Listen In on McDonald's USA Listening Tour

McDonald's announced a cross-country "listening tour" last August, a local market effort to get feedback in local markets about its nutritional messaging.

Above, watch a recent session led by Dr. Cynthia Goody, McDonald's USA director of nutrition, who spoke with a group of parents, educators, PTA members and local community organization members in the greater Washington, D.C. area about the company's commitment to improved nutrition choices and children's well-being. And yes, Ronald was there.

The video was released as new research indicates that McDonald's customers were the "unhappiest" with their health last month out of the eight top U.S. fast food chains.

From the press release:

A recent analysis of fast food patrons reveals that McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s customers are the most unhappy with their health. Fast food frequenters’ wellbeing, however, appears to be tied to lifestyle rather than their fast food chain of choice. The analysis includes insights from the February 2012 Monthly Consumer Survey from BIGinsight™ which was conducted 2/1 – 2/8/12, N=8,716. Margin of error is +/- 1.1%.

1 in 5 (21.4%) Americans are unhappy with their health, according to a recent BIGinsight™ Monthly Consumer Survey (FEB-12, N = 8716). Although fast food purveyors are adding healthier options to their menu, quick service cuisine remains a constant in the battle of the bulge. According to the analysis of select fast food restaurant customers*, McDonald’s patrons are the unhappiest** with their health (24% unhappy/totally unhappy), followed by Taco Bell (22.7%), Wendy’s (22.1%) and Burger King (21.5%). Customers of these restaurants tend to have a more negative opinion of their own physical condition versus the general population.

Unhappiness Index (Among Select Fast Food Customers) 

(Customers who are unhappy/ very unhappy versus the general adult population)

McDonald's: 112.24 

Taco Bell: 106.03 

Wendy's: 103.46 

Burger King: 100.76 

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KFC: 96.96 

Subway: 90.52 

Chick fil A: 73.69 

Arby's: 71.30

Source: BIGinsight™ Monthly Consumer Survey – FEB-12 (N = 8716, 2/1 – 2/8/12) 

McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, Arby’s, and KFC customers were analyzed for this release. “Customers” are defined as those who eat most often at a given fast food restaurant (an unaided, write-in response).

** Respondents were posed with this question: On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being “Totally Unhappy,” and 5 being “Totally Happy,” how would you rate your happiness level with your Health?

On the other hand, Chick-fil-A diners report being the happiest with their health of those analyzed (58.9% happy/totally happy), followed by Subway and Arby’s customers at 57.1% and 56.6%, respectively. This is compared to over half of Americans (53.9%) who feel the same.

“Given that Chick-fil-A, Subway and Arby’s all offer menu items with a calorific punch, it’s apparent that Americans’ overall personal health perceptions aren’t specific to their fast food chain of choice,” said Pam Goodfellow, Consumer Insights Director, BIGinsight™. “We’ve found that it boils down to their health habits, including exercising regularly and watching fat and calorie intake.”

Subway patrons are the most likely to exercise on a regular basis (49.1%), while McDonald’s customers are the least likely of the group (34.8%). As a point of reference, 34.3% of Adults 18+ say they exercise regularly.

Exercise Regularly (Among Select Fast Food Customers)

Subway: 49.1% 

Chick fil A: 46.0% 

Arby's: 43.2% 

Taco Bell: 40.3% 

Wendy's: 40.2% 

Burger King: 36.0% 

KFC: 35.4% 

McDonald's: 34.8%

Source: BIGinsight™ Monthly Consumer Survey – FEB-12 (N = 8716, 2/1 – 2/8/12)

About three in ten McDonald’s customers say they don’t do anything with regard to their health (such as exercising; watching calories, carbs, salt or fat intake; buying organic; etc.) Burger King connoisseurs aren’t far behind with this sentiment.