1981: BURGER BOOM - Will US fast-food CONQUER BRITAIN? | Newsround Extra | BBC Archive

Paul McDowell and reporter John Craven look at the influx into Britain of American fast food restaurant chains like Burger King and McDonalds. They're clean, they're family friendly, and they're very, very quick. Is this the end of the traditional British chippy?
Originally broadcast 8 May, 1981.
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[@nickpook442]

What struck me here was the fact that this segment in BBC Newsround, a programme for children, was more adult and in-depth in 1981 than most mainstream news programmes nowadays.

[@Candolad]

Yes, that's very noticeable. The dumbing-down of the media began in the late 1990s led by political correctness, the BBC and the diluting of the education system in order to not upset those who couldn't pass exams at school. We're here and it's now.

[@KirksAudioSanctum]

They also did not need to add silly music to it, to dumb it down for the audience... Says a lot of today's news from the BBC!

[@monkeymox2544]

@@KirksAudioSanctumTo be fair, that's the BBC following trends, not setting them. If they didn't do that sort of thing, they'd be accused of being ''out of touch'.

[@OlaOla-so3il]

It shows that Britain really is dumbing down

[@mit6635]

Newsround always went above and beyond in those days. One of its core principles was not to be patronising towards children, and I loved it for that. But yeah, turn on BBC News now and they start by assuming their audience has no knowledge about anything.

[@Gadgetmonkey]

Wow! - archive footage of the last time a McDonalds milkshake machine worked.

[@andrewjohnston2850]

its not broken it just takes 30 years to clean

[@aliorr9356]

Is that why my strawberry milkshake always tasted of banana

[@Guvna07]

Best comment of the year right here ⬆️

[@underwaterdick]

🤣 love it!

[@andrewphippsphillips1455]

😅😅😅😂😂😂

[@daviddixey]

People forget how revolutionary this was. Britain wasn't familiar with the American type food outlet. Particularly memorable was a quote on a documentary about fast food: "People saw these brightly lit places and were puzzled; they looked like launderettes."

[@GuyDude-hk8uy]

Revolutionary indeed, but I'm thinking of the Russian Revolution sort. Wish they'd have stayed in America, honestly. I'd have to literally be starving to eat at McDonalds; not because it tastes bad (not that it tastes amazing either by any stretch) but because it's so unhealthy and I just disagree with the entire fast-food culture we imported from across the pond. Back then you'd make a packed lunch if you knew you'd need to eat on the go, with proper ingredients full of nutrition. The thought of people trying to work or study living only off of McDonalds is horrifying.

[@bobrew461]

​@@GuyDude-hk8uy The first MacDonalds to open in London (circa 1974 I believe), was vehemently opposed before it opened. People could see the writing on the wall, even back then!

[@AshleyPomeroy]

​@@GuyDude-hk8uy I find it hard to believe that the average British packed lunch circa 1981 had "proper ingredients full of nutrition". It was wall-to-wall ham and beef paste sandwiches and crisps back then.

[@GuyDude-hk8uy]

@@AshleyPomeroy Imagine thinking ham and beef paste sandwiches and crisps aren't nutritious. (serious answer: in 1981 that would not be an average packed lunch, dummy)

[@PatrickHutton]

Ashley, exactly a proper nutritional lunch.

[@khlkhjhlk]

McDonalds in 1981: Takes 25 seconds to get your food McDonalds now: Takes at least 8 minutes

[@Xalgucennia]

Closer to 15 minutes. My local Chinese restaurant does food faster, cheaper and better than MacDonald's

[@neilhurn2685]

Yes as it's all too automated now and the staff can't work as quick as they did then. The human brain works different now. Not so effectively

[@LeeMcDaidDonegal]

Take a film crew with you... it tends to speed up service! :)

[@user-zw9gf6if8s]

in 2039 takes up to 5 business days

[@ths3525]

Plus the order being wrong or something missing.

[@drummerbod]

£1.52 for a Big Mac meal in 1981. Using an inflation calculator that equates to £4.70 today. That meal is £4.69 now. Quite impressive tracking.

[@SmegulonPrime]

Strawberry milkshake that's extra and a terrible choice

[@peteri8924]

£6.07 is what that would cost today. He ordered a Big Mac, Small Fries and a Milkshake which are Medium so that's not £4.69

[@andyrob3259]

and the burgers have shrunk as well. Wen't the other day after a while away and looked at the burger and thought 'damn this looks more like a slider or a kids burger'

[@stevenmcguinness4751]

@@andyrob3259 Not sure that’s correct, 1/4 pounder is based on a set weight

[@craigjensen6853]

@@stevenmcguinness4751 No, it's still a 1/4 pound patty but it just means it costs them 1/4 of a pound to manufacture.

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

When a vintage kids news article is aimed at the same level as current adult news shows.

[@Magicalfluidprocess]

Boom , something iv said for a while now

[@themaskedmaestro4699]

This was made for kids??? It's crazy how far we've fallen

[@xenomorph6961]

@@themaskedmaestro4699 I remember a documentary discussing Newsround with John Craven, one of these presenters, and he made it quite clear that the aim of this 'children's' program was not to talk down to them, or to focus solely on simple topics but instead to present real world news in a manner children would enjoy. Quite the contrast from today's children's news programs that seem to focus solely on the latest pop bands and the latest social fad...

[@Catchamat]

The uk imported more than just America's fast food culture..quick sound bites have also proved popular.

[@Magicalfluidprocess]

@@Catchamat they are 24 /7

[@theancientsancients1769]

What struck me the most was how intelligent and informed this kids were about business 😳

[@generalawareness101]

Being 16 when this originally aired I can tell you that over here in the states the populace has become dumber. I read somewhere where the average IQ is dropping by about 0.5-1.5 per year. Average IQ in the 1960s was 110. By 1990 the average was 90. In 2020 it was around 80 and going south fast.

