Big Mac ATM: Promotional stunt or a peek at the future of fast food

This machine will serve you a free Big Mac.  (Boston Globe, 1/25/2017)

The giant chain next Tuesday plans to operate what it calls a “customized digital Big Mac ATM” at its 540 Commonwealth Ave. location in Kenmore Square. Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., the high-tech vending machine will dispense Big Macs — at no charge. 

But that doesn’t mean lunch will be free. To get a Mac Jr. or a Grand Mac — both new sizes — customers will have to enter their Twitter handles on the machine’s touchscreen. Before they can even take a bite out of a burger, the machine will generate a tweet from their personal account that reads: “Check out the new Big Mac.”

Not a promotion to get me worked up.

During high school, the only period of my life when I visited McDonald's with any degree of regularity, I opted for the double cheeseburger or fish sandwich -- sometimes both if I was particularly hungry.  From the start, the Big Mac -- introduced in 1967 and sold nationwide in 1968, the year I graduated, had no appeal.

Now the only menu item I order during on my very infrequent visits, usually during a road trip, is the breakfast burrito.