McBike Rolls at Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2005

Rallygoers check out the colorful fuel tank painting of the McBike at the Desperado Motorcycles booth at Broadway at the Beach on Saturday. Desperado owner Jeff Nicklus of Woodlands, Texas, donated $278,000 to the Ronald McDonald House after the bike was raffled last year. The current owner has now asked the bike builder to sell the bike again for a further donation to the charity. RANDALL HILL/The Sun News

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Time To Upgrade

The Little Falls McDonald's could use a bit of sprucing up. A few of the booths have very worn fabric. This really affects the brand quality and image. We think it can even affect the attitude of the employees.

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Fruit & Walnut Premium Salad

According to a recent press release, "McDonald's, in a fashion inspired press event, announced today the latest addition to our company's salad portfolio as a part of our new spring line. The Fruit & Walnut Premium Salad includes premium fresh fruit: USDA #1 sliced apples and red seedless grapes, with a side of low-fat vanilla yogurt and candied Diamond® walnuts to sprinkle on top. The new Fruit & Walnut Premium Salad is part of McDonald's on-going commitment to encourage food-energy balance." So, the McChronicles checked it out. The taste is delicious, and they certainly aren't skimpy on the portions. Presentation, freshness, and flavor all rated high. The walnuts were not included and they had to be sought out. When they arrived, it was noted that they come sugar-coated. Doesn't this kind of violate the whole point? They'd be just as tasty without the sugar (and less assailable by critics). Overall - Great job McDonald's!

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Heartfelt Feedback: Heartfelt Appreciation

A long-time McDonald's employee and McChronicles reader recently posted a heartfelt comment that included this statement:

"All I want you to know is any difficulties you may encounter at any store is felt ten fold on the employees. Everyone of us is underpaid and overworked. I am of the belive (sic) that nobody should be allowed to eat at a fast food resturaunt (sic) until they can prove they have worked at one as a means of supporting themselves for at least 1 month. I personally have been a McEployee (sic) to pay for rent and tuition for longer than I care to think about. So please next time you go to a store remember - we feel it worse - trust me." The full comment can be found posted below.

These heartfelt comments are so meaningful to the McChronicles team. We want to thank the writer for sharing their time, ideas, and insight. The McChronicles team LOVES McDonald's from a consumer perspective. We attempt to deliver a true, fair customer's-eye view of the experience along with customer-based comments on what we expect and hope for.

We try hard to NOT take cheap shots or to be unfair. We are all mature adults with (sometimes)advanced college degrees. We operate or manage large and small businesses or departments in businesses. We appreciate concepts like branding, customer expectations, promises, etc. (just so you know where we're coming from).

Therefore, we strongly feel that virtually all issues encountered are owned by supervision, management, and above. We've been the front-line person in life. We've had to deal with what we've been handed (from both sides). We empathize with all McDonald's crew members. The way we hear it most crew members want to be great, and want McDonald's to be great, as do the customers.

By respectfully and caringly identifying any issues and offering ways to improve (the best we can) we all are working towards a better situation. Hopefully the powers that be are listening, care, and are able to take action. Compared to taking notes during McDonald's visits, submitting reports, managing a blog (after working 50 hours per week, teaching a college class, raising kids, etc.) it would be much easier just to be rude, complain, and trash McDonald's. But we really care.

To McDonald's crew members everywhere - Thank YOU for being there, for caring, for all the hassles you take by many, many rude customers. YOU are the HERO of this story. Please know that so many customers LOVE McDonald's and are so hopeful of the promised and expected experience. Keep up the great work - we really appreciate you!

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Do You REALLY Love Me?

The humorous demi-blog "The Sneeze" (www.thesneeze.com) offers up a humorous take on the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. Check it out. Graphic is copyright thesneeze.com.

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Good News Goes Unnoticed

When there is something negative to say about McDonald's, the news spreads like wildfire (even when it is untrue).

Keep an eye on how many times (we are guessing "few") the media picks up on this story. Kudos to the AP and to Yahoo News.

YAKIMA, Wash. - The nation's apple growers, who have been fighting flat prices for years, are optimistic about the future now that the world's largest fast-food chain has become their biggest foodservice customer. Read more.

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