyday lunch. Like a half-melted pint of Ben and Jerry’s or that DVD-copy of “The Notebook,” it’s there for me right when I need it most. It’s that mad, midnight rush for super-sized fries and an M&M McFlurry.
Herrington prescribes an 80-20 plan. She tells her clients to pick good, healthy choices 80 percent of the time and splurge the other 20 percent.
McDonald’s already provides some “decent” options like grilled chicken salads and fruit-and-yogurt parfaits, according to Herrington. But its core products – those with which Millennials identify, such as chicken nuggets, burgers, fries – exist in the 20 percent.
McD’s should get back to advertising its bread and butter – burgers and fries.
Taco Bell sells itself as the fourth meal. Snickers cures hangry. Neither make any attempt at healthy.
Eating McDonald’s will be OK again as soon as McDonald’s accepts itself.
McDonald’s, love thyself. We already do, even if we won’t admit it.