Value creation, innovative business models, and non-traditional marketing.

November 14, 2026

McDonald's built a menu of items at $3 or less. In August, only 60% of its U.S. restaurants offered it.

The revamped McValue menu launched in April 2026 with 10 items at $3 or less, after the $5 Meal Deal in June 2024 and an earlier McValue menu in 2025. U.S. same-store sales fell 0.2% in the third quarter and turned positive in September. Fast-food foot traffic across the U.S. fell 2.6% that quarter, according to Revenue Management Solutions. On its Nov. 4 earnings call, CFO Ian Borden said the $3 and Under menu didn't resonate with consumers because of low awareness and inconsistent franchisee execution. Franchisees own 95% of U.S. restaurants. Those running about 4,000 more restaurants, per Restaurant Dive, have added similar entry-level bundles ahead of formal test results, while McDonald's tests mix-and-match and fixed-price bundles at about 1,900 restaurants for 8 weeks. Borden also said unit sales of combos built around the top Extra Value Meals are up about 7% year over year. Per AP, CEO Chris Kempczinski said earlier efforts fell short because they didn't offer compelling low-end deals: "You need to have good entry-level value, particularly with the low-income consumer." That's a different explanation from the CFO's: one is about the offer, the other about delivery, and delivery is the cheaper one to test first. When a promotion fails, the offer is the easiest thing to change. Before you rewrite yours, call 5 of your locations, resellers or reps as a customer and ask for it. If several don't know it exists, you have a delivery problem to fix before the discount. If you called your own locations today, how many would know your current offer?

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November 13, 2026

Marlboro launched as a women's cigarette. Then research found men were worried about being seen smoking one.

Philip Morris introduced Marlboro in 1924. Its early ads leaned on "Mild as May" and how ladylike the filter was. Leo Burnett conceived the Marlboro Man in 1954, and the cowboy ads went national in early 1955. The ads avoided health claims about the filter. The brand rose from less than 1% share to the fourth best-selling brand. The 1963 line was "Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country." In 1972 Marlboro became the best-selling tobacco brand in the world, according to Ad Age and Adweek. The story has a second half. David McLean, one of the Marlboro Man actors, died of lung cancer in 1995 at 73. Tobin Jackson died of lung cancer in 2008. Eric Lawson died of COPD in 2014. Marlboro Reds picked up the nickname "cowboy killers." In 1976 a documentary, Death in the West, set the cowboy image against 6 real cowboys who died of smoking-related illnesses. Philip Morris sued, and a secret settlement in 1979 kept the film out of sight until it aired in 1982. A new customer is a new promise. What promise are you making that you couldn't defend?

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November 12, 2026

WestJet's new seats went through certification. Then a 6'5" passenger sat in one.

In October 2025, WestJet called the change a "cabin refresh." On 22 Boeing 737s it cut economy seat pitch to 28 inches, the tightest of any major Canadian airline, and added one row, taking each plane from 174 seats to 180. The airline said the layout went through a full certification process. Another 21 planes were next. Then the videos started. One TikTok passed 1 million views, and others showed tall passengers with their knees against the seat in front. Staff and passengers raised concerns about getting out in an emergency, and the flight attendants' union said it wasn't consulted. WestJet paused in December and reversed on January 16, 2026. Once it has an engineering certificate, a row comes out of each reconfigured plane, back to 174 seats. CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said trying new products is "in our DNA," and that it's "just as important to react quickly if they don't meet the needs of our guests." One report says an executive told staff the reversal was costly. The reports I read give no dollar figure. Passenger rights expert Gábor Lukács put it plainly: "The passenger has to be able to fit into the seat." Certification tells you whether you're allowed to sell something. It doesn't tell you whether it works for the person sitting in it. A change can be approved, certified and signed off by everyone in the building and still be wrong, and a survey won't show you that. You have to watch. Before you change a price, a plan, a package or a seat, watch 10 customers use it. Then ask your front line, who will see the problem long before your dashboard does. What's the last change you shipped that you never watched a customer use?

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