Our first in the McDonald's series where we talk about Memories, some of the McDonald's flops, foods we miss or still eat! Take a trip to McDonaldland Island with us!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/yum-smash-up
License code: YVIHVPSFCJ0LJIDD
Our first in the McDonald's series where we talk about Memories, some of the McDonald's flops, foods we miss or still eat! Take a trip to McDonaldland Island with us!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/yum-smash-up
License code: YVIHVPSFCJ0LJIDD
hello, this is Ashley. May I take your order? Hello,
Aaron:nostalgic friends, this is
Garret:Aaron. And this is Garrett and you're listening to Nostalgic.
Ashley:Would you like fries with that?
Garret:Yes, Can you supersize that?
Ashley:Supersize me. All right,
Aaron:Today is our McDonald's episode, Super size edition, some interesting facts, a little bit of history, epic fails, some of our favorites and not so favorites.
Ashley:I feel like we're gonna say McDonald's a lot, so I might say mc theses to sound cooler.
Garret:In Australia they call it Mac's.
Ashley:Macas. you want some Macas. So do you guys still eat McDonald's? Like as an adult?
Garret:More than I want to. And the only reason I eat it more than I normally would is around my work. There's not a lot of options and that's the easiest one. There are times I'm just like, damn it. Oh, McDonald's, you got me again.
Ashley:Oh, they rely on that. I totally made a note that said, reasons to eat a McDonald's. Quick, convenient, nostalgic. It's not like oh, I'm just, it's amazing and I'm craving, if you are, it's typically nostalgia, but it's not just like, that sounds great, so what's your go-to? if you were to go now, what? you know what you're getting,
Garret:I would probably have to say they're new chicken sandwich. Have y'all had it? Mm-hmm. Yes. it's really good. I think it's like chicken thigh pickles and the bun. Get it. It's amazing. I went two days in a row one day just to get them. I was like, oh my God. These are
Ashley:good. What are they pulling? Like a Chick-fil-A? It's sounds very Chick-fil-A.
Garret:Yes. it, it tastes not similar cuz it's their own version, but it's pretty darn good.
Ashley:Hey man, it works. Chick-Fil-A's made a whole career out of it.
Aaron:Yeah. Mm-hmm. the chicken sandwich war.
Ashley:Aaron, what's your go-to?
Aaron:I rarely eat there, but if I do, it's usually breakfast. I get, usually get the breakfast burrito. You have a burrito. I don't even, You never
Ashley:had their breakfast burrito? Oh man, I go McGriddle all the way, like, it reminds me of those in elementary school when you had the little corn dog on a stick.
Aaron:nostalgia. Remember Nostalgia's corn dog? Yeah, the
Ashley:sausage corn dog. The McGriddle just captures that whole thing for me. I'm like, yes, And I like the egg McMuffins and or not the McMuffin, like a biscuit, you know? I was like, oh, biscuit. Yeah. The biscuits
Garret:are the way to go. That's my Achilles heel.
Ashley:Okay. And I tell you one I like, but I'm kind of ashamed of, is the pancakes like they're stupid? I I feel like they're like microwave pancakes that you buy, like the freezer ones. I don't know. very good. I think there's cracking on the
Aaron:big breakfast.
Garret:No, that made my do not list.
Ashley:Well tell us about it later, but that's
Aaron:fine.
Garret:Yeah. Ashley, if that is your real name.
Ashley:It's something about'em. They're just always warm and squishy. Oh
Aaron:my goodness. I guess we all established that we still eat at McDonald's. do you feel afterwards? Oh, I've never went to McDonald's and thought, man, that was a great idea.
Ashley:Like a one night stand. You know, you're like, tequila, yeah, like
Aaron:a done poor body. We still do eat it. You guys have your first memory of eating at McDonald's or any memories from McDonald's in your childhood?
