A 1993 news clip about Burger King’s introduction of credit card payments has gone viral, with social media users thrilled by customers’ hilarious reactions to the new change.
The clipposted on TikTok, captures a television journalist in Baltimore interviewing customers at a local Burger King about their thoughts on the prospect of paying for fast food orders with a credit card.
“I think it’s pretty bad if you have to use a credit card when you go to a fast food restaurant for something like $3.10,” one woman said.
“I just hope that it won’t slow things down at the box office that people have to call New York for confirmation, or, you know, whatever it is. Because if I want a Whopper, I want it now,” one man mused in anticipatory impatience.
A 1993 news clip revealed Burger King customers’ shock and skepticism over the fast-food chain beginning to accept credit cards
“I can’t imagine this working on a day-to-day basis here,” one man said of using credit cards
“Just another way to spend money,” another man suggested, seemingly neutral on the matter.
‘I’m sure it works for people who are on holiday and don’t have to do anything. But I can’t imagine it working in daily practice here.’
However, another man was quick to point out the financial side, telling the reporter, “If I use my GM card, I get a five percent discount. If I eat here long enough, I can buy a pickup!’
In the early 1990s, it was considered inappropriate to use credit cards for small purchases due to the administrative burden and inconvenient wait times required to process payments.
A 1989 article in the Orlando Sentinel has delved into the expected shift in consumer credit card usage over the next decade.
The Sentinel piece explained the previous taboo surrounding the use of credit cards at fast food restaurants: “The time-consuming process of obtaining approval and drawing up the much-discussed credit slip often threatened to take the ‘fast’ out of fast food and the ‘convenience’ out of the supermarket. But that is changing.’
One customer, who apparently didn’t like the wait for his fast food, mused, “I just hope it doesn’t slow things down at the (checkout counter)… If I want a Whopper, I want it now.”
‘If I use my GM card, I get a five percent discount. If I eat here long enough, I can buy a pickup,” one man — the only one interviewed who saw the silver lining in the service — said
In the early 1990s, credit card processing was considered too time-consuming to be suitable for use in a fast food restaurant.
A 1989 article in the Orlando Sentinel elaborated on the expected shift in consumer use of credit cards over the next decade. The photo shows a Burger King employee accepting a card in 2000
As one banking vice president quoted in the article explained, “New technology has made it fast and cost-effective to handle small transactions.”
An example: ‘Magnetic card readers on the cash register ensure that cashiers can quickly swipe the card through a machine.’
The shift in credit card technology around the early 1990s is perhaps reflected in the fact that as of 2017, only 12 percent of Baby Boomers and 16 percent of Gen 21 percent of baby boomers. percent of millennials, according to a CNBC report on a study by CreditCards.com.
But despite the many changes that have taken place since 1993, the tenacious reporter who ran the segment has Jamie Costello of Baltimore’s News Channel 2is still with the network 30 years later.
While the 1993 clip made the rounds on social media, in 2023 TikTok users had plenty to say about the news broadcast, which racked up nearly 800,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments on the platform.
Despite the many changes since 1993, the reporter, Jamie Costello of Baltimore’s News Channel 2, is still with the network thirty years later.
TikTok users offered a range of responses to the very dated news segment
“I just used the Apple Watch to pay for a $0.79 soda,” one modern commenter joked.
“I can’t imagine it working in real life” LOL,” laughed another, quoting the reaction of a bewildered Burger King customer.
‘Someone recently wrote a CHECK for me in the supermarket. It lasted 10 hours, I almost died. I didn’t know checks were still accepted,” a third commenter shared of a recent experience.
One “punny” philosopher made this point when he summarized the overall conclusion of the broadcast: “People are always afraid of change.”