[@horuslupercal2385]

@@generalawareness101 this is scary. Following that pattern, the fast food in 2040 will be more intelligent than the kids eating it 😐

[@generalawareness101]

@@horuslupercal2385 It really is bad. Over here we have man on the street interviews that shows just how bad it is. Stuff I take for granted they simply have no idea about because none of it is taught in schools nor on tik-tok. When I bring this up the people always resort (same as the last 40 years when people brought it up about man on the street interviews) to saying they were cherry picked. I always tell them that may be the case, but how about you go ask people the same things, and when you pick yourself up off the floor come back and report your findings. I mean I have done this on the casual to people I bump into, and their ignorance amazes me though I am now used to the Idiocracy society in which I live.

[@OscilateWildy]

@@generalawareness101 Have you got any sources to back up these claims?

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

I've heard it be said the food was always well usually flesh back then 5:05

[@Cirias]

As a kid in the mid 90s, it was amazing being able to have your birthday in McDonald's and have the whole experience with dressed up characters, a specific party room and staff providing everything. Great times.

[@carguynewb7856]

People still do that nowadays

[@Morning404]

@@carguynewb7856 do they?

[@Bossman525]

Pizza Hut parties were so much better for that era. Always found the Mcdonalds and BK parties were "common".

[@fabianbernard6819]

Also, parents were given a ashtray and a fresh pint

[@sundaysloth4559]

​@@fabianbernard6819 😂

[@th8257]

Really great social history - people just didn't eat out back then in the way they do now. Choice was incredibly limited and people tended to either make their food at home or return home to eat. Eating out was a rare treat. It's probably one of the origins of the obesity crisis there is now.

[@horsenuts1831]

Definitely. I was born in 1965, and I can count on the fingers of two hands how many times I ate out in a restaurant between 1965 and 1982. It just wasn't a 'thing'. I think the obesity crisis is probably partially due to what you describe, but also due to 'snacking' becoming normal. Back then, food wasn't available outside of set meal times for most of the population (set meal times being when you ate at home).

[@FlyAmeliaEarheart]

I agree. I regularly tell my girlfriend's kid how rare eating out/takeaways were when we were young (70s kid here). Less disposable money, less choice, less expectancy to eat without cooking yourself. As a result, we enjoyed it so much more and understood that it was a massive rare treat.

[@liammeech3702]

People definitely confuse American fast-food culture with ours just because we both speak English. British people generally speaking, where way poorer than Americans in the 50's (pop-culture portrays it a time where everyone ate Burgers, fries and shakes)

[@laurarules3642]

And diabetes

[@raggedbreath]

@@liammeech3702 not sure this is true. Show me a TV show or film based in England in the 50s or 60s that shows anyone eating fast food and burgers....

[@almatt8310]

3:25 Wow! Putin blended in nicely as a Wimpy's manager. This KGB agent will have a great political success in the future.

[@michaeladams9806]

He probably realised there was no need to put polonium 210 in the inherently unhealthy junk food.

[@roguesgallery4228]

Sadly Wimpy didn’t make it. The Burger chain failed too.

[@carlbaker1517]

Classic 😂

[@1justme]

😅😮

[@RenegadeSound]

@@roguesgallery4228 There is a Wimpy bar in Harlow ,Essex .

[@CricketEngland]

Fish and Chips is a true British institution and will never go out of date.

[@essa6315]

Not sure I fancy out of date fish anyway

[@CricketEngland]

@@essa6315 funny not!

[@NLS_7]

You mean it came from Belgium.

[@PoshMurder]

It's good to go passed a chippy today and still see queues going out the door every night. Really makes me feel good to know they aren't going anywhere!

[@JarlGrimmToys]

Greggs and Weatherspoons are the most common restaurants in the UK, with McDonalds coming in 3rd. Fish and Chip shops are obviously more common. But are generally owned by small family businesses, rather than big corporations. Which is a great thing.

[@mogznwaz]

It amazes me (and makes me sad) just how much things have changed in such a short time. I remember the 80s and I’d swap the convenience and choice of today for the community and relative innocence and simplicity of then any day

[@FCVP71]

I would gladly change the ethnic structure back also...

[@anyexpat]

Remove the internet and smart phones from the world and eveyone would be happier i guarantee you

[@OscilateWildy]

@@anyexpat You say whilst using your smartphone to watch amazing footage that if not for the internet you wouldn't have seen. You aren't an "expat" you are an immigrant, expat is just a term white people use to avoid being calledan immigrant.

[@folksurvival]

@@FCVP71 All of Europe must be reclaimed by the indigenous Europeans.

[@musicjunk8266]

get rid of advanced capitalism and it’ll be so.@@folksurvival

[@marshhen]

I am embarrassed to say that when I was a child my family drove 45 minutes to a city for shopping and the highlight of the trip for us was to eat in a McDonalds. There were just no child-friendly restaurants when I lived. My mother said that when she had us four young children, other customers in a regular restaurant would have looked at her disapprovingly for bringing us in there. She says it was quite hard as there were not alternatives. Restaurants were rather formal places for adults, not young children wanting child-friendly menus. A complete change from that today.

[@ots1634]

That is still a thing, i know people who drive 30mins for the nearest mcdonalds, or get a 45 min bus. even.

[@cptrelentless80085]

Surely you sat outside the pub with a coke and packet of crisps?

[@rjjcms1]

It's probably the fact that there were 4 children in tow that made some punters think "uh-oh",expecting at least one or two of them would act up and make a din that disturbed their evening out. My parents took me and my sister to a variety of restaurants,including Chinese and a Greek one,in the 70s and I never noticed any snobby attitudes towards us.

