McDonald's vs. Starbucks

Remember the 17 minutes during the campaign when the culture wars were manifesting in a Obama=Starbucks, McCain=Dunkin' Donuts dichotomy? Obama's campaign spending reports revealed more cash going to Starbucks, whereas the Straight Talk Express was runnin' on Dunkin'. Jaime Sneider at The Weekly Standard wrote:

If coffee is a heuristic for the presidential election, the McCain campaign is in good shape. While Starbucks is in the process of closing 600 locations, Dunkin' Donuts is opening dozens. Because Americans are pessimistic about the economy, they're more likely to spend only a buck or two on a cup of coffee than they are to splurge on the mocha chip frappuccino. There is also some dignity in being able to say small, medium, or large as opposed to tall, grande, or venti. Customer surveys also show that Dunkin' Donuts is out pacing Starbucks for the first time in years.

It's probably a safe assumption that the Dunkin' crowd and the McDonald's crowd are similar, so it is interesting to see some new stats from the Pew Research Center providing some corroboration for the theory:

Comments

[Kwix]

Huh, older and poorer people prefer places to get cheap meals while younger and richer prefer to spend money on coffee. Who would have guessed that?

God I hate how Pew wastes their money.

[Shirt]

...providing some collaboration for the theory:

I believe you want "corroboration".

[Dagny T.]

Huh, older and poorer people prefer places to get cheap meals while younger and richer prefer to spend money on coffee. Who would have guessed that?

Common sense? That's no fun at all, Kwix. How will we provoke a TEAM RED TEAM BLUE, liberal West Coast vs. flyover country cage match like that?

[R C Dean]

...providing some collaboration for the theory:

I believe you want "corroboration".

Nyet, comrade. Collaboration is what we require.

[stereotype man]

29 year old, obama supporting, college educated hispanics making more than 75k a year and living in LA, San Francisco, Seattle or Denver like Starbucks.

65 year old, McCain supporting white men living in Montgomery Alabama making less than 30k a year like Mcdonalds.

[Larry N. Martin]

It's simple. McDonald's provides a better value for the money, but no prestige like Starbucks. Of course, I don't go to McDonald's for the coffee.

[Alan Vanneman]

Us geezers prefer McDonalds in our neighborhood(48% to 18%) because we like to walk to work.

[Smartass]

What about us who brew our own (Gevalia and 8 O'Clock blended, decaf. I shit you not)?

[Mike Laursen]

One of the nice things about an election is that it has an end, at which we can all never think about stuff like this again.

[Paul]

I know this really isn't the point of this thread, but Starbucks is closing 600 stores because they have 600 stores too many. If Dunkin' had grown in the willy-nilly, haphazard way in which Starbucks did, Dunkin' would be closing 600 stores.

[Jim Anderson]

McDonalds has explicitly played up the "class war" angle, with their whole "unsnobby coffee" campaign to insert mediocre lattes into the fast food experience. (And now Starbucks is gonna add value meals--the ciiiircle of liiiiife....)

[lrv]

Does Krispy Kreme represent the Nader crowd?

[Stagman]

What about us who brew our own (Gevalia and 8 O'Clock blended, decaf. I shit you not)?

They read Reason (home roasted Sweet Maria's green coffee in my case).

[R C Dean]

They read Reason (home roasted Sweet Maria's green coffee in my case).

Me, too. Home roasted micro-lots are teh awesome!

[James Ard]

Not only can I get my local Community Coffee at the grocery store, I can usually find it at gas stations across the south. I had Starbucks once, and all I could think of was what freaking fools the regular customers must be. Since I need to drink five cups a day to protect my liver, $5 a cup would break me fast.

[Mo]

Because Americans are pessimistic about the economy, they're more likely to spend only a buck or two on a cup of coffee than they are to splurge on the mocha chip frappuccino.

The drip coffees at Starbucks is only a buck or two. Unless you're getting lattes and frou frou drinks all day, they're not the $4 a cup that everyone says they are.

[James Ard]

Damn, I could have saved a few bucks if I was only smart enough to understand the menu.

[Brian]

There is also some dignity in being able to say small, medium, or large as opposed to tall, grande, or venti.

I always say "medium" or "large" when I order at Starbucks. One person tried to correct me, "you mean, 'venti'?"

"No."

[R C Dean]

The drip coffees at Starbucks is only a buck or two.

And it would be hideously bad, charred crap at half the price.

[Kolohe]

Jesus Christ, that linked article was dumb even by the standards of being a Weekly Standard article written at the height of the campaign summer 'silly season'.

Furthermore:
"It's probably a safe assumption that the Dunkin' crowd and the McDonald's crowd are similar"
This is not a safe assumption.

[highnumber]

It provides corroboration for what theory?
As I understand the point (and clearly I don't), McCain is going to win because, overall, Americans prefer McDonald's to Starbucks.
When does McCain get sworn in?

And what the hell is with people having to dis McDonald's and/or Starbucks? Both do a very good job at what they do. It's tough to think of any companies who have dominated their marketplaces like they have.

[Ramsey]

I really dislike McDonalds food, but they do make a good pot of drip coffee. It was great when they were serving Seattle's Best.

Starbucks really overdoes the roasting, but their medium roast Mexican is good.

