🥤 The end of McDonald's self-serve soda

Happy Friday! It’s September 22 — people are talking about the end of McDonald’s self-serve soda, the female anti-hero trend on TV, and more.

As always, we’ve summarized and organized the different shades of perspective, so you can see the big picture quickly.

🥤 In the news: The end of McD’s self-serve

McDonald's is phasing out self-serve soda machines. They say it's to standardize the customer experience — but many fans aren't happy.

🥤 Today covers the details: The phase-out will happen over a decade. Staff members will pour soda instead of customers. Fewer in-store diners is one cause.

🥤 But a Reddit thread on r/Shrinkflation doesn’t buy that explanation: It’s just a selfish cost-cutting move. They're trying to prevent customers from getting a refill on the way out!

🥤 Quartz thinks the decision is understandable. McDonald’s wants to prioritize the drive-through, which has been growing in traffic across the country. Plus, some Illinois locations have already moved the soda machine behind the counter.

🥤 Business Insider said many McDonald's fans are sad — they're mourning their custom creations. There was so much freedom with self-serve!

🦹‍♀️ Cultural trend: The TV anti-heroine

Anti-heroines have surged in prominence across the TV landscape. Is the trend something to celebrate?

🦹‍♀️ Stylist thinks 2023 could be the year of messy women on television. People love anti-heroines because they break the mold of stereotypical well-to-do female characters.

🦹‍♀️ The NYT was also on board: Women deserve diverse, anti-heroine roles. Men have played characters in the anti-hero mold too often.

🦹‍♀️ But the Fordham Ram took issue with the archetype: People overuse the label, and end up demonizing female characters with normal faults.

🦹‍♀️ Glamour wrote that we could use more “flawed” women on screen — and maybe we all need to ask ourselves why we find those women “unlikeable” in the first place.

Quick hits

⚫ A coroner concluded that actor Angus Cloud's death in July was due to an accidental overdose. (Yahoo)

🧒 A 2-year-old Michigan girl wandered into the woods with her family dogs, and was later found sleeping with her head on one of the dogs. (AP News)

⚽ Two-time World Cup champion Julie Ertz retired from soccer. Her final match was a 3-0 win over South Africa. (USA Today)

✈️ Zelensky took a trip to Washington, delivering an optimistic progress report on the war to Congress. Biden announced another $325m in aid. (AP News)

That’s it for today. Reply at [email protected] to let me know what you think of our newsletter, or to suggest a topic for next time.

Here at Shades we’re trying something new – quick summaries from different points of view. We think it’s a better way to stay informed and see the big picture. Please reach out if you’re curious to learn more!

- Jeff (co-founder of Shades)