[@experiment54]

Yeah now in 2022 you can’t go to a decent restaurant without screaming kids on their iPads ruining the experience.

[@daveyjones18]

@@cptrelentless80085 Yeah, in the 80's, me and my little bro used to always go to the pub. Parents would watch a live band and we would fight our enemies from school on the on the climbing frame outside. Great times 🤣

[@arthurjarrett1604]

I completed my army basic training in Woolwich, London, in 1984. There were four burger "shops" in the town centre, McDonalds, Wimpy, American Burger and one I can't remember. Myself and a Welsh bloke I was training with used to go on "burger crawls" because of the novelty as we didn't have burger places where we came from. Cheeseburger on its own in each and we'd compare whilst going round town. Good times...

[@jamiejack764]

Thank you for your service

[@rajnirvan3336]

Wimpy and McD are still there

[@7382932]

Artillery?

[@jimjam5239]

Which was the best?

[@beniteztheconman]

@@jamiejack764 hahaha

[@sparky6899]

27 seconds to get your food in McDonalds is an impossible dream now. Instead you place your order on a giant screen, get a receipt with an order number on it and then stand there for 15 mins like you're in Argos.

[@kelmanl4]

That's because the menu is like 10x bigger. There was only a few options back then.

[@baldeepbirak]

During COVID19 with a drive thru people waited over 30mins.

[@jamlemon]

Whilst they prioritise all the Uber Eat drivers.

[@lazycatchphrase8148]

Hearing competing fast food chains referred to as “rival firms” and the term “hamburger bar” are the biggest cultural takeaways I got from this.

[@agfagaevart]

That's because the BBC didn't / still doesn't like to advertise companies. So at the start the "burger" was in an unbranded box. but we know he was talking about Macdonalds' Big Mac & Fries.

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

0:36 👀

[@davidmccann9811]

Back in those days, my dad (we're from London) always called his company his "firm" and his manager was simply his "guvnor".

[@skylined5534]

No pun intended?

[@karadan100]

He also asked for chips.

[@opo3628]

As an aside, it's wild to realize that all of the children you see in this documentary are now 50+ years old...

[@moaningpheromones]

aha - I was 4 then. old af now.

[@Timothy1976]

I am that age group

[@plaistowjames6792]

and John Craven is in his mid 80s.

[@yorkshireplumbing]

some are probably dead, and the one on the left had sausages for tea.

[@Future-Classic-Comics]

​@yorkshireplumbing lmao sausage fore tea 🤣 he's had his chips along time ago!

[@rocon86]

The service back in the 80s, without touchscreens or modern technology, was a hell of a lot faster than today. 25 seconds! Wow

[@DaveCorbey]

They have fooled all the millenials and generation Z in to doing most of the work to create the order themselves (badly|) on an irritating and unsanitary touch screen. Back in the day you rocked up, said what you wanted and 30s later you were walking out with a bagful of MaccyD. These days we don't get anything that can remotely be called service. We fill our own tanks with petrol, use those stupid self serve tills in shops, and deal with irritating automated phone systems with a 1000 menu items.

[@TheStevenWhiting]

I thought of this ages ago when I started to see the screens appear. I thought "This isn't great. The screens are slow and the kitchens haven't been designed to cope. The amount of orders that will now come in, will be more than the kitchen can handle". Thought I was just being old and not moving with the times. Looked it up a while ago and saw it confirmed on reddit by the kitchen staff. They explained when you order at the till, with each item entered into the till, they can see it instantly in the kitchen so can start making it. But with the screen orders, they only get the order once the customer has paid and the whole order comes in all at once. Granted, the screens have gotten better and the layout of the counters have changed. So maybe they've all started to change their designs and layouts in the kitchen to be able to cope. But I'm assuming they still have the same issue, that the order from a screen all comes in at once. The pandemic hasn't helped either, it's somewhat created greed. Being able to deliver food was good during lock down but those same stores that were never designed for deliver AND in house service are still continuing to do deliveries. Our local KFC is one such store. It was already poor before the pandemic when it didn't do deliveries. But now it continues to take online orders and in house its kitchen just can't cope. Orders are frequently wrong and stuff is always missing (how difficult is it to read what is on the screen for the order you're packing).

[@psims7342]

@@TheStevenWhiting these days they have it sat around for 15 minutes before they chuck it, for all we know in those days it couldve been sat around half the day and still be deemed acceptable, thus food would always be available and lets be honest, the food they show doesnt look particularly fresh made or appealing , they may not have had storage requirements that were as stringent then as they are now, and so forth..............times have changed massively in all areas and i dont think its anywhere near as black and white as "back in the day each item ordered is immediately sent to the kitchen but these days only the entire order is, thus it was quicker then"

[@TheStevenWhiting]

@@psims7342 I only said what the kitchen staff were saying when the system was fairly new, its possible things have changed but it does make sense, that with the touch screens, the whole order only appears in the kitchen once paid for. Not sure how the kitchen system works now but know that in the "old days" the "production bin" where the food was slid down those shoots, was always warm so it kept the food hot or at least warm but not sure how long it stayed that way. If was still in touch with my friends from back in the 90s could of asked them. Both were shift running managers back in the old days :)

[@TheStevenWhiting]

@D2M5 Nando's do that now, so we discovered when we last went. However, they were good enough to tell us. Just lucky we both have smart phones as I know some older folk don't.

[@pearljam619]

Back in the 80s I went to many a McDonald’s Birthday Parties. Great fun and happy times.

[@stevedickson5853]

John Craven " I would chips", assistant " would you like large French Fries " 🤣

[@dh8176]

There will always be Fish and Chips. The experts were right. I do miss Wimpy though.

