editor’s note:
Following my diatribe is a soon to be published article regarding McDonald’s and their expanded push for the breakfast menu throughout Thailand. If you remember we broke it first here on the blog, when McDonald’s first started serving breakfast in a few locations across Bangkok. It was a limited menu as compared to McDonald’s in America but the items were identical and quite tasty. I was so pleased.
McDonald’s really has no reason to exist apart from serving breakfast so once they got the wi-fi and the breakfast I was starting to dig the place. If you notice in my first post there is a picture of the menu showing items like the Sausage McMuffin with egg using the proper bread. The english muffin. Tasty. Without it a Sausage McMuffin is nothing more than some breakfast item one might pick up at the 7/11 woefully sitting in some steam tray.
Suddenly though things started to change. I went to order a Sausage McMuffin a few weeks ago in Silom and it was served with a hamburger bun. What the hell? A hamburger bun is for burgers - not for the sausage mcmuffin. I realize globally that McDonald’s makes changes ot menus to fit the local tastes. They don’t have a sausage mcmuffin in Malaysia. Seems there are issuesin Malaysia with pork. Whatever. They still use the right bread though. In HK they have the breakfast menu and they use the right bread. Hell, they even serve some of the items all day long. Perfect. Singapore uses the right bread. Even in places like Tokyo they use the right bread.
Why can’t Thailand use the correct bread? Was it too difficult for the employees to remember which bread to use for which item? Was it that hard? Anyway. I think it is fraudulent at the very least. I hope their breakfast push backfires. I hope it sucks. Screw the breakfast menu at mclame. I hate it. On the left is a photo of the “Breakfast Buddies” on Sukhumvit clearly highlighting the ue of the burger bun.
McThai, the local franchisee of McDonald’s, yesterday announced it would invest Bt450 million on adding 20 outlets this year.
McThai’s chairman of the executive committee and CEO Hester Chew said the budget would be for building 20 McDonald’s restaurants – all with McCafe outlets – and another seven drive-through outlets.
The company will also refurbish 11 restaurants during the year.
McThai currently operates 101 McDonald’s nationwide offering dining services, 24-hour drive-through restaurants, Dessert Kiosk and McCafe services.
There is also McDelivery, which uses the 1711 hotline operating from 9am to midnight.
McThai has kicked off its 2008 business plan by finally offering breakfast items, served at 59 outlets around the country. Until recently McDonald’s in Thailand only served a limited selection of burgers and fries.
Chew said the firm now recognised breakfast as an important meal.
“We focus on the ‘Anytime, anywhere’ strategy that uses the convenience platform for all our services,” he said.
He said “24/7, Extended Hour, 1711 Delivery McCafe and Drive Thru” outlets were part of the firm’s rebranding of its image as being part of a cozy and trendier lifestyle.
Chew said that after 35 years of selling breakfast items in foreign markets, the firm had decided it was now time to bring them to the Kingdom.
McThai researchers found the breakfast items should prove popular with locals, especially with office workers who have limited time to prepare food at home.
The company tested the breakfast service and its “gourmet” coffee at eight McDonald’s outlets in Bangkok and Pattaya from last August.
It found most of its customers were satisfied with the items, while more than 88 per cent said they “like the menu”.
Since late December, McThai has added breakfast to scores of other outlets.
“We believe there’s great potential in our breakfast business,” said Chew.
“It will cater to a growing group of consumers who like the ‘grab and go’ idea. This group have time constraints and are on a tight schedule being on the go, working in hectic urban areas.”
He said the breakfast programme had seen rapid successful in the past month, with daily sales rising by 34 per cent during the morning serving period.
However, overall volume for last year failed to meet the firm’s target.
“McDonald’s sales in 2007 were below target, although our performance in the last quarter of 2007 was much stronger than for the rest of the year,” he said.
With its new strategies, Chew expects this year’s sales growth should surpass 20 per cent.
McDonald’s emphasises marketing activities that directly connect with its target group. It is using the “Breakfast Troop” campaign to build awareness with its customers here.
Chew is using radio and TV to market its new products.
“We have spent an Bt8-million budget on this campaign. We are confident the breakfast menu will help increase sales by 30 per cent,” said Chew.
McDonald’s Breakfast menu includes McEgg, Sausage Burger, Sausage & Egg Burger, Bacon & Egg Burger, Big Breakfast with Burger, Hash Browns and Gourmet Coffee.
yeah, i couldn’t agree more. even the ‘big breakfast’ features a toasted hambuger bun instead of an english muffin - that’s just nasty. perhaps if we begin a mass write-in to hester chew and co. they’ll see the error in their ways.
View all comments by go go groupie
Breakfast sandwiches with a hamburger bun?
FTS.
