News: BUD Buddy Platform Posts Loss For Year Of $13.9 Million, page-13

Ok - lets think about this for a second...

We know McDonalds is arguably one of the highest regulated franchises in the world by way of 'head office' decisions / approvals. This is one of the reasons its been so very successful over the years.

Almost certainly, McDonalds Australia (head Australian franchisee body) would have had to sign off on the installation of the Buddy OHM for the location / locations that have been used. Also, the fact that there is a 5-yr term adds weight to my argument that head-office would have had to approve.

Now... for head office to approve something 'new' for the franchise which is arguably the best 'well oiled machine' in the fast-food world, there would have had to be a pretty serious business case lodged with them.

The pitch would have been along the lines of being environmentally responsible & a good corporate citizen etc etc etc given the product that Buddy offers.

Now... assuming the above... It would be extremely reasonable to assume that head office is watching the impact of this rollout very closely as it is something they can roll out nationwide & then globally.


This could very well be an amazing stroke of genius by McDonalds by way of a marketing strategy to further differentiate themselves from the pack - remember they were the first fast-food business to introduce their 'healthy options' menu - so they do like first mover advantages...

They could call themselves the first global fast-food franchise business to be carbon neutral (with BUD's CaaS product) or the first to be energy responsible (with the OHM pack) - or both!

This could itself re-rate it back to all-time highs in the near term given the fact that there are tens-of-thousands of McDonalds stores globally & for each of them to pay US$750/month to call themselves 'carbon neutral' & 'environmentally responsible' is a very small price to pay for the goodwill millage they'll get out of it...

What a great way to start the first day of spring!!!