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The Food That Built America Season 7 Episode 4
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00:04Americans make six billion visits a year, to more than 200,000 of them across the nation.
00:11The drive-thru has changed the way America eats on the go.
00:16Hi there, what can I get for you today?
00:18But 80 years ago, the fast food drive-thru doesn't exist.
00:23Everybody thinks that McDonald's invented the drive-thru,
00:26when in fact they were one of the latest ones to adopt it.
00:29It starts with a cash-strapped delivery man.
00:32He does a line for me.
00:34With a radical idea.
00:36Go on, it's back, we can.
00:37Piecing together technology ahead of its time.
00:40Testing. Hello?
00:42People are like, intercom? Like, what? I don't understand.
00:45In-N-Out is sort of the perfect name for this business.
00:48And a struggling restaurateur plows forward with the same idea.
00:52He actually named the clown Jack.
00:54And completely rewrites the future of fast food.
00:58We need something you can hold with a hand on the wheel.
01:01But the industry leader stays behind the curve.
01:04They don't implement a single drive-thru.
01:07Until one franchisee goes rogue.
01:10He decides he's putting in a drive-thru, his own way.
01:13And it leads to the drive-thru now powering 75% of all fast food orders.
01:19And revolutionizing our entire modern, on-the-go existence.
01:24We're talking about completely transforming our day-to-day lives.
01:28It changed the game for everyone.
01:52It's the mid-1940s.
01:5460% of families now own an automobile.
01:58This is a time when your car becomes almost an extension of your home.
02:03In your car, you can get food.
02:04You can get entertainment.
02:06This is a really new thing in the mid-century United States.
02:09They've thought of everything, haven't they?
02:11Sure have.
02:12And Southern California becomes the epicenter of a new trend.
02:17Car culture.
02:19Los Angeles had more cars per capita than any other city in the country.
02:24There was no rapid transit system.
02:26So hence, everybody had to have a car.
02:29In car-centric California, one type of restaurant explodes in popularity.
02:34It's called the drive-in.
02:37The idea started in the 30s with pioneers like the Pig Stand, Carpenter's Drive-In, and Simon's.
02:43The original drive-in restaurant meant parking and then a car hop with roller skate over to your car and
02:50serve you your meal.
02:51The idea of having a person deliver you food to the window of your car was super attractive because people
03:01were so in love with their cars, they didn't want to get out of them.
03:05But while the idea is novel, it's definitely not fast food.
03:10It was often a complex meal that involved stuff like meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and whatever, with a large menu of
03:17stuff that was not fast to make or fast to eat.
03:20In terms of timing, it was more like going to a restaurant where you happened to be seated in your
03:25car.
03:25But for now, it's the only option for customers who like the convenience of eating in their car.
03:3420 miles east of Los Angeles, a struggling entrepreneur is chasing a dream to open a drive-in of his
03:42own.
03:43So Harry Snyder grew up working in his parents' sandwich shop, and he did deliveries, he made sandwiches, he ordered
03:50meat.
03:51He locates a small triangle of land for sale.
03:54It's the cheapest he can find.
03:56Harry Snyder never had any money, was always kind of keeping one step ahead of the landlord for rent, and
04:02he was always doing odd ends to help supplement the family's income.
04:06But not a single bank will give him a loan.
04:08Harry Snyder is desperate for a lifeline, so he reaches out to a trusted business acquaintance.
04:14Harry!
04:15Charles Nodden has an extremely successful bakery that has supplied bread to Harry Snyder's family for years.
04:23So when he hears that Harry has an idea for a business in the food space, being that he knows
04:32Harry's work ethic, it intrigues him.
04:35I thought you said we were checking out a new burger joint.
04:39This is it.
04:41But there's nothing here.
04:43That's where you come in from.
04:45Harry thinks that this location is ideal because it sits right off the future San Bernardino Freeway, and it sort
04:51of links downtown L.A. with the desert and the ocean.
04:55His plan is to keep the menu simple and focus on making high-quality hamburgers.
05:02You can maybe fit a building, but where will people park?
05:07A few spots is all we need.
05:09As long as we keep the menu short and we move fast enough.
05:12The freeway will bring us steady traffic.
05:15But what Snyder doesn't know is that he will birth a $7 billion a year business that becomes an iconic
05:23family-run company.
05:25And the system he builds for speed will become the industry blueprint, introducing the nation's first drive-thru.
05:33A breakthrough nearly every fast food chain will follow, and that now drives three-quarters of all fast food sales.
05:53Harry realizes there are still some kings in his business plan if he's going to make this plan a reality.
05:59But I can't help you, Harry.
06:01Without Nodden's help, Snyder has no way of opening a drive-in on his own.
