Fast-food menu boards that SCREAM

Post Reply New Topic

Solution:

Google -> Restaurant Menu -> Decide -> Go to Restaurant

BTW, what does this have to do with autism? Everybody struggles to decipher fastfood menu boards.

This is what I HAVE to do. Between me, my HFA child, and my ADHD child (lol my kids tend to bounce off of each other and EXPLODE at fast food restaurants with the bright lights, the sounds, the smells, the colors...) I have to. No other option. Heaven help me if I have to wait in line at all in them or if I zone out staring at something colorful myself while those two spin out of control.... Anyway I find that knowing what we're getting before going into any restaurant is very very helpful.

You are right, it is a marketing trick to confuse all customers and encourage them to give up trying to understand the menu items, and simply choose the biggest, flashiest (and most expensive and unhealthiest) food images on the menu. But, if such intentional confusion is aimed at all customers, does such a tactic affect those of us with autistic disorders differently or more so? I suggest that it does; at least with me.


I do this when I know where I (and usually family and friends) want to go for a meal, and it works. But, for those times when visiting fast-food is chance, I am at the mercy of their marketers' cleverness.

Whenever possible, I find it best to avoid going during peak hours: Short or no lines, employees are not so testy (I empathise with them), less noise, and if they do screw up an order getting it fixed is quicker. I absolutely HATE drive-throughs when it's busy. If they screw up your order then you won't know it until you're gone.
What's irritating about the boards is the format isn't standardised and I have to look for things while someone is waiting.

I feel like there must be some reason why fast food places design their menu and menu boards the way they do. Is it some marketing thing? I don't know. I usually just get the same thing too (if I am going through the drive-thru) but if I have to go inside, I will stand far back away from the counter while I am figuring out what to get and then when I am ready, go up to the counter to order. The problem is that the managers will make the "teenage gits" stand at the counter to take your order as quickly as possible to get you taken care of/ out of the way.

I find it to be a sensory overload just to go in a fast food place at all...the way the lights and the smells and the sounds all combine is really overwhelming. And if I'm not familiar with the place, it can be briefly confusing to figure out the layout and where to get in line. Plus at some places like Chick-fil-a they practically start harassing you with greetings the minute you walk in the door.

So I'm already disoriented before I even look at the menu board. Even if the board is simple and easy to read, it's still a matter of negotiating that in the sea of chaos swimming around me. And because I have so many sensory issues with food, and gut problems, I know I have to think carefully about what I order. I'm never going to be that person who just orders the first thing that jumps out at me.

They want people to just buy combos, so the low-wage employees can work like automatons and not have to think about doing different things for different customers. If the customer is putting much thought into what they want, the employee has to think too. That slows things down, and they don't want to pay people enough, or pay to have enough people on staff, to actually think. They just want them to punch the combo buttons on the register and serve the same food combinations over and over. That's what makes it "fast food."

Can't decipher them either. I avoided fast food for most of my adult life, but in the last few years, the others in the family have chosen to exchange food quality for convenience.

If I'm in a burger place I'll just say "can I just get a hamburger?" usually that works. At least at McD's or BK I know the names of the burgers.

Hate Subway, because you have to order off the menu then answer all the queries about what else you want.

Worst is going through the drive-thru with me driving and the family all shouting out what they want and me having to translate/pass on the orders. Going through a drive-thru is never my idea.

I wonder why they make them so overwhelming then.

I am usually more overwhelmed by the amount of options on the menus, I feel like I need to read them all and decide on the best one before I order. I am always the last one to order if I ever go to a restaurant with others.

To avoid this, I usually have an item I always get from familiar restaurants. But if they aren't familiar and don't have similar options to what I usually get, I take until the last possible moment to decide. It's kind of stressful actually, I really don't like being rushed, but everyone figures out what they want so quickly and then everyone keeps asking, "Have you decided?" NO, so stop asking, it just makes me take longer. Usually I end up just picking a random item without thinking about it, because if I try to think about it I won't pick anything.

I went to Denny's alone somewhat recently, and I'm pretty sure I was there for over 30 minutes and ready for a refill on my drink before I even picked an appetizer but since I was alone nobody was rushing me, so that was nice.