Drive Through or Thru?
The drive thru has a come a long way since its early days.
Roy Bergold
If you have already read the rest of this issue, you know that we devoted most of these pages to the drive thru. If you read me first, as several people have e-mailed me they do, this is our drive-thru issue. There, now, that’s done.
I was talking to my new editor the other day and he thought it could be interesting if I related a little of the history of the drive thru at McDonald’s. I think he’s right.
It all started when someone figured that we could get more business if people didn’t have to get out of their cars to get their food. They could wear most anything and look really bad and still buy hamburgers. This is in fact what happened. We got everything from nighties to a Roman gladiator costume to no clothes at all. (Happened in a drive thru in the east. Guy claimed he was a nudist. We begged him not to order coffee.)
It seemed, though, that the key concept was convenience. A soccer mom could put in an order for seven or so kids and still keep them all tied up in their seat belts. What they did with the food in the mom-mobile was her problem. I saw the inside of a mom-mobile once after the order was delivered. My advice? Burn it.
Oh, there were also several meetings on the subject of whether it’s drive “thru” or drive “through.” Thru won because it’s shorter. McDonald’s wisdom at its finest.
There were some interesting drive-thru ideas advanced at the beginning. One guy wanted to have a moving belt that each car connected to like in a car wash. He thought that would really keep the crew hopping. I thought of the “I Love Lucy” episode where she is trying to box the chocolates. Only with cars.
Then there was the stacked drive thru. First floor is a playground where you drop your kid while you continue to the second floor to get your drinks, on to the third floor for sides and entrées, and then drop back down to pick up Wendell. Only what happens if Shirley is there instead? The kids switched numbers. Wendell is on his way to Disneyland with the First Church youth group. He’s not telling.
There was also the guy who did a raffle, but you could only get tickets in the drive thru. Result? Lines back to Burger King and no one in the store. Did you ever try to put 100 percent of your business through one window?
So, what were some of the problems that needed to be conquered? How about service times, keeping the line moving? One idea was to use the Disney concept. As long as people are moving, they don’t care if it is an hour to the ride. But you would need a five-acre parking lot. No good. We tried a service guarantee. As long as it is reasonable, it works.
We had problems with meals getting out of order, missing food, no napkins or other good stuff, cars trying to enter from the wrong way, stalled cars, and not enough trash cans. We also faced the fact that people are not dumb, sometimes; they went home and drank their own soda. So we were selling a lot fewer of those wildly profitable soft drinks. And we had to figure out how to introduce neater food and packaging that would keep the hot, hot, and the cold, cold.
There were several meetings on the
subject of whether it’s drive ‘thru’ or drive ‘through.’ Thru won because it’s shorter.”
Then there was litter. I still can’t figure out why quick-serves put those huge logos on the packaging so you can see them on the side of the highway doing 55 mph with a dirty windshield. And speaking of packaging, there was the genius who wanted to charge more for food in the drive thru because there was more packaging and napkin cost. Plus, when Granny orders a Big Mac on a Quarter Pounder bun (that special order really happened) where do you put her while she waits? Parking spaces had to be designated for that.
But probably the most fun problem was the order device. No one could understand anyone at either end. People were screaming at “that stupid clown” in the early days. We have come a long way, baby.
There were some interesting sales ideas over the years for the drive thru, some of which could work today, maybe. We used Ronald as the delivery person in the drive-thru window. Nice surprise for the little ones. Or some folks used celebrities. You never knew who might be serving you your food.
Some others: Keeping the drive thru open real late, particularly in clubbing areas. Having a drive-thru loyalty card good for something free, but only stamping it in the drive thru. At real busy times, use a runner to take the order right away and get it into the restaurant, assuming people know what they want. If they don’t, use paper menus to speed up the process and not have the “staring at the menu syndrome” while traffic backs up to the police station. Hand out a drive-thru quiz or game that if completed by the time you get your food, you get something free on your next visit. Some stores instituted their own extremely low-wattage radio station with Ronald stories and McDonald’s news to listen to while you went through the process. And there were drive-thru newsletters and even a Ronald movie the kids could watch.
Keep in mind, though, the more business you put through your drive thru, the less potential business in the store. And the more possible problems in that one window. Balance and moderation works for a lot of things.
We asked a crew member about her most interesting experience in the drive thru. She thought a second and replied, “The number of people who ask for their food to go.” We will end on that thought. Heaven help us.
Happy Trails and the Most Peaceful Life, To Go.
Roy Bergold served as McDonald's advertising head for 29 years. He now lives in Payson, Arizona, on a horse ranch. Reach him by e-mail at
roy@qsrmagazine.com.
