Drive Thru Springfield.
From time to time, I like to read Seth Godin’s blog. He’s a marketing, franchising, advertising guru author. I have always been entertained with marketing and advertising. More of the sense of creating an image/icon to bring a consumer to identify with a product. Not the actual interaction with the consumer. I worked in retail and in a restaurant. People suck.
Godin reviews how a product has been marketed well, or not.
Today’s post deals with creating a product that is so un-cool that it is cool. The masses then get to the product and overpopulate it, then it becomes common place, and soon afterwards yesterday’s trash.
Why I even mention his blog is because in his post dissecting a product that has ’sold out’ he mentions Springfield and Central Illinois and the prarie plethora of chain restaurants.
Take a drive through Illinois — home to McDonald’s headquarters — and you might discover that many of the towns you pass don’t have one “real” restaurant. No diner, no place for a fancy night out. Just a Hardee’s, a Pizza Hut, and, of course, a McDonald’s. This is not a phenomenon limited to tiny towns near Springfield. There are thousands of McDonald’s franchises across the country, along with chains like Arby’s, Subway, T.G.I. Friday’s, and countless others churning out anonymous, forgettable meals to people in a hurry. Hey, it’s what we asked for.
Springfield is a pit of corporate fast food. I remember hearing a fact at one time that Springfield per capita had the highest ratio of fast food restaurants per person. I think the current title belongs to Bloomington. (I don’t have any articles or hard facts to support this – but there is a Wiki for restaurants per capita in comparison by state.)
When I got out to dinner, I rather eat at a local eatery. Luckily GTG shares my point of view -of course though, I am buying. We’ll opt for Gabatoni’s over Olive Garden, or Head West Sub Stop over Subway when we go out for dinner. It wasn’t a value that I was raised on, but a conscious effort that I pay more attention to as I dish out Washington’s.
Applebees? Darcy’s Pint? Outback? Suzy Q’s? KFC? Cozy Dog? – Where are you going out to eat this weekend?
hey, now. no need to knock your girlfriend for the sake of a witty blog post! i do my fair share of paying, but it’s usually at the grocery store to make you a homecooked meal…and trust me, that’s just as expensive.
Yes, yes. You do buy your fair share. Where do you want to go to eat?
We’re going to Limestreet on Saturday night. The food is out of this world, and there’s always an excellent jazz band to serenade you through dinner. I love it!
And Shoo, that “per capita” thing, it applies to the number of bars in Springfield. I’ve never heard it referenced to fast food joints before. The last number I heard was that for every 5 Springfield residents, there’s a bar in Springfield. Craziness.
I ate at Limestreet for the first time on St. Pattys day for lunch.
Nattie – we need to do lunch some day. It’s been a long time.
i’ve never been to limestreet.
i could do headwest right now…mmm…
It has been a long time. I’m down for lunch pretty much any day Shooey. Today is terrible though. I hate the legislature and cannot wait for them to adjourn. The legislators themselves aren’t too bad but they attract some really interesting jack asses. And they come from all over the state! It’s insane!
Let’s be honest…Olive Garden is just wrong. Now, Panera….well, who can resist that??
mmm…panera. shoo’s just about burnt out on panera though. i can’t get enough of it.
Panera is awesome, but the one on the East side always seems to get something wrong on my order. The West Panera is great though. You can walk in there at Noon on a Friday and there can be a line of 15 people, but you’ll probably have your to-go order in hand within 10 minutes (usually quicker).
I’m not sure about the 1 bar / 5 residents claim – that’s over 20,000 bars. I think that there are about that many churches in Springfield though. I think city code states that there has to be at least 1 bar and church on each city block, and 1 auto parts chain for every 4 city blocks.
Good call. You gotta understand though, that counts restaurants that have full-service bars in them. So that would include the applebees, cheddars, red lobster, smoky bones, olive garden etc… Any place with a full service bar. When you think about it like that, it’s very, very possible.
i’ve noticed that, dave. they always put olives on my salad, and it drives me bananas.
I do like Panera, and will be going there tonight to do work, but I am getting burned out. I head there at least once a week (more frequently lately) to do ’side-work’ or I go there to plop my internet butt down somewhere else other than home.
Favorite Panera dishes:
Chicken Caesar Salad
Broccoli Cheese Soup Bread Bowl
Asiago Roast Beef
Sierra Turkey Sandwich
I love Panera. Free WiFi. ‘Nuff said.
yes, I’m a dork.
what do you think got me addicted to panera in the first place?
free wifi. just the right amount of background noise. mochas or tea…depending on my mood. and chocolate pastry guys. my idea of the perfect place.