Richard Thaler appeared last week on Tavis Smiley’s PBS show. You can listen to the interview here. Tavis brings up a nudge at McDonald’s.
Tavis: I think of a friend now who may be watching who is a McDonald’s franchisee. He owns a number of stores. I remember being in a conversation not too long ago. He, of course, is no behavioral scientist. He’s an entrepreneur, but he was expressing to me one day his surprise at how, when inside the store they put up the special, you’d be amazed, he said to me, at the number of people who, when they get to the counter, came to get one thing, but we nudge them to buy this because they see that today, Wednesday, is the two cheeseburger special. You put it in front of them and you nudge them toward it and they go for it.
Thaler: Well, you know, one of the things that makes nudges work is just getting peoples’ attention.
Nudge blog 