TheRainbowegoSweet007
24092
642
13
Jan 25, 2026 9:34 PM
TheRainbowegoSweet007
24092
642
13
LaronX
You all wanted Apple, Facebook, minimalism and all that crap. This is the consequence of that. You ask for "mature and clean" and forget it means the death of flair, whimsy and all that's not boring.
melterj
The DQs near me are still the classic/old school style.
labtob
eat your slop and sit in your box, consumer.
my1rstlaptopwas34inchscreenup
generic corpo bullshit
MikeRInternetTraveler
Society fell apart when the Wendy’s solariums went away.
imsurroundedbyassholes
Right angles are cheap.
Vexingmang3
LiarLiarPantsUntier
I blame IKEA.
PheelsLikePhakePhD
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJlc3hxY2p6M3ZxeWhpbWVoZmtvMjFqNmlnb29uazR1YTEycmN1Z281MiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/l4FGGafcOHmrlQxG0/giphy.mp4
mikeatike
#3 what McDonald's looked like that top picture?
mikeatike
Actually i think most of these are AI except maybe the pizza hut, but even its door looks squashed. The "Dairy haith sains" is slop, the zen garden in front of the burger king is slop.
LathiArcanus
What's with all the AI slop in this? Actual photos of these buildings in multiple eras exist. The "old" DQ is the worst offender, but I don't think a single one of these is real.
mikeatike
You speak as if you didnt enjoy your Splity Shakers as a kid. Or enjoy the Burger King Zen Garden.
WhiteRhino723
The only McDonald's I've seen decked out with animals is the one here next to The Dallas Zoo.
It no longer looks like that because McDonald's got into it with The Dallas Zoo recently over some shit.
SecurityBadger
Interesting that the original Pizza Hut logo with the roof is still hanging over the door.
TheFastpaws
None of those places are worth going to anymore either. Expensive trash with crappy service.
steveo80
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aDQwczkweDNvdDZvem82MjJxemw0aW40ZTNncXB0dzZ6NGF3YzlrdyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/pBewH86bS31A2gOyoc/200w.webp
PleantyOPopsicles
My hometown had the coolest McDs. It was full on retro 1950s style. The most unique one I've ever seen. Last year it was remodeled to the grey block basic bitch style. Really unfortunate. But at least the Hut is still old school.
Chaapai
Diagnosed as a celiac in 2019. Down 120 pounds. Absolutely cold turkey stop to all fast food. It was an absolute blessing in disguise.
JackieTreehornProductions
Grey boxes serving gray meat now.
Grimlinnan
Corporate ANAL aesthetic.
MoopsyLD
Do people not understand maintenance costs and outdated buildings? A lot of those were really out of code. Additionally Customer base has moved towards drive thru rather than sit down and eat. So we have expensive maintenance/building costs, the shift from Sit to Drive, Cheaper architecture to clean/ A/C, and we get this. the Long john silvers in my area just rebuilt and i have to say that place was fucking nasty when i picked up an order before the Reconstruction.
gumshoe99
That Burger King flower bed is outstanding
NotThatPrivate
Cubes are easier to sell later
SecurityBadger
I've seen several repurposed Pizza Hut buildings. They just painted the roof a different color.
joechristo
When they fail which they they usually do, It can become something else without any fuss.
That why they all look like this now.
melterj
Cheaper to build and easier... and they are delivered to the site in kit form, kinda like a Lego kit.
DukeofVermot
I hear this all the time and have yet to see a single shred of evidence of that being true. Some people just don't like the new trends, personally I'm happy I don't have to drive by five brightly colored eye sores every day. I wish they didn't exist at all, I'm happy they are harder to notice now.
Helpsomeone
7brew is notorious for building their coffee shops in NWA and shipping them as entire buildings just needing hook ups when set on a concrete slab.
FaeVikingPrincess
Other than the fact that is literally what the owners of the property literally said they did it for.
LogicalLimes
lol I’ll proudly take all the downvotes I’m going to get for this… it’s fine, really…
But I dig the cleaner, modern looks.
Not saying I’m right or you’re wrong. Just that there are differing opinions. ❤️
DukeofVermot
I also MUCH prefer the new one. My ideal society would have zero fast food places. I much prefer not having to see and drive by ugly brightly colored building everyday. I don't know how most people online both hate McDonalds/etc but also somehow want their buildings to stand out.
SirReginaldTheThirteenth
They used to be restaurant chains. Now they are property management companies. Have to be able to flip those buildings if the food isn't selling.
HellCartoonDog
Don't eat at those places
mikeatike
Maybe for a Pizza Hut. Its not like a McDonalds is gonna go out of buisness.
mikeatike
A lot of these post modern monstrosities are remodeled foem locations that have been there for decades.
DukeofVermot
That's such an internet take that someone started and that just isn't true. They never "flip" buildings after a couple years and in 10-20 years the buildings will be seen as old and they'll re-do the entire exteriors anyway.
FaeVikingPrincess
these buildings have been like this for 20 years already and many of them switch businesses constantly. Congratulations on arguing against reality
Fanner50
So, you’ve never seen a building that had a former life as a Taco Bell or a Pizza Hut?
You need to get out more, experience the world.
NotSoFastener
Please explain why these buildings with personality have all mutated into identical joyless boxes.
ImGoingToGoFallAsleepOnABench
Part of it is that most of these chains have merged or been bought out by the same companies - when 20ish restaurant brands are owned by 2-4 companies who standardize their designs, you're gonna wind up with, well, identical joyless boxes (also, because joyless boxes are cheaper and these companies want you to buy their shit and get out, and 80's-2000's style designs do not do this well enough).