View all comments by Paul
gg - agreed. mass emails and protests but I doubt it will help.
p - yeah. fuck that shit.
View all comments by smitty
I’m just sitting here shaking my head.
You guys are here in Bangkok, up to your little asses in purveyors of endless sex of any variety you can think of and even a few varieties you probably can’t think of without blushing, and you are actually carrying on a serious conversation about organizing mass protests of McDonald’s use of ‘fraudulent bread’?
Oh, man. They’d never believe this back in Peoria……
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
Frankly, I also find it hard to give a fig. As expats, there are gazillions of things we can’t get at all or in different versions to those at home. It’s just part of the deal.
View all comments by Combover
It reminds me of D-FENS, in the movie Falling Down, going berserk in a fast-food joint when they refuse to serve him breakfast.
It beats organizing mass protests.
View all comments by hanuman
I was a victim of the “switch” a few weeks ago when I ordered McD’s after a 14 hour marathon binge only to discover my McMuffins were in fact McBullshit. I was so excited when the delivery guy knocked on my door but was so let down when I dove in for a drunken meal. I have to be honest though, this whole happening only just now came back to when I read this post.
OAH- I get your point but I am American, I want everything my way right now and for half its market value……. hence my affinity for Thai women.
View all comments by billybobbkk@gmail
“I’m just sitting here shaking my head.”
@Old Asia Hand - It’s a nice break from whoring 24/7.
The Sausage McMuffins are good but I really liked the Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit. Does anyone know if they replaced the biscuit as well?
View all comments by anon
They are greasy, full of salt, and are not healthy for you.
Why not go out to Foodland, buy your own english muffins, eggs, and Canadian bacon, and make your own in the morning?
You could maybe even come up with something better.
View all comments by arttv
This is outrageous - I counted on that Egg and Bacon mcmuffin to bring me back to sanity every now and then - hell I would even get up early and travel to Silom before 10.30 for the sole purpose on munching down on one. A Muffin is a fine piece of breadware but a Bun is a tasteless and textureless heap of pap. I suggest another coup, after all the last one failed to achieve anything.
@ combover - where’s my fig?
View all comments by doctorbond
Seriously ? Complaining about McD’s breakfast menu ? I can’t believe you eat that crap in the first place. And the whole argument reminds me of Western women and their boring, bitching conversations. When I hear/read conversations like this, I can’t help but to roll my eyes in disbelief. I do understand the need for occassional “Western” food but I think worrying about McD’s serving breakfast on a hamburger bun as oppossed to a muffin is a bit overkill.
Pretty soon all the Thais will be fat pigs just like Americans. You don’t want that, do you ? Believe me, you do not want that to happen. Maybe you’ve become bored of Thailand and need to spend a few months back in the States - you’ll be back in Thailand in a flash and McD’s breakfasts will be the least of your worries.
Please keep up the interesting blog. I like to learn about new night spots as well as keeping up on the regular places.
View all comments by Calvin
Id rather eat another steaming hot dog turd then a mcmaccies breakfast - and itd probably be more nutritionally benefical for me
View all comments by Penfold
So McDonalds is some sort of restaurant, is it?
View all comments by BanginginBangers
ugh, how sad.
i’m an american too (i suspect most here are), but i don’t even like to walk by, smell or see a McDonalds. the place is disgusting.
why not grab some chicken off the street if McD’s sausages aren’t doing it for you? i’d pay $20 for some good gai yang right now, but alas, i’m stuck in reno, with bad food and snow on the ground, 25 F, but at least all the fat women are fully-covered.
View all comments by fountainhead
Calvin - “Pretty soon all the Thais will be fat pigs just like Americans.”
I’ve personally seen this happen before! I lived in Italy and I’ve seen the younger Italian girl’s bodies get DESTROYED with the introduction of McDonalds!!
Where there used to be hard bodies I saw more and more fatties. Aside from no one speaking English there, I could’ve sworn I was in Texas!
Luckily the Thai women here can’t afford to eat at McDonalds so not all hope is lost.
View all comments by anon
That whole “English muffin” thing was bogus from the git-go.’ They were just scared that no one in Marka understood the word “cone”. There’s really no such THING as an English muffin as far as I know unless it is one of these real rubbery scones (not one of those Scottish things either.
Years ago, when McDee’s first marketed this brekie in Toronto along with their croissant version, (remember the croisandwich?) they used a real fkcng scone, man! That’s right.. . . . . one of those rubbery English thangs with all the holes on the one side. . . . NOT one of those dry day-old tea biscuits with a little corn flour sprinkled on the flat side.
Now THIS puppy can really soak up the friggin’ grease.
An nat’s really whacha want under this morning, bacon&egg gut-bomb.