06:05So for now, he's forced to just keep working his delivery job.
06:13Fill her up.
06:16Do you guys have a vending machine?
06:18Yeah.
06:19Great.
06:21I can get it for you.
06:23Could I have a call on chips?
06:28After taking Nodden to go look at this location and see how inadequate it is, he's in a pretty dark
06:35spot.
06:40No, no.
06:41Take the change.
06:42Thanks.
06:42Have a nice day.
06:43Have a nice day.
06:44Have a nice day.
06:45Have a nice day.
06:47Have a nice day.
06:48Have a nice day.
06:52And then something hits him somewhere right between the eyes.
06:58An idea.
06:59Some inspiration.
07:01So he starts playing around with this idea.
07:02What if there's a restaurant where you could just drive up to the window, order your food, get it, start
07:06moving, and then the next car comes in.
07:18So you want to build a gas station that serves burgers?
07:21No gas.
07:23Just food and drinks.
07:25At this point, the drive-thru concept and how it's all set up is just more than novel.
07:32It will be totally foreign to customers.
07:35It's like a drive-in, but you don't need space for parking.
07:38Instead, the customer drives in, gets their food, and drives out.
07:48Now, the beauty of a model like this is, he doesn't need to invest in things like seats or the
07:51carhops.
07:52Instead, all you really need is a kitchen and a chef.
07:56Where do they eat it?
07:58They can take it anywhere they want.
08:00And the beauty is, we don't have to clean up after them.
08:04The idea is, like, we're not going to go to this place and sit in our car and eat.
08:08It's just, we're going to go through the drive-thru, pick up the food, and then either sit in the
08:13parking lot and eat it, or bring it home and eat it.
08:19So?
08:23I think it's so second nature to everybody today, a drive-thru.
08:26But it just seemed like something from outer space at the time.
08:32What the heck? Let's give it a shot.
08:34Charles Nodden ends up fronting $5,000 of his own money as an early investor in this business.
08:41But it's completely unproven.
08:43He's securing this loan from Nodden, but he doesn't even know if customers are going to want to pick up
08:48their food and eat it in their cars.
08:49So it's a brilliant yet incredibly risky concept.
08:56Meanwhile, two hours south in San Diego, Robert Peterson is the owner of Oscars, a modest chain of six restaurants.
09:04Robert Peterson was a savvy and charismatic businessman who originally sold restaurant equipment and then transitioned into the restaurant business.
09:12In addition to indoor seating, he also offers drive-in service at his restaurants.
09:18Peterson's drive-in has a circus theme to it, which is what a lot of drive-ins use to attract
09:23people from the road with neon signs and fun attractions that were family friendly.
09:28But he's realizing that the drive-in concept is harder to pull off than he imagined.
09:34In spite of its popularity, drive-ins weren't all that efficient.
09:37The problem is it takes forever to get served because the carhops are struggling to keep up.
09:41It would be sometimes very congested because people would order some food and hang out with each other for hours.
09:49But if people are just hanging out in their car, you know, taking their time, listening to music, making out
09:54with their girlfriend, that's not turnover.
09:56You do not make money from having people just sit in your real estate.
10:05Is everything all right?
10:07We waited 30 minutes for this.
10:09It's cold.
10:11Any restaurant that's operating in that landscape is going to have the same problem.
10:16How do I not lose those potential consumers because they feel like it's taking too long for them to get
10:21their food?
10:22Peterson is coming to the realization that all the labor costs, all the real estate costs,
10:28and the toll of extensive menus were dragging down the key elements of the success that he hoped to have
10:34in terms of profit.
10:37One day, his circus-themed chain will have over 2,000 locations nationwide.
10:43His signature taco will sell over 500 million a year, more than McDonald's Big Macs, and he will help turn
10:50the fast food drive-thru into a national phenomenon.
10:54But right now, he's just completely at a loss for how to turn his business around.
10:59This is all he's ever known.
11:01What Peterson doesn't know is that a possible solution has already been conceived just up the road by a man
11:08who is about to open the world's first drive-thru.
11:17It's October 22nd, 1948, and Harry Snyder is about to make history when he opens America's first drive-thru restaurant.
11:28He calls it...
11:30Welcome to In-N-Out.
11:32In-N-Out is really a revolution, even though I don't think anybody at the time saw it that way.
11:38In-N-Out is sort of the perfect name for this business.
11:40It's just very precise and literal of what you're getting.
11:43I think no matter where you are right now, any given fast food restaurant, everything from donut shops to burger
11:50shops, has a drive-thru.
11:52And Harry Snyder really is the father of this groundbreaking idea that has changed the way America eats on the
11:59go.