[@4879daniel]

Wimpy hasn’t gone, still has a reasonable amount of stores.

[@dh8176]

@@4879daniel with table service like in the clip or just as a fast food outlet?

[@trippymchippy8586]

I went to Wimpy a couple of years back, the food was absolutely horrible and the place was falling to bits.

[@4879daniel]

@@dh8176 Not been in decades but one I went to as a kid is still there and has a diner layout.

[@chriswatkin5476]

Shrewsbury has a wimpy

[@Scrapper.]

John Craven = Legend. As a kid I loved his news broadcasts through the 70s

[@trevhib]

I watched him on Countryfile just last night on the subject of picking raspberries 😅 His style hasn't changed. National treasure.

[@williamshakespeare3429]

I remember ‘John Craven’s Newsround’

[@judet5426]

I agree, he's still going strong 💪

[@Scrapper.]

@@williamshakespeare3429 Although they softened the edges of international war reports and other negative news, mindful of their young viewers, Newsround let us know that not every person on Earth were living nice lives. It gave some balance.

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

1:42 Burger Time!

[@BloodMoonASMR]

4:00 "Here in the Midlands" *points to Newcastle Upon-Tyne*

[@johnshields6852]

I was 6 in 1966, mom gave me 2 dollars and me and friends would go to the local McDonald's near us, the foods not really great but there's something about the quick service and the taste that's enjoyable. Plus the ads were constantly bombarding our minds. Thank you for the ride back in time.

[@JosephusAurelius]

No chance! Thank you BBC for uploading such valuable historic footage

[@bolshevikproductions]

Check my Historical archives😂😂

[@garrymartin6474]

" Here in the Midlands" points at the Lake district, " Here in Sheffield" puts sticker to the west of Manchester. I take it a knowledge of the geography of |Britain wasn't necessary to work for BBC News in those days 🤣🤣

[@summan41man]

It was pretty much bang on Manchester, it was that burger placed on that map that made me watch the video as I was curious to see if Manchester was one of the first places to have an 'American fast-food outlet'

[@minners71]

Just a liking for underage children was the main criteria for hiring back then on the BBC.

[@green1880]

@minners71 - STILL IS!!

[@chrishateley5582]

They didn't have Google maps back then.

[@tomkandy]

The UK consists of London, the home counties, and then untamed wilderness full of whippets and miners and possibly wolves.

[@RollaArtis]

1981 seems rather late, there was a Wimpy bar in my high street in the mid 1960's and a McDonalds opened in 1974. Now there is plastic litter everywhere....

[@user-pm8xv4vf1u]

All the people that don't give a McSh*t. Except in the restuarant itself

[@tiocfaidh28]

Newsround. I remember watching this when back from school.. Usually before Grangehill!

[@UncleFeedle]

I lived in New Malden in the late 70's. Going to the McDonald's in London was an incredibly rare treat, once or twice a year at most. And my older brother always got to sit in the swivel seat, the git.

[@EternamDoov]

'70s **

[@disarchitected]

Was it full of Koreans back then as well?

[@Nosedruul]

These were the last years when you could record footage of the public and everyone was still sort of normal-sized.

[@MrLump]

Now we’re super-sized

[@partyringsparty]

They just smoked 50 a day instead. Good times eh.

[@john.premose]

Yes, the beginning of the end for public health. To paraphrase Galadriel, “McDonalds is the footsteps of doom for us”

[@moaningpheromones]

@@partyringsparty yeah - not everyone smoked. just like not everyone is fat today.

[@Answersonapostcard]

@@moaningpheromones most people are though

[@NecroMorrius]

Anyone notice that virtually no one is overweight?

[@ianlaker9161]

...yet

[@user-pm8xv4vf1u]

@@ianlaker9161 Yes, there was literally nothing on the lack of nutrition. If this was nowadays they would have had to place "AD" in the top corner of the screen

[@billy6044]

Rip wimpy, there is still one in my home town but my home towns still stuck in the 80s

[@junk5354]

Several weeks back here in Wilmington, Delaware, USA they discovered a time capsule, a Burger King close 27 years ago in our Concord Mall. They boarded it up and left the tables and everything just as it was on the last day. Strangely they never tried or succeeded in renting this space in 27 years.

[@kimeojin6447]

I looked it up and you're exactly right, it's very cool. I like how they're using it as an opportunity to advertise the mall and they're trying to keep it as-is without clearing it out and removing the historical space!

[@jeanlefranc3817]

10 year old kids answering questions from the BBC journalist in a well articulated way many adults simply couldn’t today.

[@Riddlestar93]

I noticed that as well, the quality of education has certainly changed for the worse over the decades.

[@jeanlefranc3817]

@@Riddlestar93 it most definitely has.

[@visionist7]

I noticed that immediately. Indeed I assumed they were 12 or 13 to be answering questions like that. If they were 10 even better for them.

[@john.premose]

That’s a bit condescending. Kids are quite intelligent you know, a lot more than adults give them credit for

[@andrewtucker94]

@@Riddlestar93 In that case, those supposedly intelligent young adults have let their children down, haven't they?

[@NSResponder]

I was living in Bonn, West Germany, in 1977 when the first MacDonald's opened in Köln, about an hour away by bicycle. My dad, my sister and I used to make the trip on the occasional Saturday. It was how he got us to exercise!

[@kazamenetworks7046]

That tie is ridiculous!

[@DeannaAllison]

I remember visiting London around 1977 and walking into a MacDonald's for the first time. I had no idea what to do - how to order food - I had never used a counter-service restaurant and I was so confused! I can't remember whether I actually bought anything in the end.