In general though, I like the swill that I get for $0.20 when I eat at the local greasy spoon. Food Services of America I think. You can taste the little bit of love and human rights violation in every cup.

[ChrisO]

The point of going to Starbucks should be espresso, not coffee. And you don't have to spend $4 to get espresso there, either. I find the quality of their espresso to be pretty good, actually, though not the best I've ever had.

I used to get what the baristas referred to as a "ghetto latte"--the Americano, to which you can add your own damned milk and sugar and save a bunch of $$.

I'm sure the Mayor Bloombergs of the world will soon outlaw the insidious devil that is caffeine, thereby ensuring us all a few more precious moments of drooling away in a nursing home...

[Crudity]

I always say "medium" or "large" when I order at Starbucks. One person tried to correct me, "you mean, 'venti'?"

"No."

You could have replied, while paying, "this is shit," referencing your cash.

"Would you like to take my shit?"

[John C Jackson]

I grew up on Dunkin, but there are none in my area now. I make Dunkin coffee at home. If I get coffee out I prefer Seattles Best from Steak n Shake or coffee from Tim Horton's. McDonald's works fine as well. I have never really been tempted to go to Starbucks, and I even have a giftcard.

The few times I have gone to Starbucks, I always said "small, med, large" or I just say " the biggest you have" or something like that.

[John C Jackson]

And as much as people hate McDonald's food or other fast food, the food might make a difference to me. I don't drink things without food- that's what water is for. If I drink anything that soaks the teeth in sugar or anything else, food is required. That said of course McDonald's is shit, but a place with a combo of good coffee and decent breakfast sandwich is more likely to get my dollar. I've been known to get an Egg McMuffin or BEC Biscuit, I saw the news that Starbucks is adding combo meals.

[JoeB]

...or I just say " the biggest you have" or something like that.

Does that come with coffee?

[Xanthippas]

Jesus Christ, that linked article was dumb even by the standards of being a Weekly Standard article written at the height of the campaign summer 'silly season'.

Indeed. Clearly there is no eating establishment that conservatives can't drag into the culture war. Incidentally, wasn't it ol' Dunkin that go into so much trouble with Malkin and the right-winger crowd?

Incidentally, I've never had Dunkin's coffee so I have no idea if it's good or not. McDonald's coffee is not as bad as you think it would be, and Starbucks' drip coffee is not as good as you think it would be. If you like coffee at all, you really are better off making it at home. Anything else is a waste of money on a product of inconsistent quality. Unless of course the point is not the flavor.

[Mike Laursen]

And it would be hideously bad, charred crap at half the price.

Oh, come on. I drink it all the time. It's mediocre charred crap.

[Mike Laursen]

Incidentally, I've never had Dunkin's coffee so I have no idea if it's good or not.

I can't describe exactly how, but it has a taste that goes well with donuts. Not as good drunk solo.

[Adam Strahan]

McDonald's coffee is actually pretty good.

[melissa]

HELLO?????

We live in the most overweight country in America...of course people prefer to get a BigMac supersized with a large fry over a skim latte and an oatmeal, how about instead of talking about starbucks we talk about the problem with obesity in America especially in the little kids that go get their happy meals instead of getting a home-made sandwich at the house.

In my opinion, its not an insult to Starbucks, its an insult to the healthy people in America who are getting represented by a bunch of FAT AS*es eating lard for dinner every night.

This has got to be the most IRRELEVANT THING i have ever seen.

[Jim Walsh]

Dunkin' still beats the bejesus out of Starbucks any damn day of the week.

[dunkinsucks!]

I decided the other day, after hearing many ramblings about how great dunkin donuts is, that I would skip Starbucks and try out the dunkin donuts across the street...see if what I was hearing is true.

So I pull up to the speaker and order a small coffee with cream and sugar...the voice is muffled I can hear nothing and the guy is mumbling over the box. I repeat myself and he mumbles again...I shrug assuming he got it and pull up giving them the benefit of the doubt. I pull to the window and after sitting there for 5 minutes while I watch him and the other guy talk at the counter he walks over as if I have inconvenienced their conversation tells me its going to be 2.56 runs my card before I can say "you didnt charge me correctly" and then gives me a frozen cup and shuts thet window without a word. I sit there...and he looks at me...I honk and he looks at me...finally after at least 3 minutes he comes back to the window and asks if theres "a problem". I tell him what I ordered and I get an eyeroll then a "its going to be a minute to refund that" as he struggles with a calculator...finally I am just like "don't worry about it" and drive away.

So in conclusion at this wonderful dunkin donuts I got worse customer service than I get at Zaxbys (which I didn't think was possible) I got overcharged, I saw two roaches climb up the wall next to the window, and the people working there couldnt do basic math.

I would much rather pay an extra 30 cents and be treated like a human being, know that I was getting a clean and sanitary item, and know that the coffee tastes strong because it doesn't have enough cream and sugar to equal 150 calories in a 10oz cup.

I guess I will just pay extra for good service and to support a company who treats the partners fairly and most people will not...because all I know is I have recruited over 5 dunkin donuts people to Starbucks and heard nothing but nightmare horror stories about the way they treat their employees and how happy these people are to be at starbucks finally.

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