Nowadays, mass produced goods are bland while hand made goods are desirable. But in the early 20th century the reverse was true: the advent of the assembly line meant millions of consumers could buy products, like cars, which were previously unattainable because they were too expensive.
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The three-Michelin-star chef limits himself to serving waste food that is normally thrown away. On a mission to reduce the billions of tons of food sent to landfill, he uses wilted herbs, soggy celery, and overripe fruit to create his meals. His signature dish, which Bottura labels ‘the world’s most wasted ingredient’. “What you think is food waste is just an opportunity to create something amazing.”
Travis Scott’s partnership meal with McDonald’s was so popular that it caused supply chain issues. (If you’re interested, the meal was a Quarter Pounder burger with cheese, bacon and shredded lettuce, Sprite soda and fries dipped in BBQ sauce, for just $6.)
McDonald’s is essentially a real estate company, making billions in rent from franchised restaurants.
The need for speed led the McDonald brothers to turn to Henry Ford and the world of cars. If Ford could use a specialised system to build a car in two hours, the McDonald brothers could use it to make a burger in less than a minute. They created a new dispenser that squirted the same amount of ketchup every time, and they replaced the silverware with paper wrappings to remove the need for a big dishwasher. The resulting ‘speedee system’ became the basis for modern day fast food as we know it.
The McNamara fallacy – making a decision based solely on quantitative observations and ignoring all others – is named after Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam war. He measured success solely by tracking body count, which, although quantifiable, ignored crucial factors the enemy’s guerilla tactics and the loyalty of its soldiers.
The McRib made its debut at McDonald’s in 1981, and while it initially attracted some attention, it wasn’t enough to keep it as a permanent fixture on the menu. But when the sandwich was taken away, many customers expressed disappointment and a desire for its return. This prompted McDonald’s to periodically bring the McRib back, but always for a limited time, over the next few decades. The sandwich’s temporary nature sparked a devoted following, so much so that a McRib locator was created to help fans find it.
Our customary map of the world, the Mercator projection, is wildly inaccurate. Africa appears to be the same size as Greenland, when in fact it is 14 times larger. Antarctica seems to be the biggest continent, but it’s actually the third smallest and dwarfed by both the Americas. The map was first used by explorers because it preserves angles and shapes (for navigation), but as a result it massively distorts the size of land masses.
It has been popularised by Shakespeare, Tom & Jerry and many others, but in reality mice don’t have a strong preference for cheese. They prefer sweet foods, such as fruits or grains. So think twice before setting your next mouse trap.
They signal a restaurant’s success, but often the start of its collapse. A UCL study of highly rated restaurants showed that those with stars were more likely to close down than those without. The publicity from the star means that guests become more demanding and businesses they deal with, like ingredient suppliers, use the opportunity to charge more.
A series of studies have shown that middle names make us sound smarter. When the author’s name, David Clark, was given without initials, it was evaluated less positively than the same essay written by an author named David F. P. R. Clark. However, the middle initials effect only occurred in domains where intellectual performance matters (e.g. quizzes) but not where it is secondary (e.g. team sports).
Millennials are the “me me me” generation, just like every other one.
The Mo Salah effect: after Salah joined Liverpool F.C. hate crimes in the Liverpool area dropped by 16%, and Liverpool F.C. fans halved their rates of posting anti-Muslim tweets relative to fans of other top-flight clubs.
The Mona Lisa became the world’s most famous painting only after it was stolen. Before its theft in 1911 it was not widely known outside the art world. But its disappearance prompted an international media frenzy and a frantic criminal investigation, and two years passed before it was discovered.
The aphorism was seemingly proven in 2010, when economists found no increase in well being above an annual income of $75,000. But the research was flawed – in how the data was collected and how the questions were asked – and when it was revisited in 2023 the conclusion changed: well being and life satisfaction continued to rise with income, even past $500,000.