12:00If you wait just one minute, your order will be right up, okay?
12:04One burger, one fry.
12:06The limited menu just features burgers, fries, and soft drinks.
12:11When they first opened their doors, Harry and his wife Esther are doing everything themselves.
12:16The kitchen had room for two people.
12:18It was literally just a window on the side of the building that a customer would drive their car up
12:23to, and they would order food.
12:25It was just a face-to-face ordering system.
12:28So outside in bright red neon is a sign with white letters and stripes reading In-N-Out Burger.
12:34Under it, or they're promised to you, no delays.
12:38But his steadfast commitment to freshness puts his no-delay pledge to the test.
12:44Harry made the burgers.
12:46He used an ice cream scoop to measure the beef.
12:48Sometimes he would go to the train station when they would deliver the potatoes and the lettuce and the onions
12:54and inspect it.
13:00But it's still far from fast food as we know it.
13:04You guys are lying for me.
13:07We're going as fast as we can.
13:10It just started that no burger patty went on the grill until you said, I want a hamburger, I want
13:16a cheeseburger.
13:17Three more burgers, two with onions.
13:19He wanted things to be quick.
13:21One easy transaction.
13:22Drive up, order your food, grab your food, and leave.
13:25This wasn't happening.
13:27We'll just have to wait.
13:30So instead of the incredibly fast, streamlined service that Harry envisioned, the drive-through is slow, it's pissing his customers
13:38off, and not much faster than the service that he rejected, something had to change.
13:50Harry knows that if he is not able to achieve this no-delay service, he will lose his investment, and
13:58he will be unable to pay Nodden back.
14:01He can't stop thinking about how to make it faster.
14:04He's not an engineer, but he's a natural problem solver, and he has a knack for mechanical systems.
14:09He envisions a system that somehow allows customers to place orders before they pull up to the kitchen.
14:16During World War II, Harry spent time in Army Air Corps supply depots, where orders and replies were sent over
14:22wired intercom systems.
14:25Now, it bears noting that not a lot of military technology had found its way into the civilian sector yet.
14:33But he heads to an Army-Navy surplus store in Pasadena and picks through wires and speakers, transmitters, and so
14:42on, and eventually starts piecing them together.
14:48It's getting late. We should go to bed.
14:50I think I got it.
14:52One last time.
14:58Wartime often brings a lot of technological innovation.
15:01Testing.
15:03Can you hear me?
15:06Hello?
15:07And rarely you think of it as applied to the fast food industry, but in this case, Harry Snyder said,
15:13I'm familiar with this two-way radio technology.
15:18Why not try it in my drive-up window?
15:30Keep talking.
15:37So the idea of using a military communication system in a restaurant setting is nothing short of groundbreaking.
15:49If you have to keep doing this, you could at least make me a milkshake.
15:57Welcome to In-N-Out. Can I take your order?
16:03While Harry Snyder thinks he's perfected his new two-way speaker, he won't know until he gives it a test
16:10run.
16:11So Harry ends up putting this speaker box.
16:13It's about three car lengths away from the drive-thru window.
16:16Customers come up, place their order, and that order is relayed back to the kitchen.
16:21Carter's pulled in.
16:26Greetings. Please let me know your order.
16:31The drive-thru speaker is just sort of awkward.
16:34It's not a phone where you dial someone up and wait for them to pick up.
16:37It's not like a speaker at a drive-in movie where you're just listening.
16:43Hi, can I help you?
16:45Am I supposed to wait for someone to take my order or just pull up here?
16:49Most Americans didn't even know how to interact with this kind of technology.
16:54You just order back there.
16:55I didn't see a phone, button, or anything.
16:59You don't need it. You just talk into the box.
17:02Believe it or not, there was a period in human history where people were like,
17:07Intercom? Like, what? Talked to a machine and there's a person trapped in the machine?
17:11I don't understand.
17:13Apparently it's too confusing.
17:14What do you mean?
17:16He left.
17:23Harry Snyder's groundbreaking two-way technology isn't catching on with customers,
17:29leaving his new drive-thru business concept in jeopardy.
17:33It's crazy to think people feel so self-conscious about speaking to this weird,
17:37you know, futuristic alien device.
17:39It seems so simple.
17:41And so to kind of ease people into it,
17:45Harry apparently rigged up this sign that said,
17:48Two-way speaker, for your convenience, may order without leaving the car.
17:53And eventually, customers begin enjoying the new convenience.
17:58Whatever apprehension people had, they got over it because they really like those burgers.
18:02It's arguably the quickest way to get food in existence at this time.