Ashley:I didn't think that I did. I know we went there a lot. If you talked to dad specifically, I think we even said McDonald's. We had a certain way that we said it and we were always like, we have to stop. And then when I started looking through the websites, specifically the playgrounds, how they used to look, I thought, I always, remembered'em how they are, which is the tube with the balls pit and all that. But no, when I saw the hamburger with the jail, it was like a cop. And then the pirate slide, there was a pirate on top and also they were all metal. That would not fly in Texas. it doesn't have a cover or anything We would all die but kids would still be doing it. They'd be like, it burned so good.
Aaron:It's like
Garret:sizzling The kids have marks on their hands and
Ashley:It has a specific smell here at the McDonald's Like something's crying. Children. But I do remember those. And then one picture I saw there was the hamburger seats the little barn stools? Yes. And you would sit on'em. Yes. And they were shaped like burgers. I do remember
Aaron:that. And there was even fry seeds. Do you remember? There was like a,
Ashley:I saw a picture of it. I don't remember it, but I did see that. the floor was always very specific. Did they still make the floor like that
Aaron:or it was like the bricks, the black, like the brown and Yeah. Yeah. The tile. They definitely don't do that anymore.
Ashley:Oh yeah. if I have eaten there, I have not actually been in, in a really long time if I put my big sunglasses on like Anastasia Beaver housing, like hiding I'm What? No.
Aaron:Do you all remember birthday parties at McDonald's When we were kids? No, a birthday party at McDonald's like a big deal. you rented out the whole back dining room,
Ashley:the play place
Aaron:or? No, it was a back,
Ashley:got its own room,
Aaron:dining room Yes. And they would wheel out a cake on this McDonald's tablecloth
Ashley:And, but they made the cakes.
Aaron:Yes. It was at, well, they served it, I don't know if maybe, I
Ashley:mean, somebody made it they offered the cake.
Aaron:Yes. It was part of like a birthday package that you could buy. Wow. I
Ashley:wonder when they stopped doing that,
Aaron:you would get a, McDonald's coupon for a buy one get one free in trick-or-treating? Sometimes people would hand them out. it would be like a free Coke. oh, it's so smart because you have to go in for the Coke and then you're buying I remember it was like a free ice cream cone, or a free small fry.
Ashley:yeah. Get you in the door. I remember in, like oh five, someone was telling me they were reading a marketing book and McDonald's is from the cradle to the grave marketing, which means if they get you when you're young, you're gonna eat it your whole life. And I was like, right. It's so genius.
Garret:It is.
Aaron:Hence happy Meal toys. for
Garret:sure.
Aaron:Yeah, I also, I remember people smoking inside McDonald's. It's a memory with. A lot of places that we used to go. People smoke inside, but I still remember the McDonald's ashtrays,
Ashley:The like dark brown. I remember people having those later at their houses I was like, did McDonald's sell these? Like
Aaron:why? That's a quality stole Ashray.
Ashley:They that go waste. They were sturdy.. I keep thinking about smoking on airplanes. Like that seems insane to
Aaron:me. Oh yeah.
Garret:But the only thing I guess I remember is, I associate McDonald's with my stepfamily when my dad got cuz I had a little brother. And we would always argue about the toys that we got in the McDonald's Happy Meals. I remember always getting the chicken nuggets and honey, did you ever get that dipping sauce? No, no way.
Aaron:It
Ashley:sounds delicious.
Garret:it was popular in Michigan, so I got it from somewhere. other memory that comes to mind when I was in second grade, there was this girl named, Rena, maybe. She was hilarious. And she would get me in trouble because I would laugh at whatever she was doing. do you guys remember the, McDonald's menu song? Big Mac de quarter Pounder with some cheese, it was literally a song and it listed all the menu items. Yeah. So she was singing this song to me. and she was doing it in this weird way. I remember she was like kind of whispering, like with her hand over her mouth, and I was cracking up. And the teacher was like, why are you laughing? she set me outside
Ashley:I'm rude.
Garret:But was always in the hallway
Aaron:they would throw me out all the time. You were trying to talk to people that went by like, hi,
Garret:Oh yeah. He'd get in trouble again.
