Comments by "Im Caj" (@KratostheThird) on "Pizza Hut Nationalism" video.

  1. American society was starting to change around the 2000s. Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about the economy as a whole, just the fast food business. As someone who worked at McDonalds back in the mid - late 2000s, I can tell you from experience that as recently as that time, working for a number of these fast food companies was simply a better experience. Now, in my late 30s, it's simply more comforting to spend time with my family at home than it is to bother with any of these big corporations out in public who just want your hard earned money. I used to love going out with friends, spend time at the bar or nightclub, or pay money at a restaurant for good food. Today that experience is mostly gone. Being born in the early - mid 1980s, people like myself mostly keep a small group of friends and family. Gone are the days of having a big gathering at Pizza Hut, or Chuck E Cheeses. It was fun, I remember that experience back in the 90s. Spending time at home, drinking beer and watching the Superbowl has been more fun than anything any fast food place has given me in over 10 years. The American corporate model has utterly killed Pizza Hat along with all the other fast food places. You remember Ronald McDonald, and Dave from Wendy's trying to get you to try their products? That's all in the past now.
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  2.  @matthew5226  You were born too late to really appreciate the family goodness of Pizza Hut or McDonalds. The older dude in this podcast video could relate to that experience which was the 80s and early 90s. Supersize Me came out in 2004, so it's a bit of an old documentary that is still relevant to our society. I worked at McDonalds to get thru high school and college in the mid 2000s and I can tell you we were already starting to cheapen the fast food experience. We phased out Ronald McDonald little by little, and corporate was wanting to get rid of the Play Place for the kids. Why? To save time and money, even though they were already making a lot of profit. What happened to the fast food industry is no different than what happened to Hollywood, television, video games and so forth. Just like you can find local restaurants that care about your business and well being, you can find indie films that encourage you to learn and perhaps even try out new concepts. The big corporations like McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy's stopped caring about the "comfy" aspect a long time ago. I was there to witness the change first hand, and these days I certainly won't let my kids go to these places that look more like areas for prisoners.
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  3.  @bluecollarcanuck  Lucky. Wish I had this option.
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  4.  @bluecollarcanuck  That was decades ago. Very famous ad from the 80s. There’s very little I remember from the 80s. I remember Dave at Wendy’s on the TV advertisements. So sad how soulless and corporate these companies are now. You had the founder himself advertise. How based is that?
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  5. I saw the writing on the wall in circa 2008 - 2011 when I worked at McDonalds. I'm not proud of my time there, but it was a job, and I met some great people while doing the drive thru and front counter, among other duties I did. In 2004 - 2006 this same McDonalds gave me and everyone else a comfy feeling. It was still fast food. People went in, got their order, and left after 10 - 20 minutes. But in contrast to nowadays, the McDonalds I knew over a decade ago was far more inviting. You see the contrast at approximately 0:40 into the video. The McDonalds I knew and worked at resembled much like the one in the 2009 photograph. We went thru a renovation period sometime in 2011 - 2014, I can't remember exactly. Now it just very much resembles the McDonalds shown in the 2019 photograph. A box like shape that looks like a place for inmates rather than a place to take your kids and family to eat. We also ditched the red uniforms we had in 2008 - 2009ish, and phased out anything that had Ronald McDonald's face and figure on it. So now, it's not only a place where kids aren't so much encouraged to go, it's a place where they pay employees the bare minimum. Doesn't matter if you work part time or full time. It's not a good job for high school, college aged kids. The managers at this same McDonalds are much worse than the ones I worked for over a decade ago. Everything has been cheapened and cut back to make more profit, just like every other corporate fast food and restaurant company. Meanwhile, your old Mom and Pop stores continue to drop off like flies while McDonalds, Carls Jr and Burger King move in to your small town and big town. All utilizing the same crap that affected my local McDonalds. Poor service, poor treatment of employees, and practically no possible future to move up within the company or have an actual career in the restaurant business.
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  6.  @jonnysmith8338  Inflation wasn't anything like it is now back in the 90s and your wages that you earned from your job got you more. Kids nowadays have to work two jobs and attend college full time to make it, and not every one of those kids is going to succeed, thanks to how our modern corporate structure is run.