BurlRavenscroft
Even the fast food places that have been there for 40 years… yeah just make em shitty and joyless just in case the property has to change hands for the first time ever!
tentacularfleshscape
But number go up!!! Number!
4etherling
To add to that, they are designed this way to minimize maintenance efforts. The least amount of effort for the greatest amount of profit at the cost of individuality. Capitalism personified.
Rhythmaster
It's classic enshittification. There was a time they needed to look fun and attract children, they needed to compete in the marketplace, they needed to have lower prices than other restaurants. And then they destroyed enough of their competitors and got the children (we are now adults) hooked on their fast food products and now they don't have to play those games anymore. They can focus on capturing market share and other such business-psychopath pursuits.
FuzzyX
A lot of this is also being banned advertising junk food to kids.
ThatQuietlySmirking
All the Wendy's in my area still look like the before pic.
AnimalRescueGuy
Soon.
andwings2go
We all are in the bad timeline that Gore ceded the 2000 election to W Bush, which caused 9/11, crash of 08, rise of trump, Covid and everything that’s happening now.
mikeatike
9/11 is a fixed point, it was going to happen either way. The 25 years of constant war was a choice Americans made.
poscduke
While the crash of 08 likely could have been avoided with Gore being president it's not certain, Trump also probably as that has ties to 08 and Obama probably doesn't get elected after 8 years of Gore.
COVID seems like it has nothing to do with the others, especially as Bush out a ton of resources and money into bio defense.
I don't see how Gore prevents 9/11 though
andwings2go
Al Queida specifically warned that if we elected Bush Jr, we would be attacked
drousnavat
Fucking hate corporate Industrialist archetecture. The world is sad and bland enough. At least make it fucking interesting to look at.
Edgarflaps
Yes. Looks like Soviet era buildings.
HellCartoonDog
Don't eat at those places
treboresque
i agree, these new buildings suck! i like the older ones better, but i am old and remember having similar feelings about those older building styles way back in the day; they felt corporate and heartless. now it is all clouded by nostalgia. time is strange.
LonelyHumanBoy
Key difference: They were 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 corporate structures, one that was unique to their branding that was part of their marketing strategy. You knew *exactly* what restaurant chain it was just by looking at its silhouette. Now? Take the logos off every building, no one would be able to tell the difference aside from one or two color palettes... Corporations are so cannibalistic that they killed their own marketing strategy to cut costs for shareholder value.
Uselesstoy
The new buildings are way more valuable and easier to sell 20-30 years down the road when real estate values go through the roof.
DukeofVermot
The building in 20-30 years will be a negative to the value of the land. The land may be valuable but in 20-30 years most of these will have been torn down because buildings don't last forever.
MothMonsterMan
That costs money. Money that can go to investors and lobby groups
shameofslate
“Civilization may have collapsed, but for one brief shining moment there, we were able to create a lot of value for shareholders.“
drousnavat
Renovating every single building to look like this cost more money thant just renewing a paint job and deep cleaning a place.
Snooj
No lie, my wife partially blames Minecraft. She calls them all Minecraft buildings.
Magpiebones
Box made from ready elements has existed longer than minecraft. I think those flight hangar sized supermarkets started it, at least in my country.
Wasnbo
Her ire feels misguided and misdirected, but I can see where she's coming from. The average house in Minecraft is usually just a square hut to serve as a base while going on adventures. If enough clueless execs see that they'll say "Look, the commoners clearly LOVE their square little structures, let's do the same thing!"
Snooj
That's where it started. So many classic old houses have been torn down and replaced with Minecraft houses. At first she was just joking but now she's like "yeah, that's the aesthetic, no doubt." It's hard to argue with although the roots of it are in architecture and building codes. Those flat, matte, lifeless panels are cheap to manufacture and have only recently been approved. So get ready for more stuff to look like that.
9z2nf02h
Do not let the gen AI machine fool into a nostalgia for something that never really existed.
OhNooNotAgain
Whaaaat, you dont think old DQ advertised "Dairy Haitlh Sains" or "Splity Shakers"
Veh1
It's an upscaled version of this photo, but the upscaler hallucinated a bunch of stuff.
ZackWester
was going to say I think I seen picture of most of them before the AI days. that said the above example are not the standard (there might been one that looked like the ones above but that was on the more extreme end the specific restaurant that equal was the PR factory where all the Training advertisement videos came from) that said I say back in the day they did look more like the above ones then the boring shoeboxes.
mikeatike
ZackWester
okey see it now. missed it... darn now I need to find the pre 2020 picture of this as I know I seen it from ages before pre AI era.
mikeatike
Yeah, zoomed out you cant see it. I was scrolling and thought things looked odd.
ZackWester
... hmmm i wonder if this is a case of picture taken on some old ass 2001 1.3Mpixel camera and then saved as a heavily compressed .jpg file the file have then been uppscaled using AI in the early 2020 (where that was a thing that was done) and this is the end result. (I had a picture from early 2010ish from my wow guilds post your battlestation and my keyboard looked like it had sort of melted or more correct it whent from 5 rows on the left side to 4 rows on the right)
mikeatike
The odd thing is there were dairy queens that liked white barns with red roofs. (The "braizer" branding meant it had indoor seating with hot food. Today its "grill and chill".)
And others are close to real places from the 80s and 90s. If op had just a bit of effort in the pics are online.
Instead lazy AI slop.