There’s a lot of online nostalgia for them now, but those big fast food chains got a ton of backlash in the 2000s, if not the 1990s. There was a huge stigma on them for marketing to children, contributing to obesity and bad health, and just being a symbol of immaturity and dumb decadence. Trend-setting young adults wouldn’t be caught dead there.

McDonalds in particular spent years trying to revamp their image to be more upscale and health conscious, emphasizing salads / low fat / low carbs, while the general public was like “lol who are you kidding.”

But then they started emphasizing their coffee and making themselves into a Starbucks competitor and it really worked out for them. I think that factored into the new building design. And it looks like other chains followed suit.

When it was new, the minimalist “greige” aesthetic gave the image of being clean and mature and sophisticated. In other words, trying to get away from the fast food stigma. But now that it’s everywhere, nobody likes it. “This is boring and soulless, nobody asked for this”