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  7.  @hitandruncommentor  I remember the mascots for these fast food companies being a lot more prominent in the 90s. The Ronald McDonald gang was still a thing. Taco Bell had that little dog that was the mascot. You remember Dave in those Wendy's commercials? I sure do. The 90s was a more fun, spirited time. I miss it terribly.
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  8.  @matthewkrulitski8788 It was subtle back then. TV commercials still featured Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar. I remember they served food on foam packaging. That’s not something people will remember except for those pushing 40 years old or older.
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  9.  @realityshotgun  I remember that too. I used to have a bunch of friends who hanged out and went to Pizza Hut regularly. Now, that experience is just gone. Very sad.
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  10.  @wumpusmcgrumpusesquire6965  It’s good to hear younger people like yourself waking up to the utter nonsense today.
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  11. There was a cultural explosion in the Post War Era. We don’t think much of it because it was before our time. But events like Elvis Presley’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show was a really big deal back then. That was when America was in full swing financially and culturally. My grandparents before they died in 2014 told me ages ago that California was the #1 most culturally and financially well off state in America. Now it is a dystopian state, full of homeless and cost of living being insane while quality of life goes downhill. Likewise, the United Kingdom was culturally on top in the 1960’s, thanks to the Beatles and the British Invasion. Now it is suffering from many of the same issues. Mass amount of immigrants, crumbling infrastructure, the list goes on. Now I see my fast food places that once had jovial TV commercials turn into junk.
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  12.  @TheLadyDelirium  5’6” is just slightly above average here in America for women. It’s just as bad in a lot of airlines now. Not enough leg room, which must be misery for people 6 feet or taller.
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  13. I’ve noticed this too. The decline started sometime in the late 90s to early 2000’s. Prior to this, America, England and other countries still maintained a more lively atmosphere.
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  14.  @notsae66  Same here. I hope the tide turns at some point and positivity can reign supreme.
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  15. This describes every city in California. The culture and more jovial lifestyles have been removed to make room for extracting capital and maintaining GDP. That is why California remains as the #1 state in America in GDP, yet the quality of living continues to decline as more average people find themselves homeless or having to settle for less.
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  16. Life is crap in 2023 also.
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  17. I don't know how old you are, but to go back that far with fond memories really is a reminder of how much better American culture was. These guys who are part of the podcast posted that old 80s Wendy's commercial, and that ad that shows a happy family being served pizza. This was not a mistake, it was carefully planned and executed. The modern ugliness of most fast food restaurants was designed with social engineering in mind. Call it psychological warfare if you will. I can't think of another time in my history of 37 years of existence where we had a bigger gap between the super rich and elite.... and the average person. These companies have more money and power than they ever did. They're not investing into the community experience. They're investing in the woke agenda and making you feel as miserable and depressed as humanly possible. I recommend the recent video this YouTube channel did on Disney trying to indoctrinate our generation of kids into learning math and science with wokeism and racial equality in mind. And Disney, including the late great Walt Disney himself, got big in California. So it really is California being the problem after all, just like most any crap trend that comes out of there.
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  18. Truth
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  19. The ones in my area 30 years ago had buffet, red cups, carpets and arcade games like TMNT. Good times.
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  20.  @Foxstab  I find a lot of Millennials, especially younger Millennials born in the 90s, to be insufferable. There are some good younger folks in their 20s out there. But it’s become increasingly difficult to have an actual conversation and debate with people under the age of 30 - 35ish (give or take) without them trying to silence you. This is the same generation whose women are selling themselves on Onlyfans, while fully buying into the SJW ideology on Twitter and Instagram. The guys have been reduced to utter soy boys. Despite being now aged 30, they act more like they were doing a one on one at high school. A complete 180 from the World War II generation, who had to grow up due to tough times. The Baby Boomers created weak men. Good times create weak men. There. I said it.
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  21.  @Foxstab The music of the era really shows the difference between back then and now. There is absolutely nothing in the mainstream that is actually good in 2023. It’s Gen Z fodder about nihilism and how miserable one is. Whereas the 80’s, with its New Wave and Hair Metal, gave a sense of optimism and hope, to look forward to a new day. No wonder the kids are depressed. Makes me happy to see Gen Z conservatives.
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  22. Vancouver WA?