Ashley:Yeah. I didn't really understand that punishment. They would send me out and I'm like, This is way better. I don't have talk to anybody. This is not a punishment for me.
Garret:Do you have memories, Aaron,
Aaron:I remember the playgrounds. You remember the weird kid that always found a way to get outside the cage and get on top of things that he shouldn't be?
Ashley:Yes, I do. I was with him most of the time.
Aaron:I don't know how I didn't die I was on top of the pirate, like this way up. You remember that? Oh my
Ashley:goodness. He's always been a daredevil. What do they call that? Adrenaline junkie from the,
Aaron:I guess go is why I have all the broken bones to prove it.
Ashley:badges of honor.
Aaron:And then a very fond memory I have of McDonald's is just the Happy Meal toys a different ones. Collecting them as kids.
Ashley:We're definitely gonna do an episode on McDonald's toys. But if you have one that you remember that you were like, I've gotta collect all, what would it be?
Aaron:Transformers or Hot Wheels
Ashley:That's more than one. No, I'm just kidding. Transformers. I'll go. Transformers, transformer. Transformers. Final answer.
Aaron:It was like transformers that it turned into fries. A coke.
Garret:Oh yeah, I remember those.
Ashley:It was like a coke and then the little sandwich, clamshell. That's like flipped
Aaron:up iron. Yes. I had those.
Ashley:Yeah. Garrett, what about you?
Garret:The one that comes to mind almost immediately are the mugs. They weren't toys, they were the glass mugs for Batman Forever with the Ridler and all them. I had to get all those randomly. My mom saved those and I got them recently she's like, I bet there were something. No, you can't even pay people to take them from you Right.
Ashley:I feel like with the internet now, that kind of stuff just doesn't, but like how old were you when you got the mugs?
Aaron:It had
Garret:to be around 16, 15, 16, 17 or
Ashley:something. Okay. Yeah. It was like, like 30. yeah. Oh, I, I'm
Garret:kidding. Evil.
Ashley:I was just picturing you as an adult, I have to have all of these
Garret:bugs. You know, the part of Ashley will now be played by Evil Lynn
Ashley:yeah. Mine were the Barbies. a friend and I, other Ashley my best friend we were trying to get one specific one, so we would keep going and they would keep giving us ones that we already had. So we'd have like four of one, five of one. Why can we not get roller skate Barbie? But we kept going,
Garret:I can just see you going back and like slamming the Barbie and like, listen bitch, I need the roller blade Barbie now.
Ashley:Let me speak to your manager. My third grade self was like mm-hmm. Linda fly.
Aaron:Okay.
Ashley:so tell us a little bit about McDonald's.
Aaron:The first McDonald's restaurant was opened in 1940 by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald had actually started as a barbecue joint in San Bernardino, California. After about eight years, they decided to switch it up to burgers, shakes, potato chips, and pies. When they were making the change, they ordered several multi mixers to be able to help them have faster production A multi mixer salesman by the name of Ray Crock visited, and he was blown away by what was going on, how their operation of their food, and decided to actually buy the franchise from him. He actually opened up the first McDonald's franchise restaurant in De Plains, Illinois in 1955.
Ashley:side note. What's a multi mixer?
Aaron:Maybe for the shakes, like the milkshakes
Garret:I think so if you go to the old school ones, they have where you can put like three or four cups on the thing.
Ashley:Okay,
Aaron:interesting fact about Ray Crock. He's a pretty interesting fellow. in 1917 he was 15 years old. He lied about his age to join the Red Cross to become an ambulance driver for World War I. The war ended before he could finish his training, so he was left without any kind of career. So he became a piano player. At one time, he was a paper cup salesman, and he ended up landing a job in his fifties as a multi mixer salesman. He didn't start opening up the McDonald's franchise until late in his fifties. Dang. Wow. Mm-hmm.
Ashley:I feel like that's my life. I'm just kind of floating along. I try different things. I'll find my McDonald's It's on the horizon, guys.
