The Hipster Revolution Comes To McDonalds

We've written about the craft revolution in the past. Everything from beer to meat (and everything in between) is moving towards a more 'craft' experience. People want more for their money. They want a story behind the product and more of an authentic experience. We've seen that start to hurt some of the big breweries and I'd argue that it is also responsible for some of the woes Tesco have been seeing lately. This consumer shift will touch every brand in the world, which is why I found it especially interesting to see McDonalds testing a new hipster cafe, The Corner, in Australia.

When you think of McDonalds you think of fast food, cheap produce and a fast, functional experience. They are bloody good at what they do, so it's interesting to see them testing this completely new experience in Melbourne. Gone is all their traditional branding replaced by a subtle yellow and black decor. Fancy coffee machines and baristas make this feel more like a local coffee shop than a fast food joint. I've always found the coffee in McDonalds to be far superior to other fast food joints anyway, so this is another step in the right direction. On the food menu you'll see eggs with chorizo rather than a sausage McMuffin and other hipster classics like a four cheese grilled sambo.

This move coupled with their gourmet burger experience in Australia that I wrote about a couple of months ago indicate that McDonalds clearly see the need to change and move on. They wouldn't be the huge success that they are today were they not on top of the trends across the decades. It'll be a long time before you see all of their outlets looking like this, and it might not reach middle America anytime soon. However, their market is changing in the big, international cities and they want to keep up. Watch out for a hipster McDonalds near you soon!