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  23. You are still young, but your story reminds me of the toys we used to get back in the 90’s. We had actual toys like slot car racing where you could build your own kit. Today Cracker Jack is no different than McD’s Happy Meals that come with a low quality toy and a little food.
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  24. The hair styles and clothing give away the oldschool Pizza Hut. Imagine having table cloth, actual cups and sitting booths.
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  25. I wish we had this on the West Coast.
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  26. We all miss them, especially if you're a Millennial like me.
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  27.  @michaelquaid4679  You were very lucky.
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  28.  @A_better_alternative Greed killed these chains.
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  29. Wise words.
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  30. This is why I stopped eating at these places. As I said many times, if you want to replicate that 80’s and 90’s era experience, go to a family owned restaurant or a local restaurant. Fast food will not do that for you.
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  31. A bit random since no conversation on Blockbuster was made by these two guys on their podcast, but I agree.
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  32. My Pizza Hut over 30 years ago had self serve sauces, red carpet, booths with actual cushions and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the arcade. It was a great place for teens to hang out after school and bond, since prices were affordable. Now all fast food places have the same boring, concrete block layouts. They’re hideous.
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  33.  @KopperNeoman  And being brainwashed by said YouTubers.
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  34. Pizza Hut had arcades, carpet floors and red cups. McDonalds had Playplaces, TV commercials with Ronald McDonald and Hamburglar. Wendy’s also had Dave, the founder advertise. Fast food places were more so like proper restaurants.
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  35. True.
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  36. These two guys mention the aesthetics. It’s horrible on the outside, but the inside makes you feel demoralized. Every McDs in my area has the exact same brutalist structure, complete with zombie employees and kiosks. Everything has been cheapened.
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  37.  @SeaRaven227  Your comment deserves far more upvotes because it is the truth.
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  38. I stopped going completely. Mom and Pop restaurants are just about the only things left that can still create that 80’s and 90’s restaurant experience like we got with fast food.
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  39.  @crispyandspicy6813  As an early 80s baby who saw the entirety of the 90s and 2000s, I think the change towards minimalism started in the early 2000s. Some people might argue the late 1990s, but I basically disagree as many fast food companies wanted your business and wanted your oxygen as a customer. The old 80s Wendy's commercial that was playing in this podcast video showed that they really cared about having the customer get a comfy, worthwhile experience. The decline definitely started in the 2000s, at least it was apparent by then. I worked at McDonalds in the mid 2000s and the corporate people were already making changes to turn the company into a minimalist style atmosphere that is in practically every corporation today. That's why I advise to any kid nowadays going thru high school or college to seek work elsewhere. Fast food doesn't care about your business as an employee, and they haven't for a long time. It's no surprise that a lot of young people feel miserable and depressed working for these fast food companies with their terrible modern style architecture.
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  40.  @davidparker9676  You just have to watch those 80s commercials to see the kind of atmosphere and environment they were selling. Nowadays these fast food corporations might as well be sterile robots with no personality.
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  41. The local businesses are much more down to earth and friendly. You're not dealing with a business heading by a despicable billionaire like Jeff Bezos.
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  42. I remember the 90’s fast food experience. Old people back then thought of them as cheap garbage, but as kids and teenagers, we loved that experience. What kids have today is much worse. The food is also lower quality, thanks to corporations cutting costs to make up for loss of profits. Subway back in 1996 tasted much better than Subway does today. Why? Because the ingredients used were higher quality. The same can be said for the other corporate fast food joints.
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  43.  @Merlynn132  As the saying goes, the mediocre products of yesteryear were better than the mediocre products of today.
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  44.  @Merlynn132  Yep. Even actors. John Wayne was more stoic and capable than Tom Cruise, who is more stoic and capable than Gen Z actors, like that young woman who is going to be in Disney’s reimagining of Snow White.
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  45.  @Merlynn132  It’s not the Snow White character. Walt Disney just made his adaptations of old stories like Alice in Wonderland, which was an English novel in the 1800s. The actors are what I focused on. Tom Cruise was a favorite of mine when I was a kid decades ago, but I’d be daft if I said he hasn’t done any weird or stupid stuff over his career. John Wayne was one of a select few who became political during the 60’s, which divided a lot of people, particularly during an infamous magazine interview he did in 1971. Rachel Zegler is not a good actress. She’s not even fit to play a small role. She’s just another Gen Z zombie who is upset that people don’t like her on social media. Just like Lindsay Lohan before her, Rachel deserves no credit and she is just making a fool of herself on the internet.