[@jeshkam]

What was London like back in 1977?

[@davepowell7168]

The monosodyermind glutalot worked then? If you returned you obviously would have no memory of it either

[@hawsrulebegin7768]

I’ve similar experience in 78. It was such a big change for us in the U.K. I’m just surprised Wimpy are still going.

[@kupus6622]

@@jeshkam I remember hot summers reggae music and exotic smells in market. Lots of old woman with curlers in with blueish hair. Alot of my dad's mates were from Jamaica and most were rastas. Alot more poverty tho. No food some days , never saw a carpet just floor board. That what I remember from about 78/79 if that helps.

[@HaggisMuncher-69-420]

So since your first visit in 1977, you still haven't figured out how to spell McDonald's?

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Sadly, fish and chips has become so expensive that it’s gone from being a family Friday night dinner, to an occasional treat. While McDonalds on a Saturday morning is absolutely chock full of customers………

[@CasperUK31]

Which is odd since they are still about the same price. Big Mac medium meal here is £5.49 or £5.89 if with a milkshake as the guy in the video had. The average price for fish and chips, a quick look on just eat has shown...£5

[@andrewjohnston2850]

@@CasperUK31 where is that , 9 quid beside me!!

[@CasperUK31]

@@andrewjohnston2850 Wirral, North West, across the Mersey from Liverpool

[@tomcolton5662]

Try eating proper food once in a while

[@MrStevieb00]

fish and chips are a 10 spot in Edinburgh but soon to be 14 or 15 if reports are to be believed

[@Lolotrixx]

This is honestly facinating and funny. From the way to way they have explain a Mcdonalds Meal to the Viewers to the map of the five whole Mcdonalds places that will open in Britain. Crazy how things changed

[@c.brogansavage3385]

Well this was absolutely wonderful. John Craven is such a dreamboat 🥰

[@anonnymous4684]

I used to work in a McDonald's in the late 80s and it was a point of pride to get orders to customers as quickly as possible. Officially, we weren't allowed to run to avoid accidents, but we did whenever mangers weren't around. I've not been to McDonald's in years, but reading the comments here it does sound as if standards have slipped on the 'fast' front.

[@T27FRL]

I’m a delivery driver and can honestly say the wait times are horrendous for all orders. I heard a few people say they’ve been told it’s no longer “fast food”. The standard of food has slipped too. I used to be a big fan of McDonald’s but now I rarely order anything for myself.

[@Makiaveli01]

Yeah it has slipped, but now it depends on where you go, I wonder what would cause that fall of pride?

[@MVgaming627]

2 minutes que one at the counter

[@davidlanham99]

Are you kidding, today I wouldn't let the people they have working there handle my food. People today are disgusting.

[@aaroncousins4750]

Ill be waiting 20+ minutes in a drivethrough for food. Its a joke

[@HomerSlated]

True story: I was in my mid-teens before I discovered that hamburgers could be eaten between two slices of bread. Up to that point, everyone I knew ate them as is, often with mash, peas and gravy. These days I'm more likely to have a curry.

[@andyrob3259]

Many still do ....... If I buy hamburger patties from the supermarket I don't make an entire burger.... I'll have it with vegetables or chips on a plate. I don't know anyone that doesn't still do that.

[@DeannaAllison]

Well, there's nowt wrong with gravy. Or curry sauce, for that matter. I sometimes think of curry sauce as a super-enhanced spicy gravy.

[@bradavon]

It's just a burger without the bread. The bread turns it into a hamburger.

[@oddities-whatnot]

@@DeannaAllison I make a sort of chinese curry sauce with gravy granules and curry powder mixed in. Works well

[@ChrisWarsop]

And people called them "beef burgers"

[@TripleR250]

3:12 "Whatever happens they'll always be Fish and Chips" that's true! Despite when Asian food and American fast food became the norm in Britain but traditional fish and chips were still pretty popular 💯 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@HyuugaCharlie]

i remember those old tills with the pre-printed button options. god thats a blast from the past

[@kinetsievarvenfloot1237]

I very much enjoy going to the fast food centre.

[@ewtwetrwerwteet]

This was the moment my career in weight loss begun. Thank you McDonald's I owe my life and career to you

[@doberman2yk]

dust?

[@manmaje3596]

Gina gash

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

5:14 I think those kids are right!

[@simonjones7727]

I love "Look Around You". This is hilarious, an almost perfect parody of the real thing.

[@leeosborne3793]

The Hammersmith McDonald's! I remember my mum taking me there when i was a kid, almost certainly around the time this report was made. Never saw John Craven in there, though. :) He was such a good presenter. Made things accessible and informative for kids without ever sounding patronising.

[@banna1150]

I used to love wimpy in the old Basingstoke town center in the early 90s then it shut. Then a few years ago it opened up again! The nostalgia to see wimpy back ❤️

[@muckle8]

Wow I will have to visit, I grew up in frimley and used to love the wimpy there as a young teen

[@oddjobtriumph1635]

Wimpy so much better than Mcdonalds

[@banna1150]

@@muckle8 I’m still in Basingstoke, was great to see wimpy back!

[@muckle8]

I’d love to see them open up more sites and come back en masse

[@philsaspiezone]

I went there with my girlfriend and we had a meal at the Wimpy at Festival place about 4 years ago.

[@finnmanproductions9240]

Fascinating to see the early days of fast food in the UK

[@johnleake5657]

I remember listening (at my boarding school in 1979) to a schoolmate from Hong Kong talking about MacDonalds. I'd never heard about it before and it sounded so amazing (I was a country boy).

[@timothyc5497]

“Big Mac and chips please” perfect.

