Times change and so do consumption habits. The following iconic brands, companies, and products once seemed to be timeless, but now it seems the titans are teetering.
时代车轮滚滚前进，人们的消费习惯也在发生着变化。人们曾经认为以下这些经典品牌、企业和产品将长盛不衰，但现在它们都深陷困境。
Part of these shifts in buying habits can be attributed to the different tastes and values of millenials. But it’s not only millenials turning their backs on these brands. With the resources of social media, it’s easier to spread the message nationwide and globally if a product or business is unhealthy or otherwise outmoded.
这种命运的转变部分可归因于80后90后有着不同的品味和价值观，但抛弃这些品牌的并非只有他们这一代人。随着社交媒体的兴起，如果一款产品呈现衰微之势或是跟不上时代潮流，这个消息很快就会传遍全国乃至全世界。
McDonald’s
麦当劳
McDonald’s sales declined more than expected–nearly $400 million–in the first quarter of 2015, as the company annouced they were closing 350 poorly performing stores in Japan, the U.S., and China. And that’s just the latest in a series of struggles the fast food giant has gone through lately.
麦当劳的销售额下跌幅度超过了预期，仅2015年第一季度就下跌近4亿美元。该公司日前宣布将关闭分布在日本、美国和中国的350家业绩不佳的门店。除此之外，麦当劳还面临着一系列其它困境。
The oft-cited reason for McDonald’s woes is that customers are defecting to chains they see as healthier choices, like Chipotle. Plus more upscale burger chains like Shake Shack, Five Guys, and Smashburger are edging in. It seems like a case of the ubiquitous Golden Arches and what they stand for are now working against the corporation.
至于麦当劳近年的生意何以如此惨淡，一个被经常提及的原因是，麦当劳的顾客们正在涌向他们认为更健康的快餐连锁品牌（比如Chipotle）。除此之外，近年来市场上涌现了一批高端的汉堡连锁店，如Shake Shack、Five Guys和Smashburger等等。不过现在看来，麦当劳的平价策略正在产生对经营不利的效果。
McDonald’s has tried a number of tactics to capture that millennial love such as test-marketing all-day breakfastand a 24-hour, 24-city marketing “day of joy” on March 24, a response to reporting its first sales fall in 12 years in January. At the time the company admitted there was an “urgent need to evolve with today’s consumers.” In Australia, McDonalds opened an experimental hipster cafe called The Corner in Sydney and is offering customizable gourmet burgers in Melbourne. The company recently announced that the first details of a turnaround plan but itfailed to impress investors.
为了获得80后90后的青睐，麦当劳尝试了不少办法。比如在今年1月，为了回应其销售额12年来首次下降这一局势，麦当劳推出了“全天早餐”，并于3月24日在全美24个城市开展了持续24小时的“欢乐日”活动。麦当劳也承认，该公司“亟需追随消费者的口味变化。”在澳大利亚，麦当劳试验性地开了一家名叫“悉尼之角”的新潮咖啡厅，同时开始在墨尔本提供定制的精美汉堡。该公司最近还公布了其扭转计划的一些细节，不过都没有打动投资人。
Barbie
芭比娃娃
Barbie sales have declined for three years straight, and that trend continued in the first quarter of 2015. In November 2014, “Frozen” mania bested Barbie dolls as the top Christmas toy for girls for the first time in the 11 years that the National Retail Federation has issued Top Toy survey results.
近三年来，芭比娃娃的销量直线下降，2015年第一季度延续了这一趋势。根据全美零售协会发布的Top Toy调查报告，2014年11月，在电影《冰雪奇缘》的助推下，以这部电影为主题的玩具娃娃首次打败芭比，成为去年圣诞节赠送给女孩最多的玩具。
Mattel responded at the New York Toy Fair in February,revealing that 78 new Barbies were coming out featuring two things that millenials tend to value: diversity and technology. Hello Barbie will be a talking doll, and some of the other new models feature African-American, Asian and mixed race features.
