THE success of the Golden Arches rests on three easy, sturdy foundations: a menu of reliably first rate grub, at an honest worth, shored up by catchy advertising. Ever because it went public in 1965, McDonald’s has completed greatest every time it caught to this unique blueprint. When a number of of those pillars crumbles, the fast-food fortress appears to be like shaky. 1 / 4 of a century in the past this led to a near-collapse. Overly fast enlargement within the variety of retailers and, on the similar time, of merchandise on supply made it more durable for burger-flippers to maintain up, hurting reliability. A worth struggle with Burger King turned downright indecent. And the adverts had been stale, too. The outcome was acid reflux disease for buyers. Between late 1999 and early 2003 the corporate shed two-thirds of its market worth.