18:09But understand that he's also now built the first drive-thru three decades before McDonald's,
18:16which has arguably become the gold standard when it comes to drive-thru technology.
18:22But in 1948, not only has McDonald's not embraced the drive-thru,
18:27they don't offer fast food.
18:30At this time, McDonald's is a full drive-in restaurant.
18:33They're serving everything from barbecued beef, ham, and pork,
18:36to tamales, to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
18:40After eight years of business, the McDonald's brothers did the unthinkable act
18:44of closing their drive-in for three months to totally revamp it into a burger stand.
18:50They go from 25 menu items to only burgers, fries, drinks, and pie.
18:57The McDonald's brothers made this transition because they saw that speed
19:01was the thing that Americans cared about the most.
19:05And so what the McDonald's brothers did was create a walk-up window
19:10where you would be able to park but then leave your car,
19:13pick up your food, and then go back to your car and eat it somewhere else.
19:16Their need for speed inspires a new kitchen design.
19:20Known as the speedy service system,
19:23a hamburger goes from grill to counter in 60 seconds or less.
19:27Their whole idea was that we're going to put the hamburger on the assembly line.
19:31Sales increase by 40% almost overnight.
19:36But for now, they are just a small walk-up outpost.
19:43Meanwhile, much like McDonald's, Robert Peterson thinks simplifying his menu
19:48could be the key to saving his drive-in business.
19:51Peterson realizes that his existing menu is a recipe for disaster.
19:57Oscars has an extensive menu of things like steak dinners and chef's salads,
20:01all sorts of stuff all over the map.
20:03But it was often a complex meal that was not fast to make or fast to eat.
20:09He simplifies the menu to burgers, fries, and shakes.
20:14Peterson understands that cars are exactly what the customers want to arrive in.
20:19But they also want to go much more quickly.
20:22And so he decides to change his model or else he's going to go out of business.
20:25He imagines an ordering system that's more in the same vein as what Harry Snyder is doing up north.
20:31But unlike Harry Snyder, Peterson isn't really a foodie.
20:34He just wants to speed up the process and rake in more profit.
20:38Robert Peterson catches wind of an intercom system in Anchorage, Alaska.
20:42And he flies out the inventor to San Diego to demo the product for him.
20:51This is it?
20:54It's unclear whether he'd ever heard of In-N-Out.
20:57Southern California was the ultimate in American car culture.
21:00So it seemed inevitable that probably more than one guy was going to figure out
21:04that there was a new and better way to order burgers from your car.
21:07But unlike Harry Snyder, Peterson sees the flaws in the system immediately.
21:14But if people just see a metal box, they're not going to know to talk into it.
21:19So he realized that having this speaker just sort of standing up on a pole
21:24might look very weird, very foreign, a little off-putting.
21:29It needs to be more intuitive and welcoming.
21:35He realizes that what people are missing is a little bit of a face-to-face interaction.
21:45What if we gave a face to the voice?
21:50Oscar's drive-in already had the circus design on the building.
21:54So why not just continue with that theme for his new speaker system?
21:59Something fun.
22:01Like a clown.
22:09Like a jack-in-the-box.
22:14In February 1951, Peterson converts one of his Oscar drive-ins to a drive-thru restaurant.
22:21It features a simple menu board and clown-themed ordering system.
22:26He actually named the clown Jack.
22:28Give your order to Jack.
22:29Jack will take your order.
22:30And it made it homey.
22:31It made it personal.
22:32And pretty soon, he's so well-known for that intercom and that clown
22:36that he decides to name the entire restaurant after the clown.
22:40He calls it Jack-in-the-box.
22:43They were talking to this clown head.
22:45It was engineered to make a brand-new technological experience
22:49a little more palatable for an American public
22:51that wasn't used to something as new as an intercom system.
22:55While Peterson experiments with just this single drive-thru-only location,
23:01Harry Snyder has started expanding his in-and-out drive-thru concept.
23:06And flip.
23:09Timing is key.
23:10No shorter, no longer.
23:12Every time the new restaurant opened, word spread.
23:15And the heavy lift was done by word of mouth.
23:18They eventually have five locations within the San Gabriel Valley.
23:23Five locations may not sound very impressive,
23:26but just remember this.
23:27This wasn't a corporation.
23:29This was a husband and wife.
23:31It was one person's idea.
23:33This was before McDonald's even opened their second location.
23:37But his investor, Charles Nodden, is eager to grow the business.
23:43What's this?
23:44Potential locations.
23:47Harry Snyder was very exacting with extremely high standards
23:51that by, in today's terms, would be called a hard-ass.
23:53There's no way I'll be able to run all these.
23:56Before he opened another in-and-out store,
24:00he had to have management that was trained the way he wanted it to be trained
24:04so that quality wouldn't suffer.