Aaron:when he was trying to start his franchise, he reached out to a very famous friend he had met while he was in ambulance training with the Red Cross. He referred to him as a guy that he knew that spent most of his extra time doodling. It was Walt Disney. He was in the same ambulance training as for the Red Cross as Walt Disney. they actually had a deal for him to open a McDonald's franchise in Disney, but they couldn't agree on the numbers. They said Disney wanted more than Crock was willing to give up. They just couldn't make it happen.
Ashley:Do you think that was beneficial? do you think anyone dodged a bullet there, or do you think it was a big mistake?
Aaron:I think it worked out pretty well for both of'em.
Ashley:yeah, They did okay. But it was like together. Would they have been like a master, just take it over the world.
Aaron:Who knows what would happen if they would've combined, right. The
Ashley:world would look so different.
Aaron:Speaking of it, working out very well for Mr. Crock. Today there are 40,000 McDonald's worldwide in over 120 countries. They bring in almost 75 billion per day. What? At McDonald's? Yes. You gotta believe it. Over 69 million people eat McDonald's in one day. That's how many customers they serve.
Garret:That's insane.
Aaron:If McDonald's was actually an economy, they would be the 90th biggest economy in the world. That's compared to most countries and ah, that's huge. Yeah. Couple more interesting facts. They employ 1.7 million employees one in eight people in the US have worked for McDonald's
Ashley:All right. I had read one in three, so I was like, oh, look at
Aaron:us up. It's one in three. I'm a guilty party, I got fired, but, you know, whatever. Yeah. But you work there. We all do. Yeah. I did kinda fashion employed there. Some famous people that have worked for McDonald's pink Rachel McAdams, Jay Leno. and Jeff Bezos, so, there's a hope for us all. No kidding.
Ashley:Have you ever gone to a McDonald's in another country or another state where there's different foods?
Garret:I've definitely have. Cause I lived in Australia. Right.
Ashley:Mackeys or whatever you said
Garret:Macas. Mm-hmm. like M A C C A.
Ashley:Yeah. I just always thought they put an I, you know, like the Barbie Raleigh. So I was doing an e cause they do like to just trail.
Aaron:to a McDonald's in Kuwait City.
Ashley:And were there any different food
Aaron:items? If I remember correctly, I don't think they had any beef.
Ashley:A McDonald's without beef seems very strange to me. The one in Hawaii has a lot of rice and Portuguese sausage, for breakfast. When we go to Hawaii, you're like, you're gonna McDonald's? I'm like, dude, their Portuguese sausage is really good. and then the spam there. Yes. There's spam on the menu. Mm Wow. And then I was thinking, Aaron, when you and I were in London, we didn't go in'em, but we passed'em and I was like, oh my God, these McDonald's are so fancy. They had really cool seating with animal print couches It doesn't even look like a McDonald's. And then the last story I have, cuz I don't necessarily plan on going to McDonald's on other places, but it is like, let's go in and see what's different. So the last time we were in Switzerland, it was the first time I had seen the like,, order of your own, which they have a lot of'em here now. Where you don't even go to a person, you just order it and then they give it to Oh, the touch screen. Yeah. So we order it, it was$36 for two what? For two, which now in the US it's standard, but they, I was gonna say,
Aaron:yeah, now this was like, I
Ashley:can drop that four years ago, And it wasn't nothing special on the menu there. I didn't find anything there that was any different than here. I was like, who, dude, you're rolling in it. I felt very rich, but also very old and cranky. Like 36 I don't wanna,
Aaron:Keep your burger.
Garret:Yeah. I don't remember Australia having anything different. I think I've been in Canada Scotland and Australia would be the three places. I probably have had McDonald's, but I can't say that anything was different. I do remember eating a Quarter Pounder in Scotland and I don't know if they were served Mad Cow or whatever, but I couldn't even finish it cuz the beef tasted so weird.
