The state of American education? Burger Math In 1971, McDonalds decided that some customers wanted more meat for their money. The idea: a burger with a hefty beef patty -- 4 ounces (or 113 grams), pre-cooked, which was more than double the size typical McDonalds beef patty at the time. (A current Mickey Ds burger patty is about 1.6 ounces, uncooked.)They called the burger the Quarter Pounder and Its been a trademark product of the burger chain since. And its seen some competition -- with, in one case, comical results. Because of the customers. In the 1980s, A&W Restaurants -- a fast food chain with 1,200 stores currently -- wanted to be part of this bigger is better burger movement. (As an aside: the restaurant chain was originally related to the root beer of the same name and branding, and still highlights the soft drinks on its menu, but is now owned by an entirely separate company.) So A&W introduced a competitor to the McDonalds quarter-pound offering with something called the Third Pounder, featuring a third-pound of beef -- an obviously superior product. Except that the Third Pounder wasnt so obviously superior. The New York Times explained: With a third-pound of beef, the A&W burger had more meat than the Quarter Pounder; in taste tests, customers preferred A&W’s burger. And it was less expensive. A lavish A&W television and radio marketing campaign cited these benefits. Yet instead of leaping at the great value, customers snubbed it. Only when the company held customer focus groups did it become clear why. The Third Pounder presented the American public with a test in fractions. And we failed. Misunderstanding the value of one-third, customers believed they were being overcharged. Why, they asked the researchers, should they pay the same amount for a third of a pound of meat as they did for a quarter-pound of meat at McDonald’s. The “4” in “¼,” larger than the “3” in “⅓,” led them astray. Unable to overcome customers inability to deal with elementary-school math, A&W changed its menu. The menu still offers a burger with a third of a pound of meat, but its called a Papa Burger.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:07:34 +0000
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