24:06We cut back on a few things.
24:07We profit by scaling up.
24:09You would have to cut corners and place profits over quality,
24:13and that was something that Snyder did not want to do.
24:16There is a massive schism between Nodden and Snyder.
24:21No.
24:23We profit because we serve quality food that people come back for.
24:27Finally, it leads to a split,
24:29with Nodden taking three locations,
24:31and the original location and one other one
24:34still being under the control of the Snyders,
24:37including the very first location in Baldwin Park.
24:41Financially, it was stressful.
24:43He was their main investor,
24:44so they had to come up with a new plan.
24:56It's been two years since the founder of In-N-Out split with his investor,
25:00and now he's struggling,
25:02being financially responsible for all of the business.
25:06Harry currently owns four locations,
25:08two that he acquired from his split with Nodden,
25:10and two that he built himself.
25:12But a piece of news arrives that could change everything.
25:20Is there any way out of it?
25:24So, one day in 1954,
25:26Harry ends up getting a letter from the big bad wolf,
25:28the federal government.
25:29They're claiming something called eminent domain,
25:32which allows the federal government to take over land
25:34in order to build out infrastructure.
25:36They are going to expand I-10 right through Baldwin Park,
25:41and the Snyders have 30 days to close up shop.
25:46For a second time, he's forced to give up half of his stores.
25:56Harry.
25:59But as they say,
26:01sunshine follows thunder,
26:02and an unexpected boon comes their way.
26:07Because of the rising property values,
26:10the compensation they receive
26:11is more than they paid for the land.
26:16It ultimately gave him a second lease on life.
26:19With the government money as a cushion,
26:22Harry's able to open new stores at his own pace.
26:26So, what originally seemed like a disaster
26:29is a windfall.
26:31It allows him to never have to take on
26:33additional investors or franchise.
26:35He wouldn't build a new in and out
26:37until the other one had been paid off.
26:39So, he would never take on debt.
26:41While growing slowly,
26:43Harry focuses on refining the operations,
26:46adding features that are iconic to this day.
26:49In 1954, he updates the logo,
26:52adding a bright yellow arrow.
26:53He also puts employees in all-white uniforms,
26:56signaling cleanliness and quality
26:58as soon as you drive up to the window.
27:00The other thing is
27:01how you can customize your food.
27:03It has arguably the very first secret menu
27:07out of any given national chain.
27:10From your animal style
27:12to your flying Dutchman
27:14to your protein style.
27:15I mustard grill them.
27:17I make my own animal styles all the time.
27:20It will be over two decades
27:23and after Harry Snyder's death
27:25that In-N-Out will grow to even 20 locations.
27:28In-N-Out's legacy
27:29is a very, very profound example
27:33that, yes, you can make money
27:35without sacrificing integrity.
27:37You can grow your brand
27:39and grow your footprint
27:41without it growing out of your control.
27:44While In-N-Out keeps their drive-thru chain small,
27:49Robert Peterson has expanded
27:51to four Jack-in-the-box restaurants
27:53and has dreams of adding many more.
27:56But by the 1950s,
27:57he will have to compete
27:59with more and more burger spots.
28:01So at this point in California,
28:03you have Carl's Jr. from Anaheim,
28:05you have Bob's Big Boy,
28:06which is like a family-friendly diner,
28:08and nationally you have Dairy Queen and A&W,
28:11and these are all in the burger game.
28:13But none of them have drive-thrus.
28:16McDonald's still just has six locations,
28:18but a man named Ray Kroc
28:21has just entered the picture
28:23and is about to take control
28:24and expand McDonald's reach exponentially.
28:29As Jack-in-the-box faces more competition,
28:32Peterson looks for an edge.
28:34He realized that the one thing
28:35Jack-in-the-box has is the drive-thru model,
28:37and he wants to make sure
28:38that they're capitalizing
28:39on this short window that they have
28:40before anyone else catches up.
28:42He wants to change up his menu
28:44to include foods that are especially crafted
28:46for the drive-thru experience.
28:49We need something you can hold
28:51with a hand on the wheel.
28:55He lands on an unfamiliar food
28:57to most of America,
28:58the taco.
29:01He ditches the traditional hard shell,
29:03uses a soft tortilla,
29:05wraps it around the ingredients,
29:07and he fries it.
29:10Jack-in-the-box's fried taco launches in 1954,
29:15seven years before Taco Bell.
29:17Robert Peterson and Jack-in-the-box
29:19may have made the first taco experience
29:23for millions of Americans
29:24who'd never heard of a taco
29:26before driving through a Jack-in-the-box.