Ashley:I was like this maybe it was like organic, you like no additives or anything like
Garret:fresh? No, it like, that would be good. This just tasted different, maybe bed
Aaron:burger
Ashley:maybe. Well is it McDonald's in Australia not have the bee root
Garret:yes. They did, I don't know if it was called the mc oz or whatever. And I love it. If you have a chance to try it, they put bee root on it or they call it bee root instead of beets. Yeah. And it's delicious. It's absolutely so good on a burger. I love beets too. Everything was so similar in Australia to hear food-wise they serve of kangaroo there. Yes. and we don't eat kangaroo here, but you know, as far as McDonald's mostly everything was the same
Ashley:Not a big culture shock
Garret:yeah.
Aaron:I just have a few more facts more facts. I'm a facts guy, there are more McDonald's in the US than there are hospitals. interesting. There are 14,350 McDonald's, and there are only 10,660 hospitals.
Ashley:it's wonder there aren't more hospitals due to McDonald's.
Aaron:so Because there are so many McDonald's there's nowhere in the US that you can be that's farther than 115 miles away from the nearest McDonald's.
Ashley:Which is like a, national desert or something
Aaron:yeah, it's somewhere North Dakota like that out there, and if you are interested in owning your own McDonald's or starting your own franchise, McDonald's actually has Hamburger University in Chicago where you can learn all the ins and outs of owning and starting your new franchise. Just a case I
Ashley:knew someone in the Coast Guard who went to Hamburger University, I was like, what I mean, he was in the Coast Guard, so clearly it didn't work out at Hamburg University, but that was the first time I've ever heard of it. I was like, don't tell people that I
Aaron:can just picture the, the degree looking like, your Happy Meal coupon with
Ashley:like hamburger shaped, or
Aaron:maybe it's a really touted degree. if you have a degree from Hamburger University, let us know
Ashley:send us a picture and we're very proud of you. I'm sorry that I said that. Mm-hmm. that's about it. I do have some more interesting facts, but I'll try to throw'em in there before the end of the episode. I need to know. In your research, did you find any information on these strange and mysterious background characters? so When I was looking through, I saw, this hodgepodge of characters. And I wanted the universe. I wanna know what's going on. I wanna know how everybody met.
Aaron:I found, this weird show, or a, a YouTube video. It was called The Convoluted History of McDonald Land's Characters. And it was pretty wild. A lot of these characters started in the early seventies. McDonald's had a dream like island called McDonald's land. it looked like something out of your worst nightmares, like, trees with faces It was made, to draw kids to really like McDonald's. Ashley said earlier, the craters of the jogger of course it had Ronald McDonald on there. It had the hamburger, which was originally the lone jogger. And he just, spoke rubbish. He looked like this really weird pointy face person. And he would come up with a trench coat and open up his trench coat and they would say the lone jogger on it. And he would grab a burger and go remember rub rubber and then run away
Ashley:That's so weird. we'll call him the Mick Flasher
Aaron:Oh
Garret:God, you wanna see some fries?
Aaron:his character was so creepy. according to this video, he disappeared for a while. And they brought back almost an ana animatronic version, like Chucky cheese
Garret:Oh gosh
Aaron:his name is Hamilton B ler, hamburger Hamburglar Hamilton burglar There was also other characters that were in the playground. Officer big. I remember him. Yeah. Birdie, the early bird, which was a yellow bird,
Ashley:Mm-hmm. but she had pilot goggles on. Or like, a launchpad hat.
Aaron:it didn't really say anything about her. Then they had the fry kids. But the one that I found the weirdest was grimace. he was this purple blob with four arms that was known for stealing milkshakes from, people on the island.
Garret:I have a question. is this like a fantasy thing that they were creating? Or is did the island actually exist? They were trying to build this.
Aaron:No, this said advertisement campaign
Garret:This was a commercial.
Ashley:Right. It's not, you go and visit like a Disney cruise. or,
Aaron:in the seventies, this was a, campaign that they had it was a McDonald's land theme they show'em on the island, it would show'em going to school. Kids walking around, picking up french fries and just eating them they were growing wild,
Ashley:Since you said that though, garrett, in my mind, I picture like, What that island would look like now. It'd be like one of those creepy, abandoned posts where it's like old animatronic, oh God. Hamilton Burg
Aaron:or something. Zack Bains from uh, ghost Adventures would be there. Like, oh
Garret:Yeah. Somewhere the Joker would make us hide out or something.
