McDonald’s beats the recession, Vodka beats the bride

Good day for the Golden Arches; Bad day for wedding after-parties

GOOD DAY FOR: The Golden Arches, as McDonald’s not only survived the Great Recession but actually expanded and saw stronger sales growth than in 2006 or 2007. The impressive results are a combination of Americans trading down—from casual dining places like Ruby Tuesday’s for food, and from Starbucks for espresso drinks—and people in growing Asian economies such as China, India, and Indonesia trading up. (Slate)

BAD DAY FOR: Wedding after-parties, after German police found a bride passed out in the back of her BMW in Cologne, next to a crate of vodka. The cops had to rescue the 30-year-old woman by breaking in the window of the car, which was starting to overheat in the sun, and she still woke up reluctantly. The bride had to crawl out of the broken window; she didn’t know what happened to her keys or her groom. (Reuters)