29:28It quickly becomes the most popular item on the menu.
29:33One day, selling over half a billion a year.
29:37That's more Big Macs than McDonald's
29:40sells in a year in this country.
29:42That is a wild statistic.
29:44Over the next decade,
29:46Jack-in-the-box expands to almost 200 drive-thrus
29:49across the Western U.S.,
29:51with plans to go nationwide.
29:55But by 1965,
29:57under the full control of Ray Kroc,
29:59McDonald's has 700 stores coast-to-coast,
30:02all built around the walk-up design
30:05that defined the brand.
30:08But now,
30:10McDonald's vice president of operations,
30:12Fred Turner,
30:13is leading the biggest transformation
30:15in company history.
30:17Fred Turner started off as a fry cook
30:21at Ray Kroc's first McDonald's store
30:23in Duplaine, Illinois.
30:25Now, he was the person in charge
30:27with making Ray's vision a reality.
30:31McDonald's is investing
30:33in a new look.
30:36Ray Kroc's vision
30:37was that McDonald's
30:39would be a family-based
30:40dine-in restaurant
30:41as opposed to
30:42just walk up
30:44and get their burgers
30:44and walk away.
30:46Parents have a place to sit.
30:48The longer they stay,
30:50the more likely the little ones are
30:52to ask for another fry
30:53or a shake.
30:55They want to become
30:56America's family gathering place.
30:58So for the first time,
31:00they plan to add indoor seating
31:01and make the buildings
31:02feel more homey,
31:03including adding
31:04the Manstead-style roof.
31:06They even come up
31:07with a new Golden Arches M logo
31:08to make them more recognizable
31:10as people drive down the road.
31:12But there's still
31:13one design element
31:15that's notably missing.
31:16On your earlier note,
31:19families are on the go.
31:22What if we invested in drive-thrus?
31:25Brent Cameron
31:26was the director
31:27of the entire western region,
31:30which was the largest region
31:33of McDonald's stores.
31:35This gives him
31:36a unique perspective
31:37into trends
31:38that maybe aren't
31:39easily observable
31:40at headquarters in Illinois.
31:42And Cameron's vision
31:43doesn't align with corporate.
31:46He sees Jack in the Box
31:47absolutely crushing it
31:49with their drive-thrus.
31:51At this time,
31:52no other walk-up restaurant
31:54had implemented
31:55a drive-thru,
31:55but Brent Cameron
31:56really thinks that McDonald's
31:58should be the first.
31:59Eating in the car
32:00is a thing of the past.
32:03McDonald's
32:04is investing
32:05in the future.
32:08Brent Cameron
32:09is confident
32:09that the drive-thru
32:10is a missed opportunity
32:11for McDonald's,
32:12but it's not a battle
32:13that he's won
32:14with his corporate overlords
32:16quite yet.
32:25By 1968,
32:27Robert Peterson
32:28looks to supercharge
32:30Jack in the Box expansion
32:31from 1,000 locations
32:33to 1,500
32:34in five years.
32:35So he sets up a meeting
32:37with a big potential investor,
32:39Ralston Purina.
32:41For a Jack in the Box franchise,
32:4420 is a bit low.
32:45Ralston Purina
32:47is known
32:48for its dog and cat food,
32:49but it wants
32:51to expand
32:52its business
32:53into restaurants.
32:54Oh, oh, okay.
32:57Let me get back to you.
33:03They're not interested
33:04in investing.
33:0820 million
33:11for everything.
33:14Robert Peterson
33:15sells to Ralston Purina
33:16for $20 million,
33:18which is nearly $200 million
33:19by today's standards.
33:21He'll spend the rest
33:22of his life
33:23focused on philanthropy,
33:24leaving his protege,
33:26Jack Goodall,
33:27in charge.
33:28Jack Goodall started
33:29as a management trainee
33:31about five years ago,
33:32and he's been ruined
33:33by Peterson
33:33as his right-hand man.
33:35But despite Ralston Purina's
33:37bigger budgets,
33:38Goodall will quickly
33:39face hurdles
33:40with the nationwide expansion.
33:43Jack in the Box
33:44is trying to expand
33:46eastward,
33:46and they're having
33:47a lot of problems.
33:48As they expand
33:49into more densely populated
33:50areas and cities,
33:51they're running into
33:52a lot of bureaucratic red tape,
33:54and they're also
33:54encountering difficulties
33:56in managing an operation
33:57that large.
33:59And now Goodall
34:00feels added pressure
34:01to deliver
34:02for his new bosses
34:03at Purina.