美泰公司在今年2月的纽约玩具展上表示，该公司即将推出78款新的芭比娃娃，着重呈现80后90后看重的两个元素——高科技和多元化。比如，Hello Barbie将是一款会说话的洋娃娃，还有一些新款芭比将以黑人、亚裔和其他少数族裔的形象出现。
Fisher-Price
费雪
Another toy giant in peril, the preschooler line Fisher-Price, performed poorly in 2014, with sales down 13%–although first quarter 2015 sales are up 3%. The decline in popularity is being attributed to millenial parents, who are more likely to live in cities and be more mobile, so they’re looking for smaller swings and more sleek designs for the toys. Plus there’s more toy lines competing for the little ones’ favor, including officially licenced tie-ins with their entertainment obsessions like Frozen.
主打学龄前儿童市场的费雪公司，是另一家岌岌可危的玩具公司，其2014年的销售额下跌了13个百分点——不过今年第一季度的销售额又回升了3%。费雪玩具的受欢迎程度之所以明显下降，是因为已经为人父母的80后90后大都住在城市，所以更喜欢尺寸更小，设计更简洁的玩具。此外目前瞄准学龄前儿童的玩具品牌也越来越多，比如像《冰雪奇缘》这种影视作品的衍生产品。
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
卡夫芝士通心粉
Sales numbers on the iconic boxed mac and cheese ain’t what they used to be,with numbers down 3% while organic competitors like Annie’s are up by that same 3%.
这款经典芝士通心粉的高销售数字也不复存在。最近它的销售额下跌了3%，而竞争对手Annie等公司的销售额则相应上涨了3%。
Again, the drop in sales is due to customers seeking out healthier and less processed choices. The product has also been the subject of a consumer advocacy campaign which appealed to the company to use naturally derived ingredients like paprika, annato and tumeric.
卡夫芝士通心粉销量受挫的原因和麦当劳一样，也是因为消费者开始寻求更健康、加工程序更少的产品。同时有些消费者也针对这款产品发起了倡议活动，要求该公司使用红辣椒、胭脂树萃和姜黄等天然原料。
Just recently, Kraft revealed it is removing the synthetic coloring from its Original Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in the U.S. by January 2016, and from Canada’s Kraft Dinner Original by the end of next year. The company had already launched Kraft Boxed Shapes with no synthetic colors in 2014 and it removed the artificial preservatives from that product this year.
卡夫最近透露称，该公司将于2016年1月前取消在美国销售的卡夫原味芝士通心粉中的人工合成色素，同时在明年年底前取消在加拿大销售的该产品的合成色素。卡夫公司已于2014年推出了不含合成色素的Kraft Boxed Shapes产品，并于今年取消了该产品中的人工防腐剂。
Diet Coke
健怡可乐
There’s no way around it: soda sales are down overall, and have been for a decade, largely due to the the sugary beverages’ link to obesity. The nation’s third most popular carbonated beverage, Diet Coke, has taken the worst dive of late. The beverage is being viewed by consumers as unhealthy due to its sweetener aspartame and possible associated health risks, in addition to studies suggestingdiet sodas may actually contribute to weight gain. The latest sales numbers reported Wednesday show a decline of 6% from those a year ago. However, the same numbers show Coca-Cola and its other soda offerings up by 1%–the first rise in nine quarters.
这款产品基本上已是无可救药了。由于近年来人人皆知含糖饮料与肥胖有关，碳酸饮料的销量已经持续十年下降，作为美国第三大碳酸饮料品牌的健怡可乐更是首当其冲。由于健怡可乐使用了甜味更浓重的阿斯巴甜，加之有研究表明健怡可乐也有可能导致体重增加，使得很多消费者认为它存在健康风险。上周三发布的销量数据表明，健怡可乐的销量比去年同期下降了6%。不过同期数据表明，可口可乐及其旗下其它碳酸饮料的销量上涨了1%——这也是9个季度以来第一次上涨。
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