Bait and switch in Thailand? What else is new? It’s just considered good bidnet practice. ’specially with all these Ferangs in play.
But as usual, I’m way the fkc out of my depth here and I simply won’t be held responsible for any inaccuracies.
View all comments by thongsuk
OAH- I bet you’ve been to Big Al’s in Peoria.
What’s strange about this is McDonald’s Corp. bought out McThai a few years ago so is now technically run by corporate. The only thing I can figure is the muffins didn’t go over well, sales wise, so they are trying a different route.
View all comments by bkk22
Yep. Anon’s so right. That’s the big marketing play.
First Macdonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut etc.
Second? California Wow, True Fitness, Late Nit TV excercise ads, “trimming garments” & Fat Farm spa action for all those ho-so “news- worthies” who can afford to regularly scarf this glarg.
View all comments by thongsuk
signal:noise on this blog is starting to be a problem. Although there is a certain poetry in a blog degenerating along with its readership, I could do without wading through the I hate fat chicks posts, egg-mcmuffin scandals and the more inane what I ate for lunch articles. Maybe the forums would appreciate the attention instead?
View all comments by cabby
McDonald’s sucks. I prefer the double cheeseburger from Burger King. But the real question should be: Where are the hottest service girls: At McDonald’s, Burger King or Pizza Hut?
View all comments by Phoenix
whoaa there cabby… the ability to embrace the dross as well as the highbrow is a sign of a well rounded individual (maybe too rounded if they visit McD’s too often).
There is plenty of good information and debate on this site if you look for it
View all comments by doctorbond
I’m stuck in Reno too, after having just returned from glorious Thailand a month ago. I would gladly trade in the snow and freezing temps, moody bitchy white chicks, and McDonald’s hardly edible crap to be sleeping in the dumpy short time room I stayed in next to Lolita’s back in December. Oh, how I yearn for Thailand. I only wish I had no McMuffins to complain about. You lucky bastards. See yous in August at the new Big Mango hopefully
View all comments by cranialgalactic
I was visiting, for the first time, my wife’s family in Bangkok last summer. On a two day trip to Pattaya it seemed the entire family couldn’t wait to eat at the famed “Golden Arches’ and they were amazed that my wife and I sat out. I was also surprised that KFC was popular. Although I would drink Starbuck’s coffee if it was given to me here in states I couldn’t wait to see that familiar green logo everyday.
View all comments by johno
Does someone know when the first macdonalds has been opened in Thailand?
View all comments by Suxi
cabby: fear not, have a few coming that should be aight. Let’s compare notes again next week. They can’t all be golden man
View all comments by pmmp
mcD sucks so does all junk food. i rather eat some thai jim anyday and all day.
View all comments by limmy
Penfold: “another….” ???
View all comments by werewolf
oah - I aint protesting. Yes - I get so much puss here that sometimes I have to find things to write about. But seriously this shit bugs me.
billy - being victimized is not a good thing.
anon - I don’t think they ever had the bacon egg and cheese biscuit which is a crying shame.
artv - I don’t think u get it. This is not even a weekly habit but sometimes after a big night out one craves an easy greasy breakfast to soak up the 2 bottles of jack I consumed at forte. Who the fuck is going to go to foodland and make breakfast at that point?
dr bond - see. someone who understands.
calvin - chill bud. I already live here. I never go to mclame except for the occasional huge nightout and I sometimes crave the breakfast. The breakfast I remember in the states. The one they started with here and have now changed. That’s it. NO big deal.
fh - i live here. have for years. believe sometimes the last thing u want is thai food. hell - sometimes I even want a white chick now and then. I eat TONS of street food but variety is the spice of life dude.
cabby - not sure what the problem is. You dont have to read a post u dont find interest in. Its a blog. We like to cover a lot of ground. Just the way it is. Funny how this post got 27 comments in less than 24 hours. Seems like a worthy topic to me. Sorry u disagree.
ph - great point. the manager at the mclame in silom is so hot.
dr bond - thx
craig - I feel for u.
folks. I just went to 2nd base with the most gorgeous thai girl I have been with since I have been here. Life is nutty here - let me tell u. Say what u want about things but needing a breakfast from time to time has to happen. one has to eat. Mclame has decent coffee. Free wifi. So yes - i happened to go there from time to time. I LIKED - but not anymore the breakfast. I also thought the POV from the lame people running mclame was interesting. mclame is also a great spot to pick up uni girls, the waitresses and so on. Hell - everywhere in thailand is a pickup joint. Just deal with it.
View all comments by smitty
@werewolf - dont ask its a long story
and before you ask it DOESNT involve LBs
View all comments by Penfold
Penfold, I have always admired you for openly saying that you also go with LB’s. Many of the readers here do probably not, but then there might be more that we think.
