Fast Food on the Internets

Let’s aim for something a bit lighter today. Well, lighter in all things but calories, perhaps. Today we have a piece from the Wall Street Journal that looks at the social media presence of several large fast food brands. Overall, it has a few too many gimmicky illustrations for my comfort. But, the strength of the piece is that it does look at some real data, e.g. plotted Twitter response rates, and then contextualises it with appropriate callouts.

Who cares about your tweets?
Who cares about your tweets?

The illustrations are killing me, though.

Credit for the piece goes to Marcelo Prince and Carlos A. Tovar.

Dunkin Donuts vs. Starbucks

I’m not a coffee guy. I drink tea. At most I have one or two espresso drinks per year. But up in Boston, they have been looking this week at coffee preferences. The question is which is your coffee spot? Dunkin Donuts (from Massachusetts) or Starbucks (from Washington)? Northeast or Pacific Northwest? In a piece that reminds me of the New York Times’ Wawa vs. Sheetz graphic, the Boston Globe plotted the locations of the two national coffee chains. This interactive piece allows you to toggle between dots for Dunkin Donuts (orange, naturally) and Starbucks (green, of course).

Dunkin Donuts vs. Starbucks in Massachusetts
Dunkin Donuts vs. Starbucks in Massachusetts

They complemented the Massachusetts-focused piece with a longer article that looked at the national distribution.

Dunkin Donuts vs. Starbucks between New York and Philadelphia
Dunkin Donuts vs. Starbucks between New York and Philadelphia

Credit for the piece goes to Alvin Chang and Matt Carroll.