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

I was probably about ten before I first had a McDonalds. My parents would never take me. They didn’t approve, but my older cousin took me once. I didn’t go into one again until I was about 16, went to college, and did my own thing. As a kid, a meal out was always Wimpy or the local fish n’ chip restaurant. Wimpy had a bit more than just burgers or nuggets on offer so my parents would go for that. I never really considered Wimpy as fast food though because they cooked to order ( the chef was usually in full view to the diners) and you had to wait for it to be cooked. I love Wimpy and really miss them since they started to disappear. McDonalds and Burger King are nice, but they don’t beat freshly cooked food eaten with a plate and knife and fork.

[@PABLOSTRONGVLOGS]

"Would you like large French fries?" "small ones please" LOL

[@onlyme219]

He asked for chips :)

[@richfamousstyle6945]

That was the hidden gem for me too 🤣

[@CDbiggen]

So they've always done that 😆

[@richfamousstyle6945]

@@CDbiggen not sure you got the joke here bud

[@CDbiggen]

@@richfamousstyle6945 , gonna have to tell me

[@adina2419]

1:45 “Is that large fries?” Reminds me of my tenure at McDonald’s. 😅

[@sporkfindus4777]

I like the foliage in the restaurants and I LOVE the black backgrounds on the display boards

[@chrisbradley977]

Got to love the presenting style of the time. We'll take two smartly dressed, well-spoken chaps and make them look utterly befuddled by the modern world. "I hear the young people like this so-called 'fast food'. They actually eat it out of the packaging, under illuminations powered by something called electricity."

[@tetsuoshima7385]

“This popcorn chicken is not the type of popcorn that you or I might enjoy on a night out at the pictures, but something entirely different”.😝

[@davepowell7168]

Craven tended to be patronising because he'd volunteered for children's TV and presumed his audience struggled to keep a room temperature iq I was a teenager so presumed he was relegated but in fact the BBC were smart enough to try and reach a younger audience. This was a blatant TV commercial, children that well spoken... The majority of people were traditionally brainwashed enough to pay for a TV licence in those days. 🤣

[@rosiefay7283]

@@davepowell7168 There was no suggestion that this was something that only young people like -- clearly adults were eating in fast food eateries too. And John Craven wasn't patronising. Rather, he told his young audience what they needed to know. He didn't treat them as unintelligent, he treated them as not already knowing but capable of learning.

[@davepowell7168]

@@rosiefay7283 Shooting the messenger would be unfair l agree. John would have had to work from a script approved by the BBC.

[@markfox1545]

@@davepowell7168 - he wasn't relegated. Weird thing to say.

[@coolmacatrain9434]

They had won the war by '83. I remember coming over from Ireland to work in London that year and by then Kilburn high road had McDonalds, Wimpy, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King! In fact Burger King (it was beside where the exit from Kilburn High Road overground station is now) was the first "proper" fast food I ever tried!

[@irishboer7124]

There used be a Spudulike in Kilburn, closed down though!

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

0:42 burger taken from WWII bomb shelter? 1:04 MBGA Make Burger Great Again?

[@moottori_paa]

love those kids, spoke so well!

[@dodgydruid]

Being a south Londoner we were blessed with the first McD's in Woolwich followed by the bigger one in Catford, for kids it was the ultimate day out treat.

[@lotuseater7247]

“Whatever happens, there’ll always be fish n chips” that gave me a minor shrill of patriotism, not felt since England made the euro final.

[@rjjcms1]

Long live fish and chips!

[@HonestTraveller]

Oh yes, I have fish friday every week. Cannot live without it

[@lotuseater7247]

@@HonestTraveller lucky you!

[@DubSalvation]

Its actually Jewish in origin

[@lotuseater7247]

@@DubSalvationActually it's attributed to the French. But what's your point? the most popular food in the UK is a curry, derived from India. If you want to bang on about origin you'll be banging all day.

[@billparsonson7259]

My best fast food memories as a kid were in Wimpy. Great times. I remember when they were replaced here in Plymouth by Burger King in the late 80's.

[@billparsonson7259]

@Mk1TTdude Wow, really?! Thats crazy, thats the same price as Five Guys here, which is a rip off!

[@antonioverdad5071]

I remember Wimpys too. When I was a kid in the 1960s there was a Wimpy in the high street, and my brother and I used to walk past it with mum on the way to the shops. It used to be frequented by big burly blokes in donkey jackets. When I we walked past once they had the door open, and I asked mum in a loud voice if you have to be wimpy to eat there. Several donkey jacketed gorillas turned and glared at me and mum hurried us along before anything kicked off!

[@4879daniel]

@@antonioverdad5071 There’s a decent amount of them still around including one I went to 30 years ago.

[@coffeebot3000]

I remember visiting London as a child (i’m American), and looking through the window of a Wimpy’s was so surprised to see people eating their burgers with a knife and fork.

[@alzeNL]

Theres a Wimpy in Swanage and there is one at Clarence Pier Southsea :O)

[@Derek_S]

McDonalds had already been operating stores in London for around five years when this programme was made. The Hard Rock cafe near Hyde Park corner and other lesser known brands opened around five years before that, so there is no way American style burgers were a new thing in 1981.

[@huntergray3985]

I agree, I remember catching a bus up to Marble Arch to try McDonalds in the mid-70s.

[@ernietaggert]

the lad on the far left puts his hand up in an interesting way at 5:23 😂

[@robertgronewold3326]

It's rather interesting watching this from the American perspective. Fast food started pretty early in the US. Besides the food carts that have always been around, we had diners here, usually the rail car variety, where people could pop in to get a quick meal that was often times a hamburger or some other kind of easy sandwich. Then when the 50's came about, when my own parents were kids, you had the drive-in restaurants cropping up, such places as the Dog and Suds, and A&W, where you would park your car and waiters wearing roller skates would come out to take your order and then deliver it just as quickly. By the time fast food really started to show up, McDonalds especially, the country took to it quite quickly. Now we're spoiled for variety and quality, though sadly it's often not very fast. I only usually go to one of these places once a month, and often I have to wait ten minutes or more for my order to come through.

