1981: BURGER BOOM - Will US fast-food CONQUER BRITAIN? | Newsround Extra | BBC Archive

25 seconds. Ha! Today it takes the kid behind the counter that long to scratch his ass, check his cellphone, and ask you what you want.

For me, there will always be fish and chips, when I come to England (from Sweden)!

No credit-card readers...?

It'll never catch on

I always wonder what all those extras are up to now. What are their life like?

I’m still with Wimpy…there ain’t many of us left

The Hammersmith McDonald's! I remember my mum taking me there when i was a kid, almost certainly around the time this report was made. Never saw John Craven in there, though. :) He was such a good presenter. Made things accessible and informative for kids without ever sounding patronising.

Ahhh the Wimpy mixed grill 😋

Yes.

The start of the obesity crisis... yipee! The presenter is just so excited about it lol. Its a known fact now that people who eat more home cooked dinners, are much less likely to be obese.

"MACdonalds"... so naff, lol.

And now it's quicker and cheaper to get a pasty from Greggs

And Today that meal comes to about 7is pound 😅

I well remember when the fast food crap was coming out , and swore I would never go in one a promise I have kept. I tell a lair I did go in once to use their lavatory

They ruined Britain. It happened in the 80's. All your garbage troubles started after that.

I did like Wimpy as a kid. Their food was much more fresh (yet still junk food in todays standard sure).

1981 - Burger Boom. Will US fast food KILL YOUR BRAIN

When I was a kid in America in the 70's, my parents used to take us to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips for a change up.

"Would you like large French fries?"

"Small ones please" 😅

Wow. Nice, crazy hamburger.

The brits started enjoying life since then

Wow 🤩 good old days!

"Would you like Heart Disease with your meal?" ... "We've got a promotion, buy 12 Unhappy Meals, and receive a McCoffin absolutely FREE!" ⚰️👎🤣

I don't eat cr*p from fast food joints! I prepare healthy meals from scratch! 👍😋

£1.52 for basically a Big Mac meal!!

Pretty weighted in favour of fast food restaurants. Interesting archive stuff.

Russian TV would have done reports like this in the 1990s.

Wow a Putin lookalike

Not a single hoodie in sight imagine that.

I like the foliage in the restaurants and I LOVE the black backgrounds on the display boards

'81 .....I was 12 :)))

The first McDonald's to open in London was in Oct 1974, Woolwich and the first Burger King was in Coventry Street, London, 1977, yet it surprises me to see John Craven talking about fast-food in 1981 as if it's an entirely new concept. I suppose the point they were trying to make was that by the mid-80's every high street would have 2 or 3 fast-food burger takeways on them, which was about right.

Why do I want to eat that tie?

During the bit in the video when he asks the two boys their opinion about the fast food I was impressed with their answers. They were very articulate and gave very insightful answers. Most adults here in the US couldn't deliver an answer as well as those boys did.

It'll never catch on like!!!

My god is that putin in macdonalds lol

Millions of people of a certain age will NEVER forget their first McDonald’s milkshake. Blew my tiny mind

I was 6 in 1966, mom gave me 2 dollars and me and friends would go to the local McDonald's near us, the foods not really great but there's something about the quick service and the taste that's enjoyable. Plus the ads were constantly bombarding our minds. Thank you for the ride back in time.

I went to Wimpy in the 70s, it was table service though. First McDonalds was on a visit to Germany, had no idea what to do!

pmsl

Love it👌

A 2 minute wait to be served. Now the wait to be served is about 20 minutes. 😆😆

It costs more that £1.52 now.