34:05Realizing that McDonald's
34:06still hasn't adopted
34:07the drive-thru yet,
34:08Jack in the Box
34:09thought,
34:10if we have an advantage
34:11at the drive-thru,
34:12maybe we can scheme
34:13new ways
34:14that they can create
34:15more customers.
34:17Chili?
34:21Can't eat
34:21with a single hand.
34:29Pizza?
34:32Ah, it's already
34:33overdone.
34:37She couldn't find
34:37anything more
34:38substantial?
34:40Only thing opened
34:41this early.
34:45With the fast food
34:47universe now becoming
34:47this gold rush,
34:49Goodall realized
34:50is that there's really
34:51only one category
34:51of food left
34:52to pioneer.
34:55In 1969,
34:57Jack in the Box
34:58is the first
34:58fast food chain
34:59to open early
35:01and serve breakfast.
35:03There are people
35:03who are driving
35:04to work in the morning,
35:05they're hungry,
35:06and they don't have
35:07time to stop
35:08and sit down
35:08to eat breakfast.
35:10Jack in the Box
35:11thought,
35:11if we have a drive-thru,
35:13maybe we can serve
35:14an entire part
35:15of the day
35:15that had been
35:15neglected by the industry.
35:18It's amazing
35:18when you realize
35:19that in the first
35:2020 years
35:21of fast food,
35:22nobody thought
35:24to serve breakfast.
35:24And this becomes
35:26revolutionary,
35:27not just in the
35:28fast food industry,
35:29but how Americans
35:30will eat.
35:31Suddenly,
35:32we become
35:32fast food consumers
35:33morning,
35:35midday,
35:35and evening.
35:37As breakfast
35:38accelerates
35:39Jack in the Box's
35:40sales,
35:41a new challenger
35:43emerges
35:43in the drive-thru space.
35:45Within a year
35:46of launching Wendy's,
35:48its founder,
35:48Dave Thomas,
35:49adds drive-thrus
35:51to all of his stores.
35:52Dave Thomas
35:53adds to the
35:54three-point system.
35:55He says,
35:57you order the microphone,
35:58you pay it
35:59the first window,
36:00and you pick up
36:01at the second window.
36:03At this point,
36:04the pioneers
36:05of the drive-thru,
36:06In-N-Out,
36:06and Jack in the Box
36:07are still drive-thru only.
36:08So for the first time ever,
36:10a walk-up restaurant
36:11with a counter
36:12and indoor seating
36:13also offers
36:13a drive-thru.
36:18At the same time,
36:20McDonald's is in the midst
36:21of a massive
36:22brand renovation,
36:23rolling out
36:24at all
36:251,500 locations.
36:27It is an absolute
36:28behemoth
36:29in the restaurant
36:30industry.
36:311972
36:31hits the
36:32$1 billion mark,
36:34and even though
36:35they're going through
36:35all of the costs
36:37of updating restaurants,
36:38they don't implement
36:39a single drive-thru.
36:40Ray Kroc felt
36:42the idea
36:42of a drive-thru
36:43sort of undercut
36:44this idea
36:45of American
36:47family gathering place.
36:50And one franchise
36:51owner is unhappy
36:53about it.
36:54David Rich
36:54is a McDonald's
36:55franchise owner
36:56in Sierra Vista,
36:57Arizona,
36:58which is located
36:59right next
37:00to an army base.
37:01So there's a new
37:01regulation that takes
37:02effect that prohibits
37:03service members
37:04from wearing
37:05their uniforms
37:06when they're out
37:07in public
37:07and in restaurants.
37:08So they could not
37:10go into McDonald's
37:11and buy food.
37:14McDonald's
37:15is a walk-up
37:17ordering process,
37:18and that eliminates
37:2040% of David Rich's
37:23business overnight.
37:25David Rich
37:26has submitted
37:27several requests
37:28to corporate
37:28to add a drive-thru,
37:30but he's been ignored.
37:32So if you can't feed
37:33people during lunch hour
37:34and you can't feed
37:35people on their way
37:35home from work,
37:36who are you going
37:36to feed and when?
37:39Ultimately,
37:40desperation
37:41and maybe a bit
37:42of anger
37:43get the best
37:44of Mr. Rich,
37:45and he decides
37:46he's putting in
37:47a drive-thru
37:48his own way.
37:57David Rich,
37:58the owner of a
37:59struggling McDonald's
38:00franchise,
38:01has gone
38:01completely rogue.
38:02David Rich decided
38:04to buck the system
38:05without approval.
38:07He decided
38:08to make
38:09his own
38:09drive-thru window.
38:11It's risky,
38:12and it's quite frankly
38:13a bit crazy as well.
38:14And now corporate
38:16has gotten wind
38:17of his stunt.