[@donkmeister]

Of course we had other options besides fish and chips - the equivalent to US diners was the cafe, aka a greasy spoon. Great places to get breakfast and lunch, and if you are ever in the UK I'd recommend searching the reviews to find a good one for your breakfast. In London you had pie and mash shops (much less common these days but there are still a few). In North London there were of course Jewish salt beef shops (fewer of those around now too), and basically anywhere there was a sizeable diaspora of any nation or culture you'd find eateries catering to those people.

[@vordman]

@@donkmeister I still use greasy spoons. The best places for a breakfast, no question. These independant cafes, despite the unflattering moniker, are usually spotlessly clean too. Wouldn't be seen dead in one of those fast food dumps.

[@straightpipediesel]

Development in the UK was slower because the country was destroyed and bankrupted by WWII. Food rationing post-war was worse than during the war due to economic reasons, poor weather, and the end of US aid. Food was under ration until 1954, nearly a decade after the end of the war. Other issues included social turmoil in the 1970's, with the oil crisis and multiple strikes.

[@XXXTENTAClON227]

@@straightpipediesel pretty sure the “ration” was to stop hoarding since the government didn’t control the media Either way I’ve always found Britains attitude towards it funny… basically just “Food is food, calories is calories, stop wasting time eating fancy meals and conquer somewhere”

[@straightpipediesel]

@@XXXTENTAClON227 Nope. Might want to learn some history. The UK had a balance of payments crisis. It had huge wartime debts, needed to pay for reconstruction, and the economy was ruined so it couldn't collect taxes. Everybody demanded either dollars or gold to repay loans, the UK spent all of theirs. The US had over $20 billion of gold reserves, the UK had $1 million. Without gold or dollars to back it, nobody wanted Sterling. So, the UK couldn't pay for imports. While the US and other countries shipped food in during the war on loan, this all ended when the war ended. There was less food available in the UK after the war than there was during it.

[@hand587]

Wimpy has had an amazing history. It was founded in the US but when the founder died, there were only 7 locations in the USA... but 1,500 worldwide. Many Wimpy locations were rebranded to Burger King, as the parent company at the time owned that brand too. It's now headquartered in South Africa!

[@RW-nr6bh]

Went to Wimpy in Swanage recently. Good service and food. Preferred it to what McDonald's is these days; their self service machines have slowed everything down.

[@bhew7409]

@@RW-nr6bh I was going to say Swanage!

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

1:04 MBGA Make Burger Great Again?

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

I think there's still a Wimpy in Felixstowe. But I never went there. There was one in my home town a million years ago and I remember the kid next door going there for his birthday one year. Again, I don't recall ever going.

[@davidbowie2046]

Nothing tasted better than a Wimpy spicy beanburger. They were amazing. I'm not even vegetarian

[@Dinadino994]

I remember maccys when it started rolling out . It was a very rare treat until I became an adult.

[@goldieandblackie]

Look at that kipper tie,wow.😸

[@petermurphy75able]

This was an incredibly accurate report looking back at it now, the kids at the end were so well spoken too.

[@johnmiller0000]

Yes, I don't think they raided the local comp.

[@davepowell7168]

@@johnmiller0000 😆

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

they certainly were not using words like 'bro' or 'mandem'

[@davepowell7168]

@@mr.y.mysterious.video1 Not likely, sounded more like boyscouts with hopes of ATC and after Uni daddy's Masonic Lodge

[@mountainbearoutdoors]

if ever there was argument for smacking your kids to bring them back in line this is it. not like the evil little turds being mass produced these days who go round cutting old ladies for fun.

[@euanwalsh7604]

This is clearly back when we thought fast food was the same as a regular meal out where you'd gather up the family for an outing

[@oninbridders]

Happened again in the 2010s (The Nandos Generation) but it was called Casual Dinning with the table service reinstated. No idea is new I guess you can say. But you are correct to state that kids go without parents these days meaning bouncers now have to police McDonald's.

[@freakstate]

Gross isn't it.

[@yourrightimsooosorry884]

The new trend is German doner kebab, kebabs done right ✅

[@allanallen1835]

Also when we thought it actually had good vitamins and was healthy.

[@rosiefay7283]

But if there's a family to be fed, what's wrong with gathering the family for a meal out?

[@marine4lyfe85]

When I was a kid in America in the 70's, my parents used to take us to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips for a change up.

[@bobikdylan]

It's funny how they present this as something new. I went to the opening of the first UK McDonalds, which was in Woolwich, south-east London, in 1974, seven years before this. Wimpey had been around for many years before that.

[@rosspidoto]

That second last boy sure takes life seriously 😅

[@Batwolf1968]

I can’t see it ever taking off.

[@albertsaffron7582]

Used to drive 25 mins to get to a Maccas when I was a kid, now I’m 23, and we have Maccas in our own town! It was quite an event, and people turned out to the work site to protest its construction, but by then the slab had been laid and it was too late, but I has been good to the kids as a source of jobs.

[@davidphilipsmusic]

Those kids at the end were more mature than most 25 year olds these days 😂😂

[@grail68]

Newsround is a children's news TV show. Geared solely toward children. Pretty shocking to see how modern news, geared toward adults, looks exactly like this (except even flashier.)

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

4:43 ... Daniel's thoughts today?

[@martinh4982]

John Craven. What a champ!

