McDonalds’s and others have moved towards more generic architecture as it’s easier to sell off at the end of a location’s lifespan; this is just business being business
In terms of McDonald’s specifically, the US branch has been running from the brand’s “kiddy” image for decades, despite that by large being the main allure, and despite their attempts repeatedly failing. (See: the McDLT et al.)

Remember Shuffle ep. 72 (The Fries and Fall of a Midwest Princess) does a pretty good analysis of this phenomenon iirc

[–] RNAi@hexbear.net 28 points 3 days ago

Hexbear has the best yankology experts on call

[–] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

In terms of McDonald’s specifically, the US branch has been running from the brand’s “kiddy” image for decades, despite that by large being the main allure, and despite their attempts repeatedly failing. (See: the McDLT et al.)

And we all forget that this was a reaction to the fact that people caught on to the fact that in the 90s/2000s, McD was advertising very heavily to children (not to their parents) as part of their main business. People recognized that advertising to people who have no physiological way of knowing better or controlling themselves, and then feeding them addictive, unhealthy slop, was actually very irresponsible and fucked up to do.

I think the fact that many adults lament when McDonald's used to be all kid-centric is a testament to how pervasive and effective this advertising was. It's like saying that you miss when sugary cereal was advertised on Saturday morning cartoons with colorful mascots. That practice is largely gone or minimized because again, people realize it's predatory to advertise to children like that.

I do agree that as the rate of profit tends to fall and neoliberalism keeps gutting itself up from the inside, there's always less whimsy around, and everything has the same soulless corporate aesthetic because it's the safe thing to spend money on. But if my whimsy has to come at the price of warping young minds and feeding them poison, that's not whimsy I can get behind.