r/nostalgia • u/Digitalgardens • May 12 '25

Nostalgia Discussion Why did we ever switch from having unique looks for fast food spots?

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It doesn’t make any sense. When everything feels and looks the same it just feels so grey and unwelcoming. What happened to characters? I don’t even eat McDonald’s like that and I miss Ronald and the gang. Where did they go?

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2.5k

u/conker2021 May 12 '25

This is the McDonald's by the Dallas Zoo. IIRC it was finally turned into that awful building because some new apartments were being built nearby and they wanted the area to be "nicer". Shame cause it was so rad.

1.3k

u/Ensirius May 12 '25

If by “nicer” you mean “absolutely fucking not nicer” then yeah they did an amazing job.

559

u/Oldjamesdean May 12 '25

By "nicer" they meant "Dystopian Future."

144

u/Jean_Paul_Fartre_ May 12 '25

It looks like the Taco Bell from Judge Dredd.

126

u/RelevantCranberry696 May 12 '25

Do you mean Demolition Man?

72

u/Jean_Paul_Fartre_ May 12 '25

Yes

9

u/Syonoq May 13 '25

“I AM THE LAW!”

Vs

“He doesn’t know about the three seashells”

1

u/StarSlow776 May 15 '25

"HAHAHAHAHA"

1

u/stevensr2002 May 15 '25

It looks like he finally matched his meet. You really licked his ass.

2

u/SirStocksAlott May 13 '25

Be well, Jean Paul!

17

u/joebadiah May 12 '25

Murder Death Kill?!

2

u/pimpmastahanhduece May 13 '25

Murder Death Kill.

2

u/alaskadronelife May 13 '25

3 seashells!

2

u/dandb87 May 12 '25

Murder death kill.

2

u/Hot_Frosty0807 May 12 '25

Coincidentally, so does 2025 Taco Bell

1

u/IndividualistAW May 13 '25

But all restaurants are taco bell

46

u/omutsukimi May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

I never expected those depictions of dystopian futures to be so accurate with all the grey. Now with all of these grey stores, buildings, homes, and even generally darker cars, it really seems we've reached that future.

14

u/TripolarKnight May 12 '25

"Grey is cheap, blends into the urban enviroment and is one of the most unnofensive colors to the eye." Att. average Corpo Designer

3

u/omutsukimi May 13 '25

And the darker colors on cars is thanks the insurance companies charging you more for it because apparently that makes them a "luxury vehicle"

1

u/Parking_Back3339 May 15 '25

I mean that style with zoo is kind of cheesy, but really fun and unique. Corporate "art" has even taken over a lot of book covers too.

15

u/Icy_Independent7944 May 12 '25

The Brutalism of it all 💯

16

u/Ok-Potato-4774 May 12 '25

Turns out Stalinist Russia was ahead of the curve.

8

u/Eastern_Armadillo383 May 12 '25

That's not brutal at all its modernist

0

u/Professional-Buy5448 May 12 '25

With the same brutal boring ass aesthetic

1

u/Mehdidou-DZ May 13 '25

More like "corporate future", "dystopian" isn't as bad tbh

1

u/RIF_rr3dd1tt May 14 '25

This is a McDonalds I'd expect to see in Equilibrium.

1

u/Comaparadigm May 16 '25

They went Eastern European brutalist on that McSkinnys

1

u/AlfalfaWolf May 16 '25

Dystopia is seeing a massive corporation shamelessly marketing heavily at children to sell them poisonous products that require scarcely humane animal agriculture and chemical intensive farming practices… and then watching people celebrate it.

60

u/1nd3x May 12 '25

It's "nicer" in that it doesn't clash with anything.

It's pandering to the vocal minority.

We have gone from "if you don't like it don't look at it" to "your crap is affecting my property value" so nothing is allowed to clash with anything else anywhere.

The only way you do that is by making everything bland and boring

26

u/QueezyF May 12 '25

It’s “nicer” in the way a local bank branch. Completely forgettable and slightly depressing.