[@snowdog9954]

I went to Wimpy in the 70s, it was table service though. First McDonalds was on a visit to Germany, had no idea what to do!

[@chris-rfs]

2 minutes max in the queue!!?😂....take me back to 1981 please.

[@AntGeezer]

“A Big Mac….and some chips” What a rebel..😂

[@MichaelGeorge161]

I remember the days when going to McDonald's and Little Chef was a special treat.

[@SmegulonPrime]

I grew up in the 80s and little chef was always a punishment

[@MichaelGeorge161]

@@SmegulonPrime You must have ordered the wrong things!

[@andyrob3259]

Little Chef crumbed garlic mushrooms......mmmmmmm

[@thegreenknight2658]

We used to call it "Little Theif" because everything was overpriced.

[@James-xu6sc]

For me, it was always a trip to happy eater!

[@GPOTOM]

This was clearly the inspiration for Look Around You’s casserole segment.

[@anthonyluna352]

The same meal he ordered would set you back about £7 now and It's way smaller than it used to be. Look how big his drink cup and fries bag were despite ordering small

[@paulmolyneux599]

It`s not fast food anymore...with the improvment of technology somehow you now wait much longer to get your food.

[@helenhucker346]

I went into the McDonald's in London's Oxford Street soon after it opened. When the young man handed me my order and said 'Have a nice day' I replied ' Oh that's very kind of you, thank you so much ' I thought he meant it lol.

[@Dr170]

Have a nice day 😉

[@TotemoGaijin]

Well, whether he meant it or not, it sounds like it did make your day nicer, so there's that, haha.

[@Nathanmorgan78]

1:48 - small ones please, yes 😂 He sounds fine talking to the camera; like an alien talking to the staff.

[@coffeepot3123]

I like the retro colors with the red and black burger signs etc in the fast food stores.

[@grinsko6741]

I’d still rather watch something like this than the majority of today’s telly.

[@oddities-whatnot]

Me and my best mate, in our 50s, probably watch more on YT than anything else. It has so many good factual and interesting videos. You can pick anything you want. Its excellent.

[@CricketEngland]

3:26 yea and by 2020 my town has no longer got a McDonald’s or Burger King (both closed due to high rents) but the Wimpy bar is still going strong after 55 yeas and with the same family running it

[@techreviewer]

What area is this in?

[@oddities-whatnot]

Hope the food isn't 55 years old as well !

[@jerusalem330]

Horsham?

[@Abo999]

That family probably own the premises, I'm glad they're having the last laugh

[@pdxyid]

I thought that bloke was Putin for a second…

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

What's that font used on the posters between 1:12-1:16? It was everywhere in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including on TV. Is it just a variation on Helvetica?

[@Turbomgzt]

"Would you like large French fries?" "Small ones please" 😅

[@puddleglum3306]

3:03 Well the Fish and Chips certainly survived - It seems the "high cost of fish" is always a concern, but they'll continue to survive.

[@davepowell7168]

Fish?

[@trainrover]

lol

[@puddleglum3306]

@@davepowell7168 Fish. As in fish and chips. Were you even watching the video?

[@davepowell7168]

@@puddleglum3306 l have never been offered a surviving fish... You are undeserving of a Marsh Wiggle name!

[@mrsir3130]

yep, have a pet fish, can confirm they've survived

[@gan9e]

As a kid in the 80s my parents would indulge me at a Wimpy bar so called, a 'knickerbocker-glory' to finish yummy... we have them all here in Brighton, a new 'Wendys' opened up and you just can't get in the door its so stuffed full of people, If your wondering about all those people in crash helmets in McD's... well that'll be me ordering breakfast, a quick bing-bong-bing on my phone and a few minutes later breakfast is delivered, yes I'm as fat as a moose.

[@caeserromero3013]

As a kid i the 80's McDonalds was strictly one per year, usually for somebodies Birthday party in the upstairs part of the place in tables made up to look like train carriages. Then when I was on work experience, as a treat to make myself feel 'grown up' i had a Big Mac for lunch the first day. Loved it, so I went back the 2nd day...felt sick after about 3 bites and didn't have another one for almost 10 years...now I have a BK Bacon Dbl Cheese burger once a year as a treat. That does me. I also make my own home made burgers, topped with Applewood smoked cheese :)

[@jediknight9284]

knickerbocker glory, that takes me back. only got them when we were on holiday👍

[@rjjcms1]

I buy Applewood some times. I like stronger cheeses with plenty of flavour.

[@ceefaxbbctv8788]

Wow 🤩 good old days!

[@jasonladd6400]

I can remember as a 13 y/o going into a Wimpy sit down restaurant in 1981 with my younger brother and mother when she was allowed the occasional car from her then office job. We were quite poor then so it was quite an event.

[@zaixai9441]

What these videos show really is that change was very uncommon compared to today. The rate of change now is massive. Trends come and go like like they are nothing.

[@DavidFraser007]

I really liked Wimpy back in the 70s, the staff were always friendly. I was a teenager and I wasted lots of time there with my girlfriend. MacDonald's is just eat and get out.

[@aliorr9356]

Yeah wimpy was a different class.

[@andyrob3259]

So did the Wimpy Knickerbocker Glory open your way into 'paradise'......or did you have to buy her the entire meal?

[@muckle8]

You got more options if you splashed the cash!

[@DavidFraser007]

@@andyrob3259 We were just 15 then.

[@Oneness2023]

Now you wait 20mintues for order

[@brianiswrong]

Always loved a wimpy. My mum got luncheon vouchers at work which she would save up and every few weeks we would head to the arndale centre in Luton for my treat. 1/4 pounder and chips, strawberry milk shake and a nickerbocker glory ,then spend 10 mins enjoying/ hating brain freeze. Happy memories from the late 70's