38:19Gentlemen,
38:20this is David Rich.
38:22Over the years,
38:23McDonald's has grown
38:24through franchising.
38:26In order to do so,
38:27we have set firm rules
38:29for owners to abide by.
38:31Tell them what you've
38:32done recently.
38:34I, uh,
38:35I built a drive-thru.
38:38David Rich has broken
38:39one of the cardinal rules
38:41of McDonald's franchisees.
38:42And the results are?
38:45Sales went up.
38:47How far up?
38:50Tremendously.
38:52Since adding
38:53a drive-thru option
38:54to his store,
38:55sales have increased
38:56by 40%.
38:57Brent Cameron
38:58has been advocating
38:59for the addition
39:00of the drive-thru window.
39:01And now David Rich
39:03has given him
39:03proof that
39:04they actually need
39:05the drive-thru window
39:06to further improve
39:08their business.
39:09And that's why
39:10the future of McDonald's
39:13should be
39:14dine-in
39:15and
39:17drive-thru.
39:20McDonald's was
39:21an enormous operation
39:22with many layers
39:23of bureaucracy.
39:24And any kind of decision
39:25of this caliber
39:26was like turning
39:28a battleship around.
39:28in 1975,
39:31just one year
39:32after Ray Kroc
39:33retires,
39:34McDonald's spends
39:35millions rolling out
39:36the installation
39:37of drive-thrus
39:38nationally.
39:40Everybody thinks
39:41that McDonald's
39:42invented that
39:43when in fact
39:43they were one of the
39:44latest ones
39:44to adopt it.
39:46That same year,
39:47McDonald's takes
39:48their first breakfast
39:49sandwich,
39:50the Egg McMuffin,
39:51nationwide.
39:52By the end
39:53of the decade,
39:54McDonald's accounts
39:55for 25%
39:57of all breakfast
39:58consumed in the
39:59United States.
40:01Today,
40:02McDonald's 27,000
40:04drive-thrus
40:05account for 70%
40:06of their
40:07$130 billion
40:09in global sales.
40:11What it took
40:12for the drive-thru
40:13to achieve
40:14nationwide acceptance
40:16was the leader
40:17in the space,
40:18McDonald's,
40:19to lead by example.
40:21But none of this
40:22would be possible
40:23without the innovations
40:24of In-N-Out
40:25and Jack in the Box.
40:27Jack in the Box
40:27is the unsung hero
40:28of the drive-thru.
40:29It doesn't get the credit
40:31it deserves.
40:32Today,
40:33Jack in the Box
40:34has nearly 2,200 stores
40:35in 22 states
40:37with almost
40:38a billion in sales.
40:39They are a handheld,
40:41convenient food place.
40:43Quick, easy,
40:45tasty,
40:45and convenient.
40:46And when you combine
40:47that with the advent
40:49of creating
40:49a kind of
40:51mascot identity,
40:53Jack in the Box
40:54is unequivocally
40:55a little orange-hatted
40:57clown-faced pioneer.
40:59Harry Snyder
41:01was a real iconoclast.
41:03The little device
41:04that he created
41:05for In-N-Out
41:06really sparked
41:07a revolution
41:08that I'm not even sure
41:09he ever understood himself.
41:10Today,
41:11the family business
41:12continues its legacy
41:13with In-N-Out
41:14boasting 427 locations.
41:18They've been able
41:19to exist
41:20even though
41:21they don't have
41:21this incredible
41:22nationwide market share
41:23because they have
41:24this homegrown
41:25brand loyalty.
41:26It is California cuisine.
41:28You know,
41:28it's baked in
41:29to the culture.
41:31It is part of the myth
41:32of Southern California,
41:34just like the Hollywood sign
41:35or the palm tree.
41:36And since not much
41:39has really changed
41:40with it,
41:41I feel like
41:42when you bite
41:43into a burger,
41:45kind of feel like
41:46you're biting
41:46in a history.
41:47The forward-thinking
41:49breakthroughs
41:50of these brands
41:50has now extended
41:52beyond the restaurant,
41:53becoming the fabric
41:55of our daily routines.
41:57The concept
41:57of the drive-thru
41:58has expanded
41:59way past fast food.
42:00We're talking
42:01laundromats
42:02and banks,
42:04drive-thru
42:04medical testing facilities.
42:07Even liquor stores
42:08are using drive-thrus.
42:09In a world
42:10that puts ever more
42:11demands on us,
42:12the drive-thru
42:13really does
42:14offer an opportunity
42:15to reclaim
42:17a part of our lives
42:19because you can grab things,
42:20you can take it home,
42:21you can sit down
42:22with your family.
42:22It changed the game
42:23for everyone.
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