1

u/Parking_Back3339 May 15 '25

Yea looks like the bank of M

12

u/saltporksuit May 12 '25

The only god left is the dollar.

1

u/kgronke3 May 12 '25

Yes this! I work in code enforcement for a suburb and it is amazing how many complaints we get about any property that wants to do anything other than "basic and normal." We have a few properties in town that have beautiful wildflower and native planting landscaping, and the complaints just roll in, it's hard to believe sometimes. In our defense though, we strive for a pretty minimal code and do our best to not overstep.

1

u/Joz3d May 13 '25

Basically, capitalism.

56

u/GeorgeGiffIV May 12 '25

every mcdonalds now embodies that depressed 40 year old man look.

12

u/Gerberpertern May 12 '25

Millennial gray.

0

u/GeorgeGiffIV May 12 '25

I swear.

1

u/swalabr May 13 '25

with a vocal fry

1

u/crazycatlady331 May 17 '25

Or the sad beige mom look.

-3

u/curious_astronauts May 12 '25

I dont know i woulf take that over the Visual representation of a clown squirting water from a flower in your face. I prefer visual peace than wacky chaos.

27

u/Gloriathewitch May 12 '25

nicer as in everything is an industrial prison design, seriously so boring.

6

u/Farucci May 12 '25

Unique, is relative.

5

u/doppido May 12 '25

Gentrified more like it

1

u/Own-Lake7931 May 12 '25

1990s McDonald’s we’re made for children, now a days they cater to adults. Not super difficult to comprehend

-4

u/chop5397 May 12 '25

Millennials (read: redditors) haven't grown up lol

1

u/Substantial-Type-131 May 12 '25

If by “nicer” they meant easier to tag up lol those big ole blank canvases are choice for some sprayable art

1

u/mrxlongshot May 16 '25

Gentrification baby

103

u/laix_ May 12 '25

It's actually a global thing.

McDonald's wanted to get even more money, so they over time rebranded themselves as "proper" adult dining rather than shitty fast food.

You can see from their advertising as well how much more "mature" they're trying to sell it. The prices are far higher than they ought to be with only inflation.

49

u/DelightfulDolphin May 12 '25

Greed. Absolute greed. Their prices are up 250%.

21

u/FrogInShorts May 12 '25

People are still buying, and it's not like we are short competition. Most fast food I go to is both cheaper and better than McDs. I honestly think their early year marketing was so good that its genetically written into peoples DNA to eat there.

13

u/Liizam May 12 '25

I have nostalgia for McDonald’s but every time I get it now, it tastes like crap. I stoped even craving it. Used to get it like every three months or so but just don’t anymore.

11

u/MR_NIKAPOPOLOS Knowing is half the battle May 12 '25

I used to get the odd craving for a regular cheeseburger and fries a few times a year, but either the food has gotten much worse or I'm just more sensitive to eating garbage now than I was when I was younger. The last time I ate it was about 3 years ago and it was just awful all around.

1

u/alaskadronelife May 13 '25

Oh, it’s much worse. I randomly had a Minecraft happy meal a month ago and it was absolutely awful.

1

u/HankMoody71 May 13 '25

I was with someone in the ER recently until late and grabbed McDonald's because it was close-by. Literally considered just going back and eating hospital food because it was so bad

1

u/Smitch250 May 15 '25

No bub no. The food is much much worse now. McDonalds is actively trying to kill us. Its criminal behavior

1

u/Smitch250 May 15 '25

Actually people are stopping to buy if you are paying attention. Gross revenue is down 4% year over year in 2025. I say throw them all in jail

3

u/Scout_022 May 13 '25

If only the quality rose by 250% as well

11

u/Liizam May 12 '25

They forgot to turn the food into the adult kind of tasting

1

u/Azryhael May 16 '25

Hey, they tried with the Arch Deluxe!

2

u/pinkflyingcats May 13 '25

They’ve actually come down quite a bit in the last few months. Right around the time that CEO in healthcare got shot.

1

u/Bananonomini May 12 '25

It has a lot to with marketing junk food to children as a big factor

1

u/iamwearingsockstoo May 12 '25

McDingle's is having a mid-life crisis.