Aaron:Old man hamburger would live there. rubble. Rubble, so they had a whole family tree for Grimace. He had a grandmother named Winky, a great grandmother named Jenny, two aunts, milli and Tilly Uncle O Grimace that would bring Shamrock shakes on St. Patrick's Day. And his brother was the Lord of the Grimaces, his name was King. Conga Don't ask me, man. I just work here.
Ashley:what is the purpose of the history.
Aaron:I guess there was a Ronald McDonald Land cartoon for a while and most of these characters were on the, okay,, not all of them, because some of them they showed were really creepy.
Ashley:They're like, it's supposed to attract children. And said, they're like, ha ha, running
Garret:out. I need to look this up. what was the name of the show?
Aaron:I don't know. It was just showing clips
Garret:the wacky adventures of
Aaron:Ronald McDonald. I bet that's it.
Garret:So the cartoon kind of looks like the animation is like, almost like rug rats ish. Looky like,
Ashley:What year are we looking at?
Garret:This could be wrong, but it says 98 till 2003. Wow.
Aaron:Yeah.
Ashley:Okay. Do you even see Ronald anymore? Remember there used to be a bench. think they re
Garret:I think they retired him.
Ashley:Oh,
Aaron:I have many pictures next to those benches though.
Ashley:Do you? Yeah. Where he's sitting. Yeah. He have his arm. And you like sat with him?
Aaron:Well, we always used to do like not so friendly things, so take pictures.
Ashley:No wonder they were tired and they're like, you're ruining it.
Aaron:Sorry. Ron
Garret:I was so young. Speaking of Ronald McDonald, did you guys ever see what he used to originally look like?
Aaron:Creepy as
Garret:oh my god. I printed it out. I don't know if you can see it.
Ashley:Oh my gosh, that's not even the one that I saw. Does he have a cup on his face?
Garret:Yes.
Ashley:Look, that is stuff of my nightmares,
Garret:And he has remember the girls that would walk around with the soda things? Oh yeah. And like popcorn and stuff. He has that on his head. I was like no wonder they revamped this. is
Aaron:Yeah, I did see that the original Ronald McDonald was fired because they said he was too fat. Yeah.
Ashley:He was probably getting free
Aaron:McDonald's Speaking of being fired fact that I didn't get to tell you guys, so in the beginning car Croc did not believe in hiring females. When he first started opening McDonald's. He thought that hiring females would attract. Teenagers with displeasing personalities.
Ashley:with boners is basically what he is.
Aaron:and you boner So I don't know how true this is, but I was reading and it said that, when he finally agreed hire women, they had to be flat chested for them to be hired
Ashley:I just love that they can do that. what are you, like an a, a beat? No, No. Bullet bras. Oh my God. This is forties. Those sexist back then in stupid unsavory teenagers coming around. mucking up the place.
Garret:Mm-hmm. There's sex
Ashley:Now anything goes at McDonald's. You know how they have that people of Walmart? I feel like there would be a people of Mac.
Aaron:Employees. Of McDonald's.
Ashley:it's not an easy job. easy?
Aaron:Oh yeah. They're way underpaid. And with
Ashley:so anybody who does it? Oh, that, Props. that and nursing I'm glad there are people out there who can do it because it ain't gonna be me.
Garret:Mm-hmm. you wanna clean up poop? No, not
Aaron:me.
Ashley:You can't pay me at, no. Hey, is that a McDonald's or nursing?
Garret:Maybe both. little lay little bean.
Ashley:All right. Oh, now we can do foods so we're gonna go through our go-tos, liked and loved, disco, Ones that came in, went, that didn't really work out so well. And then ones that were fails So Garrett, you've got a pretty good list. what did you like and love?
Garret:The things that I absolutely loved and probably still order today. the double cheeseburger classic easy. