One of the most vivid arithmetic failings displayed by Americans occurred in the early 1980s, when the A&W restaurant chain released a new hamburger to rival the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. With a third-pound of beef, the A&W burger had more meat than the Quarter Pounder; in taste tests, customers preferred A&W’s burger. And it was less expensive. A lavish A&W television and radio marketing campaign cited these benefits. Yet instead of leaping at the great value, customers snubbed it.
Only when the company held customer focus groups did it become clear why. The Third Pounder presented the American public with a test in fractions. And we failed. Misunderstanding the value of one-third, customers believed they were being overcharged. Why, they asked the researchers, should they pay the same amount for a third of a pound of meat as they did for a quarter-pound of meat at McDonald’s. The “4” in “¼,” larger than the “3” in “⅓,” led them astray.
The modern consumer would understand the a&w restaurant is probably run much more city than the McDonald’s restaurant unfortunately. It’s always interesting to me when I go to the McDonald’s near my house that shares a parking lot with KFC / a&w and unfortunately that a&w and KFC restaurant is literally one of the worst run restaurants in my area. Only rivaled by the Wendy’s three blocks away. Where is that McDonald’s the worst they’ve done is late night they’re shake machine and ice cream machine always seems to be broken and they get my order wrong probably one out of every five times. But not blatantly wrong every single order.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html
America: Failing 2nd grade math since the 1980s.
In fairness, the people they surveyed grew up breathing lead. I wonder if a modern audience would handle that test better
The modern consumer would understand the a&w restaurant is probably run much more city than the McDonald’s restaurant unfortunately. It’s always interesting to me when I go to the McDonald’s near my house that shares a parking lot with KFC / a&w and unfortunately that a&w and KFC restaurant is literally one of the worst run restaurants in my area. Only rivaled by the Wendy’s three blocks away. Where is that McDonald’s the worst they’ve done is late night they’re shake machine and ice cream machine always seems to be broken and they get my order wrong probably one out of every five times. But not blatantly wrong every single order.