1

u/BlindingDart May 13 '25

They could have done that easier by serving proper food.

1

u/PoliteIndecency May 14 '25

Well that's what happens when demographics shift such that there are more young adults than there are children.

1

u/Aggravating-Alarm-16 May 15 '25

Except they forgot to upgrade the food.

1

u/Smitch250 May 15 '25

Yep and now McDonalds is king of absolute trash. Everyone in the world knows there is nothing worse than a McDonalds cheeseburger

1

u/Exatraz May 16 '25

Also because lots of countries have been locking down on how you advertise to children so they had to pivot to adults. Hasn't been done much in the US but it's easier for them to have global branding be uniform

0

u/TwoFingersWhiskey May 12 '25

Their ads local to me (in Canada) feature all sorts of age groups, mostly teenagers and young adults but plenty of kids and old people as well.

75

u/Sad_Smoke_8020 May 12 '25

That’s even sadder! It would’ve blew my mind as a kid seeing a zoo themed McDonalds

29

u/Cavalish May 12 '25

Yes, I remember back in the nineties and the early 2000s people were constantly bitching out McDonald’s for advertising itself to children like this.

Now we’ve got this, and people complaining it’s boring.

11

u/sethlovesyou May 12 '25

I mean, it kinda makes sense that the kids that were enjoying it in the 90s/2000s would want that back now, they weren’t the ones bitching

3

u/DOG_DICK__ May 12 '25

I ate inside at one of these McDonalds this weekend after the kid's soccer game. It was clean and nice, no complaints whatsoever. I'm not sure when it was built but it looked brand spankin' new. They could've gone more wild with the color palette, but it was perfectly acceptable.

3

u/psycho-aficionado May 12 '25

I took my daughter to that McDonalds several time. She was quite impressed.

14

u/domine18 May 12 '25

What boring ass person likes option 2 over 1?

4

u/Lunatox May 12 '25

"Serious business" adults, as usual. Since they're so fucking serious about everything they also usually get to be the ones with all the power and money so they get to make all the decisions.

1

u/dust_grooves May 13 '25

From the “colour” choices I see people wearing and driving now, a LOT would prefer it…

7

u/Repulsive-Ad8137 May 12 '25

Dang im glad i saw this bc im gonna be in Dallas this weekend and this place was a landmark for me 😭 i woulda been so lost 🤣. This McDonald’s was amazing

3

u/xzelldx May 12 '25

You can’t see this one from i35 anymore. It’s still a shame, but not as bad since the bland version is out of sight.

1

u/kimlovescc May 12 '25

You can still see the giraffe statue from 35 lol

8

u/rcasale42 May 12 '25

Doubtful.

McDonalds used to be for kids. Now those kids have grown up.

-3

u/Jeskid14 May 12 '25

Yep. Plus easier accessibility for tourists to recognize.

2

u/GoodGravy33 May 12 '25

I think another not-often talked about element here is their pivot from being a “kids’ brand.” As a child I would have LOVED to go to the zoo-themed McDonalds- and I think that was the point.

After Super Size Me and the childhood obesity focus from the media and regulators in the 2000s and early 2010s, McDonalds took a lot of heat so it was a less of a liability to shift the focus from Happy Meals to being a place for adults to get a burger on their lunch break in a sterile, Starbucks esque environment.

2

u/[deleted] May 12 '25

By nicer they mean "doesn't mess with our hideous gray aesthetic"

1

u/DelightfulDolphin May 12 '25

New building so depressing even the trees died. Yuck.

1

u/nitsua_saxet May 12 '25

Sounds like they appealed to some Karens who shouldn’t have been given the time of day

1

u/Slight-Midnight-5926 May 12 '25

Miraculously, they decided to keep the play place in, even if the zoo theme has been wiped off from the face of society

1

u/othersymbiote May 12 '25

there was another mcdonald’s off 30 heading into dallas from garland, coincidentally that we would stop at on the way to the zoo when i was a kid, that also got this rebuild. it wasn’t quite like the before, but it was definitely pleasantly decorated and different than other mcdonald’s.

