When you think about it, it's surprising no one has done this sooner. McDonald's New Zealand is testing stackable food containers, turning your drink into a kind of "food condo."
The sandwich container fits atop the drink container, with room on the side for the straw to stick out. The sandwich container has a valley in the lid, where your ketchup packets nestle snugly. When it's time to eat, just remove the sandwich container, flip open the lid, and boom: your fries are tucked away inside one half of the cup. You can squeeze your ketchup into the other cup, for optimal dipping.
This may seem like a lot of trouble just to get rid of the paper bag. But consider just how many paper bags McDonald's goes through in a year. Even the slightest economy can scale up to mean millions of dollars saved - not to mention the ecological overhead involved in creating, and then disposing of, those very same bags.
Plus, paper bags are kind of terrible when it comes to fast food. How many times have your French fries spilled out into the bag? All the times. Every single one. There are always at least a few stray fries left rattling around inside the bag.
On the down side, this whole set-up looks like you have to carry it in hand. You won't be able to set it on your car's passenger seat for the ride home. If you put the cup in the cupholder, does all the food fall off? Do you have to hold it on, or are all the packages nestled on there pretty well? There is no way to know.
Yes, this all smacks of gimmickry. And I worry that the soda will cool off the burger (or that the burger will heat up the soda). It's interesting design work, though.
Image copyright McDonald's Corp
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