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  46.  @Merlynn132  Another thing to consider is that the cheesy crap selling garbage that became the norm by the mid - late 1980’s actually replaced the old vintage restaurants that were around in the 1930s - 1970s. My grandmother who grew up in the 1940s complained to me once that the fast food joints in the 1990’s were dumbing down kids. She was right. My 70 year old father also told me we had more natural food at restaurants and grocery stores. More natural ingredients were used instead of the over processed crap you find in most stores now. Why did this happen? Profit. Like with big tech, a few mega corporations control the food market and they sell processed crap because it generates a huge profit. We went from something decent to crap, then from something crap to even worse crap.
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  47.  @Merlynn132  You’re talking like I’m still going to highschool.
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  48.  @Merlynn132  I’m going to have to agree AND disagree with you here. We’re talking about corporate food chains and products. Mom & Pop stores still operate at the same efficiency and standards as they did back in the 1970s - 1990s. I don’t know how old you are but it sounds like you’re quite a bit older, since I mentioned the early 90’s. I assume you were already an adult by then. Second, you start your response towards me with “It’s so cute you think this is still about money”. That indicates you’re simply just insulting my intelligence. Yes, I don’t know a lot and I apologize if I got over processed crap and natural ingredients confused there for a minute. But cmon man, there’s better ways to correct someone than to say a smug remark like that. I’m pushing 40 years old and I live entirely on my own. I plan to move out of the hellhole I live in and move someplace more rural. Do you still want to tell me I can’t accept a lot of things yet?
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  49.  @Merlynn132 So you played God of War then…
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  50.  @Merlynn132  No, I just don’t always respond in the fastest time possible.
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  51. These guys in this video played an old fast food commercial from the 80’s which still sort of retains the more traditional world the west stood on. Nowadays you got people representing a minority race talking about today’s politics in fast food ads. I don’t care what political message McDonalds has. Just advertise the food. Keep that other stuff out.
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  52. Truth
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  53.  @jonnysmith8338  San Francisco hasn't been worth living in in over 15 years. Houses are far too expensive, you're paying a lot more for what little you're getting. I got tired of San Fran. The general attitude there forced me to move elsewhere.
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  54. Leftists I no longer associate with “freedom” or “democracy”.
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  55. Don’t forget the pubs.
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  56. True. The average young person is a zombie at these fast food joints.
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  57. @oh no I'm already calling Elden Ring GOTY for this year.
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  58. KFC was decent prior to being bought by Yum Brands.
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  59.  @MushmouthJoe  Yum Brands ran by a different company name in the 90’s. The point is fast food corporations sold out. Everyone, and I mean everybody has told me personally that fast food simply tasted better in the 80’s.
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  60.  @MushmouthJoe  I checked my research dude. PepsiCo acquired Pizza Hut in the late 70’s and turned it into a family friendly restaurant franchise. It was spun off in 1997, to Tricon. The name was changed to Yum Brands in the early 2000s. This is actual data I looked at, not a Wikipedia article.
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  61.  @MushmouthJoe  Yes, but I also went to Pizza Hut over 30 years ago, so I remember what it used to be like. My local place would have teens playing the arcades while parents and kids sat at tables eating pepperoni and other pizza with a variety of sauces.
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  62.  @MushmouthJoe  That was the entire point of this video. Whimpy’s was the UK version that was a prominent franchise in the same era.
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  63.  @MushmouthJoe  Village Inn has precious few locations. That’s why I never saw them as a kid.
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  64.  @MushmouthJoe  Village Inn is bad now? Sorry to hear.
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  65. Millennials have no imagination.
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  66.  @sik3xploit  It coincides perfectly with how the employees are being treated there as well. The man in this video we're commenting on described perfectly what it's like going to a McDonalds now. There's no sincerity or passion in the architecture. It's all soulless. I certainly would not take my kids to a McDonalds now. They have a hard time believing that it was a welcoming place as I remember it back in the 90s.
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  67.  @observationsfromthebunker9639  I only eat at local places, which is rare.
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  68. They killed Pizza Hut along with their other fast food chains.
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  69. Who in particular?
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  70. Truth.
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