LB’s seem to have a rather bad reputation with most readers here, including me. It might be interesting if you could write something about your experiences with LB’s. Not neccessarily all sexual details, but stuff like how you meet them, what you think about them and what your experiences are, how you approach them, what you know about their lives and what your personal impression is of LB’s. Might give many of us more insight and should be an interesting topic which will surely draw lots of attention. Just a thought…
View all comments by Phoenix
Penfold: And I meant a seperate post if possible, not just a comment
View all comments by Phoenix
I would love a candid reader submission on Lbs. would be way interesting. I know one reader is working on a post regarding an interview with an LB. should be good.
however let’s try to keep these comments somewhat on target. Not sure how a food post got into an LB discussion…
View all comments by smitty
Smitty, I have a chatlog with a ladyboy on my Blog. But I forgot to ask him what he thinks of breakfast at McDonald’s
My bad…
View all comments by Phoenix
Phoenix whats your blog addy?
Im flattered you want an insight into my sordid affection/blood lust for LBs. Ill try and whip something together for you guys, but I pre-warn you my writing skills are nowhere near the level as the likes of smitty, werewolf, TAFKNABBB, and im sure thongsuk would take great pleasure in throwing together a 14page response picking my post to pieces but ill try my best.
View all comments by Penfold
Pen, look at the readers submissions, there is my blog addy beside my handle. Don’t worry about your writing skills. Mine are surely even worse. It’s the content that counts. Yeah, would be great if you wrote something up! Ok, I gotto go, today they have a special meal at McDonald’s
View all comments by Phoenix
Actually, Penfold, much to the chagrin of LB’s and LB aficionados, aside from the occasional cartoon-ish encounter with ‘em I don’t really care about them all that much
There’s little of interest for me there beyond that cliche penchant for mutilation and disguise for which they are so well known.
I’m counting on your “submission” to open my eyes, here. Rock on.
At the moment I have my hands full of male-posing BBC doco-dreaming feminasty fantasists. Women who haven’t the balls to post here as women or who,when they do, appear to be floundering with the beginning stages of a low-budget sex tourism doco.
Someone has to keep watch while you play
View all comments by thongsuk
Yeah, I like pancakes too.
View all comments by werewolf
Well last thing i want to do is disspoint………
I warn you my writing will be crass and poorly stuctured, plus my spelling is piss weak at best
Ill throw something together and see what sticks. Give me a week or 2 to get it in writing
View all comments by Young Penfold
My personal theory is that that the BBB site was destroyed by it’s sudden fascination with ladyboys in what turned out to be it’s final days and weeks.
Take care! Do not go to the dark side… it is a path that can only lead to destruction of all you have built.
View all comments by werewolf
“Cartoonish encounters”, “penchant for mutilation and disguise”, “the dark side”, “destruction”. Wow, stereotypes at it’s best.
Penfold, write something. As I assumed, LB’s have an outreageous bad reputation, probably cos we only meet them at Lower Sukhumvit. I also once had a violent encounter with one of them. I hope that mofo will rotten in hell.
But just as with the Thai women, the hookers we usually encounter do not represent the majority of the good girls. Is it the same with the LB’s?
View all comments by Phoenix
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/29/mcdonalds.useconomy
“McDonald’s shares dived by 5.3% to $51.21 during early trading on the New York stock exchange - a rare setback for a firm that has seen its stock price quadruple over five years.”
We’re seeing the effects of disappointed customers reacting to Sausage McBurgers.
View all comments by DJ
dj - aint it the truth baby.
View all comments by smitty
Hi Smitty,
This is a great example of the (non)globalization of the world. I’m currently teaching a course on this subject and think it would be a great and entertaining example how TNCs alter their product to the local population.
It would be great to interview the local McDonald’s representative for his take on the situation. Do you have any contact information for Mr. Chew, I take it he is in Singapore. Maybe some of us on the outside could email him our inquiries.
Chris
View all comments by Chris
chris - interesting stuff. I have no contact information for Mr chew and if I did I would be sending him hate mail.
View all comments by smitty
In the USA, McD’s current promotion for 2 sausage egg mcmuffins is 2 for USD $2, or about 33 baht per sandwich.
I’m returning to Thailand in a couple of weeks. Anyone want a delivery?
View all comments by DJ
dj- they just don’t travel well but a box of krispy kreme glazed would be alright!
View all comments by smitty
even before the bread switch, a scottish friend of mine recommended replacing the bread on a mcmuffin/sausagae and egg/whatever sandwich with two hashbrowns. maybe it’s worth a try. Then again, he’s a big fan of deep fried Mars bars . . .
View all comments by go go groupie
I thought fried pizza was over the top but the mars bar?
View all comments by smitty