I doubt the person who drew this comic has had the misfortune of trying to order food in China. It's basically a literal form of what the comic is poking fun of, and it's ubiquitous.

In China, you can go up to the counter, but you cannot place an order. Sometimes, you cannot even read a physical menu. Not even so much as a menu on the screen. You have to scan the QR code using the Panopticon app (also known as WeChat) and then get bombarded with advertisements. Like us and get a free drink! Click here for a random coupon! Join our WeChat group! No, no, no, no. Then click through their garbage UI to find the one thing you actually want. Make sure you don't accidentally replace your order with one of their "recommendations" that pop up! Then, try to check out. Do you want to join our WeChat group for exclusive deals? Do you want to create an account? Dismiss, dismiss, dismiss.

Click here to pay. Only WeChat Pay is accepted. No cash, you backwards peon. Enter your mobile number here. Required to order. Ha ha, nice try, 123456789 is not your mobile number. No worries, we got it from WeChat. You'll get 3 order confirmation texts and 2 advertisements a week for the next six months.

Fast food serves zero purpose now. It’s not cheap and it’s not good. So why on earth would I ever install an app for any of these ghoulish companies?

Dropping all that garbage food for high prices they are doing you a favor for your Health and pocketbook

It's not getting out of control at all. Just stop eating at these places.

I had no idea they even had apps, because I don't eat at these places.

Stop buying fast food. The companies are scum, its terrible for you and you will save a lot of money.

First time I saw a restaurant with an app only menu (that obviously required your phone number too) I just froze in confusion, looked at the staff like they were stupid (they looked me the same) and left. It was in Tallinn, Estonia. Later when I checked the rewievs of the place, those implied that it was more of a money laundering place than an actual restaurant, but I won't go further into that. Suspicious anyways. Found great food in the next door restaurant, they had a normal menu as did most other restaurants except some take-away pizzerias.

Is it really apps that are getting out of control? I still get by just fine not using them.

Prices, on the other hand.... I'll just say sitting down at a proper restaurant is often a viable alternative.

That Burger king one is legit by me. They cut their staff so much they have 2 people cooking and one kiosk you can self order at that's broken half the time. Half the time you to to the drive through and they have a sign that says "app orders only." It's insane.

And each of these apps is no less than 500 MB

Okay, dumbass gen-X-er here. Why in the name of Zeus' butthole is there an app for any of these places? Let alone a compulsory one?

There are many fast food chains that effectively require the app

McDonald's and Subway are examples. You'll be paying quite a bit more without the app exclusive deals

There are also many chains that don't require an app for the best deals. Burger Kind and Culvers being examples

I wish this comic had a bit of nuance, because Burger King shouldn't be getting lumped in because they're better than most others

I have fast food maybe once a year, closer to every 2 years. I don’t understand the appeal. Unless it’s Culver’s. Even then, rarely done.

Even the infamous McDonald’s French fry doesn’t taste like it’s worth the calories any more.

Nope, nope, and nope. My fiance stopped going to Wendy's because she hated the AI voice. I still go there on occasion, all you have to do is say give me a human being. It is annoying having to wait for the McDonald's drive-through to ask me if I'm using the mobile app. They're just doing their job but it's seriously annoying.

Although I did make a comment to the teenager work in the register when I went to pay at Wendy's once because I drove past their slogan that said something about never cutting corners in service, which is hilarious seeing as using an AI menu board is literally cutting corners in service.

i have such a simmering nostalgia for the old days. on tuesdays there would be 39 cent hamburgers and on wed there's be 49 cent cheeseburgers. this was at the local micky d's. that's what we called mcdonalds in those days. we were beyond a first name basis.

this was around the time i started my first job, which paid $7.50 an hour. and no, this wasn't in 1970, it was 2001. i wasn't in the middle of a space odyssey, but an odyssey of the everyman; it was days filled with the aroma and flavor of savory fast food and nights spent with fit y2k hotties in low-rise jeans sipping strawberry shakes. neither of these things cost much and that was a mutual expectation.

For a while, you could get fries or a McChicken for free or nearly do with the app. Like 5 years ago.

If you’re getting a deal, it’s fine? People pay iPhone prices for Google Pixel phones and don’t care that Google makes like $1700 a year off their data, and they defend this.

If you’re not getting a deal, don’t use the app. If you used it before but you don’t use it now, that data isn’t still helping them. It’s stale. Like a lot of their food. And that Pixel phone.

screw em all. they just want all your personal info to sell for increased profits

I've tried some. You could save up points, but redeeming points didn't work properly. Then the points expire because they want to push you to go back. In the end its a big hassle and not worth the scraps you receive.

Get ready for burger+ subscription.