Cash or credit? Today, it’s a question that would not catch that many off guard. But in the early 1990s, however, the question generated a bit of controversy.
That’s according to a viral clip posted by TikTok user @noesox that features a news report from the 90s that discusses Burger King’s decision to start accepting credit cards. “People’s reaction to credit cards being accepted at a Burger King in 1993,” the caption reads.
@noesox ♬ original sound – noesocks
The news report from Baltimore reporter Jamie Costello of WMAR-2 News kicks off with a Burger King cashier asking a customer, “Cash or credit?” In 1993, this was a transformational question.
A voice over explains: “The home of the Whopper is offering cash or credit.” One customer tells Costello that she thinks it’s “bad if you have to use a credit card to go to a fast food restaurant for something as little as $3.10.”
Another customer notes his GM credit card offers a 5 percent rebate. “If I eat here long enough, I’ll be able to buy a pickup truck,” he says.
Costello says, “Burger King bosses say workers won’t have to figure out how much change the customer gets back.”
Asked about this, a customer says he hopes the new technology doesn’t cause unintended delays at the counter. “Because when I want a Whopper, I want it now,” he says.
The Daily Dot reached out to @noesox via TikTok DM, Jamie Costello via email, and Burger King via email for comment.
The video has amassed more than 9 million views since it was posted on Sept. 15. In the comments, users joked about how the opinions in the video had–in one user’s words– ”aged like milk.”
Like user JP (@johnniepajama), who noted, “I just used Apple Watch to pay for $0.79 soda.”
“No one remembers how hard it used to be to accept a card. We had to make a carbon copy of your credit card’s raised numbers,” recalled user @tvdoc.
“30 years later, nobody knows how to count back change bc we all use our cards,” wrote @debfrizzell.
User @tugginmgraw summed it up thusly: “People always fear change.”
Videos like these can be almost like a time machine into a completely different world. One user noted that dining in the 80s and 90s was such a “dark time” that the establishment of Olive Garden was a welcome relief. And despite the old school production value of this McDonald’s training video from the late 90s, many current employees said the scenarios ring true today.
