McDonald's, reeling from a 30% percent plunge in Q3 net, says it has an image problem and is "misunderstood" by its customers," according to reports today in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

mcdsThe fast feeder is denying reality. McDonald's is an iconic brand among its core customer base of children, teen-age boys and working class consumers. It has a lock on the drive-through market that accounts for 70 percent of its sales.

Talk of offering healthier foods or offering renovated and more contemporary restaurants to lure millennials is nothing but hot air. It's a distraction from the business at hand: quickly dishing out Happy Meals, Big Macs, hamburgers, shakes and sodas at a decent price. McDonald's is never going to be a place to go for the young and trendy, like Starbucks. That would be counterproductive any way. A Starbucks-like mob at McDonald's would dramatically slow down service.

At PRSA's conference last week, a former McDonald's marketing executive told of a past attempt of Mickey D at hipness. It was a disaster. The program had Ronald McDonald making appearances on ski slopes, concerts, festivities and locales frequently by millennials. She conceded it was a little creepy seeing Ronald hanging out with an older crowd. The program was spiked after a quick test.

My millennial daughters were Happy Meal fans when they were young and frequented many parties at McDonald's with play rooms during their early grade school years. They grew into chicken sandwiches for a while until McDonald's lost its "coolness" when they were 14 or so. I can't remember the last time either of them or their friends hung out at McDonald's within the past five years. They do like Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

McDonald's should cut distractions like its current "Our Food. Your Questions" marketing program aimed to attack health misperceptions about its food or plans to offer "personalize burgers."

Management should keep its eye on the ball, simplify the menu, and speed up service. That is what core McDonald's customers want.

McDonald's does have real world worries such as Vladimir Putin's investigation of about half of its 440 locations in Russia for health and safety regulations in the aftermath of US sanctions.

Another thing: Does the chain need 35K restaurants in the US?

Ronald needs to keep his eye on the ball.