McDonalds vs. The Greenmarket

              So today in class we took a trip to the McDonald's and the Greenmarket at Union Square. We did this to observe peoples eating habits and the differences between the two places. I also noticed that in class everybody was more excited to go to McDonald's rather then the Greenmarket. Anyway to start our small trip we went to McDonald's first. At McDonald's I grabbed a seat and started to make observations. The People who were eating there didn't really seem to classy and why should they, it's just a fast food place. I remember learning a year or two ago that the colors red and yellow are what get people hungry. So i took that as a way of McDonald's subliminally messaging people. I also feel like they were trying to make it look classy in a way. The way the designs were gave me that feeling but everything still looked cheap. Andy mentioned that we should look at the lighting and I never really thought about that and i noticed that it wasn't really like the regular lighting in a store. It was a little more dim. But that could just be cheap lighting. There were advertisements all over the place. Inside and outside. Even on the tables. Im not sure if this is true but I have heard from a number of people that on the adds the "food" is actually plastic that has been painted to look really good. This makes sense to me because whenever I see an add for fast food I say to my self, "wow that looks really good right now" and when I get the food it looks nothing like in the add. Also they try to give there products clever names like the "Frappe´" and like the "McNuggets" which are all ways to attract customers.
              After we finished up at McDonald's we made our way to the Greenmarket across the street.  Now this place was directly in the middle of Union Square and outside so there are definitely going to be a lot of people there weather they are shopping or not. This is smart because a lot of people passing by may stop and get something. But the scene at the Greenmarket was completely different. It was all trying to market organic foods. The tents were from all different places in the more rural tri-state area which makes sense because thats where farms are. The people who worked there also looked like they were from a farm area. They were a lot nicer then the people who were in McDonald's. I didn't really get much time to make observations because we had to go back to class but overall in was a cleaner, healthier place.
              So after looking at both of the places I made some comparisons about the two. People who go to McDonald's may be just getting lunch or getting a quick snack or whatever. But they came to get food and eat and get on with there day. People also want there food fast and well FAST food. People who go to the green market definitely aren't stopping by for a snack. Many who go there look to go grocery shopping or just want to get some healthy food for there house. I wouldn't really expect somebody to buy an ear of corn and start eating it on the street. Also the people who worked at the different locations had very different personalities. The people at McDonald's were kind of grumpy. I'm sure they didn't like their job, I know I wouldn't. But the people at the Greenmarket were very kind happy people. Also McDonald's is one of if not the biggest chain restaurants in the world. Everybody knows what it is and the M symbol is the most recognized shape in the world, I've heard. Fast food also gives the people what they want and they give it fast and cheap. A good tasting meal that can be taken with them or quickly eaten.