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Why McDonald's will be cool again

Today could mark a turning point in the history of McDonald’s (MCD).

That’s because new CEO Stephen Easterbrook is officially taking the reins of the struggling fast-food king.

He’s got a tough task.

McDonald’s global sales at stores open at least a year have declined for eight consecutive months. And while the overall stock market has soared, the company’s share price is basically at the same level as it was three years ago.

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But Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli feels Easterbrook has already gotten off to a good start.

“One of the things that he’s done immediately that Wall Street embraces is speak differently,” Santoli says. “He called himself an internal activist. He wants to shake things up.”

Easterbrook joined McDonald’s in 1993 and worked in its European operations before leaving in 2011 to run two British fast-food chains. He came back to the golden arches two years ago. Santoli believes that will definitely work in his favor.

“He’s not a guy who is sort of ascending to the top of this iconic brand, this great American blue chip company and saying, ‘Things are great, we’re going to keep them the way they are,’” he says.

Santoli thinks because of that, Easterbrook will bring a fresh perspective to the company.

“I do think he’s open to other menu items, to simplifying that menu,” he notes. “He’s kind of a brand guy, he’s not really as much of an operations guy. That’s probably a good thing.”

And Santoli feels investors are really looking for a different way of thinking at the home of Ronald McDonald.

“Wall Street loves the idea of a new face running this show who’s actually looking to catalyze some changes as opposed to playing defense all the time,” he argues.

Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer points out that McDonald’s has been on the defensive for quite a while now.

“They’ve been under siege for a long time because of healthier diets,” he says. “This is nothing new but it’s creep, creep, creep, and when you think about McDonald’s food, less and less people are interested.”

However, Serwer notes like Mark Twain, the reports of the demise of McDonald’s are greatly exaggerated.

“It’s still a juggernaut, number one,” he says. “Number two, I have seen this movie before. First, it was KFC (YUM) and Boston Market, pizza, Chinese food. Every three, four, five, ten years someone is going to knock McDonald’s out. No one has yet. So I would not say the party is over for McDonald’s.”

Sewer knows that in order to get back its mojo, McDonald’s has to do a better job reaching a key demographic.

“You have to appeal to Millennials and that’s very, very tough for McDonald’s,” he says. “You see them spending hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing and advertising. And other companies have this problem, too. Ask Coca-Cola (KO). How do you keep putting out products that appeal to young people.  It’s tough.”

But Santoli thinks it is possible for McDonald’s.

“They have to close the perception gap of the quality and the healthiness of the food and what’s perceived elsewhere,” he argues. “And I think that will be enough for young people because it’s on every intersection. It’s not as if you can avoid McDonald’s.”

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