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If you could make some suggestions to Canadian Sarah Casanova, who is taking over as McDonald's Japan's new CEO and president, what would they be?

39 Comments

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39 Comments
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Make HP sauce sachets available.

Introduce moose burgers

Allow customers to request small variations such as no gherkin without management being involved in the final decision.

Ban smoking areas.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Make a total change in policy.

Put nutrition and taste above profit.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Move upscale and transform yourself into a gourmet burger establishment, using fresh and organic ingredients. Plus, ban smoking everywhere.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Continue to allow smoking. Use her name as part of the ad campaigns.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Get rid of that strange greasy feeling in my mouth after eating there and then the hockey puck feeling in my stomach that follows. Thats why eat there only 2x a year when there just isnt another choice at 3pm and I haven`t had lunch...

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Meguroman - I thought that was just me. Nice to know it is a wider problem.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Bring out a range of chili burgers, Portuguese chicken burgers, more sauces. I liked the Quarter Pounder limited edition burgers, although they should make them a bit more affordable.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

A free shot of whiskey with every Big Mac.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Pull McDonald's Japan out of the 80s. Seriously, why are there no McCafes in Tokyo? In my home country at McDonald's you can get B&E rolls, wraps, sandwiches, yoghurt, salads on top of the full McCafe menu. Whilst not mind-blowing in quality, it's much better than the regular offerings.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

McCafe do exist in Tokyo for at least 4 yrs.

Not sure where you have been. ;) CM, etc all over the place.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

never ever ever bring back mr james

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Gotta agree with the ban smoking idea. I'd go one step further and ban sleeping as well! And, get some damn salad on your menus!

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Put the salad as an option instead of French fries , as it was before. Now it is only as a side menu.

Japanese aren't much into soda. Introduce more teas, hot milk and cocoa.

Agree about the organic ingredients.

Kokusan is magic word in Japan. Introduce your suppliers.

Add small description of every burger, plus calorie value and salt(enbun) on the menu.
2 ( +3 / -1 )

Put up notices encouraging women to do their grooming in the bathrooms in front of a mirror instead of at their seats after their meal. Combing long hair next to me while i'm eating... then spraying with hairspray? It definitely rained down on my food. Even puffs and such with powder tend to drift over to other tables, not to mention the fact that the whole thing is disgusting to watch. One person started to rub moisturizer into her bare feet across from me.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Move upscale and transform yourself into a gourmet burger establishment, using fresh and organic ingredients.

Oh yeah, I can really see that happening....

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Until about 5-6 years ago, the McD's uniforms were amazingly classy-looking; the women in particular looked like they could have been working at a travel agency or bank.

I'll never forget the first time I walked into what I had always thought of as a fast food place staffed by people working at the lowest rung of employment; I was amazed and impressed. Go back to that!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

what ever you do, do not blow the whistle on any accounting issues.. unless you want to be the scapegoat

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Seriously, a shot of whiskey with every big mac.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Don't mess with the Big Mac.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

BertieWoosterAug. 30, 2013 - 08:06AM JST Make a total change in policy.

Got it in one. Reinvent the brand.

Put nutrition and taste above profit.

I'd like to see:

Fresh vegetables - I was driving long distance a while ago and McDs was the only place in sight so I pulled over for something to eat. I saw a salad and was "Yay"!! ... the salad was almost frozen (seriously, the crunch wasn't from freshness, it was from ice), was 90% lettuce and a few sorry scraps of dessicated bell pepper. It was something like what you find at the bottom of a dumpster in winter.

This is Japan, where freshness is king. Manage your stock properly and there'll be minimal wastage.

Real beef burgers - I don't know what they make their burgers from currently, but it looks and tastes like soggy cardboard... and their idea of a bulking up is to throw a whole lot of them on. No. Just no. The recipe for burgers is pathetically easy, breadcrumbs and mince, maybe with onions and egg if you're that way inclined.

The Japanese do know quality and they know its never been anywhere near McDs.

Local ingredients, local flavors - Yes, it is an American brand, but put a local spin on it. Buy locally and have ebi burgers, tako burgers, cut the huge quantities of oil and serve stuff raw or rare (if your ingredients are fresh this isn't a problem).

McDonalds as it is? A doomed product in Japan. Every time I drive by I only see teenage kids sitting inside.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

1, No smoking at any McDonalds restaurant. The stench is a appetite killer, and smokers tie up the tables forever, leaving less time for people who wish to eat and not smoke. 2, Please keep the restrooms cleaner, some locations are quite nasty. 3, How about some free wifi? It's been available in America for nearly a decade.
4 ( +6 / -2 )

Close ALL McDonalds and under the same brand bring Chipotle... That's a nice place!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The only thing I ever buy at McDonald's is the fries. So don't change those, I guess?

I used to get the chicken nuggets, but don't bother since they "improved" them - they were never terribly edible in the first place with out honey anyway, and it became harder and harder to get honey at McDonalds over the years...

