The distraction paradox reveals how powerful business models make customers look one way while value moves another, yet trust collapses when the hidden exchange becomes exploitative. There is a question worth asking about every brand you admire. Not what they say they are selling.
Not what the packaging suggests. Not what the advertising shows. What is the real product, and who is the real customer?
In 1954, Ray Kroc was a 52-year-old milkshake machine salesman when he walked into a McDonald’s in San Bernardino, California. He saw a system. He bought the franchise rights, and within a decade he had built one of the most valuable companies in the world.
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McDonald’s is not a fast food company. It is a real estate company. Harry Sonneborn, Kroc’s financial adviser, explained the model in a meeting that changed everything: “We are not technically in the food business.
We are in the real estate business. The only reason we sell fifteen-cent hamburgers is because they are the best producer of revenue from which our tenants can pay us our rent.” McDonald’s owns the land. It leases the land to franchisees.
The franchisees sell the burgers. McDonald’s collects the rent. The burger is the mechanism.
The land is the asset. Today, McDonald’s property portfolio is valued at over $40 billion. The hamburger is the world’s most successful distraction.
When a product is free, you are not the customer. You are the product. Google gives you search for free.
Facebook gives you connection for free. TikTok gives you entertainment for free. The actual customers are the advertisers who pay to reach you.
In 2023, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, generated $237.9 billion in revenue. Approximately 77% of that came from advertising. The search engine is the mechanism. Your attention is the asset.
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