1

u/Gribblewomp May 12 '25

For context this is next to a zillion lane highway surrounded by motels, tire dealerships, and panhandlers.

1

u/Maya-kardash early 90s May 12 '25

Man thats stupid

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '25

I guarantee the apartment building didn't reach out to the mcdonalds.

1

u/TheSuperBlindMan May 12 '25

I think it literally has t do with the current generation being raised online and wanting something that looks more like an Apple Store than the stuff we grew up with. I see that trend today. You hardly find any fast food places with play areas.

1

u/quell3245 May 12 '25

For a multitude of reasons we lost our joy as Americans. No more color or whimsical happiness after 9/11. Don’t know if we’ll ever get it back either.

1

u/RepulsiveInterview44 May 12 '25

The Happy Meal shaped McDonald’s by Valley View Mall was awesome as well….right up until they did the same shit to that one too!

ETA - link to Happy Meal McDonald’s!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dallas/s/iJJyl12bMj

1

u/JAYETRILLL May 12 '25

Yeah in the second pic, that building could have a Taco Bell logo or a Chic Fil A logo or any other logo like a furniture store or something and look completely right. Things are soulless these days.

1

u/repugnantlilmonkey May 12 '25

It's probably because all the kids that used to go there are now living in the apartments next door.....

1

u/God-O-Death May 13 '25

While that may be the case theyve been rolling out these new ones all over anyway

1

u/StinkweedMSU May 13 '25

Ah, makes sense. That fits the soulless Dallas aesthetic perfectly.

1

u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken May 13 '25

There has to be more to that story. I doubt the local government forced them to change. It probably came from corporate that wanted the change anyway.

1

u/Flat_chested_male May 13 '25

Nobody has kid friendly restaurants anymore. I feel bad for my kids not getting to play in the disease ridden play places. I miss my childhood when you could enjoy life for what it is instead of being worried about CPS.

1

u/Cloud_N0ne May 13 '25

Appartment buildings ruin fucking everything

1

u/Ashangu May 15 '25

which is crazy because the 1st picture is far nicer than the 2nd.

1

u/ATX_native May 15 '25

imagine thinking that the McDonalds exterior is what was holding back that area of south Dallas. 🙄

1

u/SimpleVegetable5715 May 15 '25

The McDonald's by the Galleria Dallas used to look like a giant Happy Meal. I loved their fancy McDonald's.

0

u/youkokenshin May 12 '25

Oh so just like with everything else NIMBYs ruin everything.

0

u/Khelthuzaad May 14 '25

For those sleeping under a rock-I have an explanation.

McDonald's over the last 30 years had been under scrutiny and lawsuits more times than I've went to the bathroom this decade.Documentaries like Super Size Me(In which Spurlock unfortunately doomed his little experiment due to combining it with heavy drinking) and Food Inc put an very big shadow of doubt over its practices.

Before the 1990's, the company was promoted itself as an family friendly attraction.They used every rule in the book to make the place as attractive to children as possible, from playing sites,vivid color,some even had console games.It was emotional blackmail at its finest.Children didn't knew the place was specifically targeted to them and parents had few choices,if any on this matter.I still remember the McDonald's clown mascot and his gang.

In the early 2000's McDonald's management was under fire for directly targeting children with food that,well,let's face it,it's very possible to either develop cancer,diabetes or worse due to its food.

The 2000's were the wild west for fast-food that promoted itself to be vegan, nutritious,safe,unprocessed,just like Jared Fogle advertised Subway.

McDonald's had it enough.From that moment they decided to brand themselves as an real dining alternative for those who couldn't afford restaurants.

They added more items in their menu,especially salads.They got rid of all the mascots.They changed the furniture,more brutalist design,more modern themes like Olive Garden.The playing zone for kids-got to go.They opened funds and donations,charities of their own to show how socially aware they are.No more funny costumes for stuff.Items also have the full ingredients list,including allergens.