I never eat the "hamburgers" at fast food joints; broke this rule when I first came to Japan to try the Teriyaki Burger.... Instantly regretted it - thought it was the worst hamburgers I'd ever had in my life. (Wasn't the teriyaki part, but the low quality "beef" they use...)

Perhaps its because I didn't grow up eating these things? Burgers need to be made at home on the grill.

Not that I don't eat fast food - KFC Japan's chicken sandwich is absolutely delicious (why can't the US KFCs make sandwiches of this quality????) - but I find that I am less and less interested in it as I get older.

Except the fries. Still love the fries.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

McD In the states, we bake the Apple pies, Japan still fries them, all those apple, potato and ANY pies should be baked, it makes it tastier.

Also, we have a bigger variety os salads. Japanese do love salads. They also offer some fresh veggie snacks. There are a lot of opportunities for huge improvements, yes, McDs is a fat food joint, but you can definitely make the food choices healthier. That's why we have a choice of choosing fried or grilled chicken sandwiches. In Japan, choices are very limited and for a country that prides itself on being healthy, Japan McDs dropped the ball.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Bring back McPork!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Make the yogurt shakes a year-round offering instead of only in the summer. Develop a line of regular sandwich items using either Indian naan or pita. Emulate Starbucks by offering popular Mac products distributed through outside channels, such as kombini -- it helps to promote the brand.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Don't go the American way of making increasingly large sizes of things. People here are less attracted to saving a few yen as they are by season specials and new menu items. And if things get bigger, they WILL eat/drink them all... and there goes the waistline.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Sangetsu - Give 'em free wi fi and they will NEVER leave !

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Offer free Wi-Fi with every Big Mac or equivalent priced burger.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Don't downgrade McDonald's Japan to the level of McDonald's USA. Taste has diminished significantly in the last 20 years in Japan. Double cheeseburgers now lack the heat necessary to melt the cheese they are sandwiched between. Compete with Mos Burger on taste and freshness, even if it means raising the prices slightly.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Just Ban Smoking.

The days of parents sitting with their kids and blowing smoke all over them, and then that smoke covers all & sundry are gone. Forget about the misguided "duty" towards smokers as customers - this is the 21st century and advanced societies don't subject children(& others) to carcinogenic air borne pollution while relaxing and eating with family and friends.

Just end it. You know - get real.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Quit killing your managers (http://www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/unpaid-overtime-is-killing-mcdonalds-managers); treat them as humans with a life beyond Mickey's; don' give the title 'manager' to everyone just to avoid paying overtime; give part-time employees some sort of health benefits - a free McD's meal is NOT a health benefit. Give employees more latitude in being human, not just fast-food robots who aren't allowed to think.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I believe that one of MacD's biggest strong point has now become it's largest Achilles' heel, guarantee of same menu, same taste at every outlet. At the moment MacD is forcing the same taste to each and every customers from Hokaido to Okinawa but Japanese has variance in preference of taste per region which can be proven with the taste of soy sauce. Major cup soba, "Akai Kitsune" caters to these slight variance in taste by providing 5 different flavors under the same brand.

If MacD can capture those variance and further use it as a marketing tool then I believe MacD can regain sales with only a slight addition in cost per sales.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Bring back the Hotate Sando ( Fried Scallop Sandwich )! McD's Japan had that for a month or so about 23 years ago, it was the best thing on the menu...

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

How about a McUnagi Rice Dish? Or a cup of McCarrot Sticks (Raw)? And a side order of McGyoza?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Absolutely get rid of smoking. Really disappointed to read that they allow it, as I thought McD was one chain that banned it, ala Starbucks. Shows what I know, as I never step into McD except for the coffee...about three years ago.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

By banning smoking, McDonalds would have an immense ripple effect throughout Japan.

Look what it has done for the success of Starbucks.

Go for it, Sarah!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A few things I'd suggest:

1- Put salads on the menu (as long as it's fresh and affordable.)

2- Options to replace the fries with something else (Harada had been focussing on the fries a LOT and it didn't work)

3- Tell your staff that they can kick people out!! Some people leave their stuff at tables and leave the restaurants for hours (I told the staff once... there were no tables available and I waited for 20 minutes while an empty table with bags was there... I told the staff, they told me the people would come back eventually...) --> This also goes for students staying hours when the restaurant is full --> Same thing with people doing their make-up, a restaurant is NOT a place for that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I would suggest she looks into the practice of the company not full filling its legal obligations under the labor law to pay all staff annual leave.

The company including franchised units will make up any excuse they can think of to avoid paying annual leave to employees, this includes staff who have worked for years without any paid leave.

Some will even ask employees to sign a new contract every six months, because this is the point at which they would be entitled under the labor law to 10 days paid leave.

More recently with the earthquakes in Kumamoto staff had to take days off without pay, but when some approached the company regarding using paid leave to cover these days, the answer was they could not and would not pay them, as it would mean they would need to pay everyone and this would result in the franchisee going bankrupt.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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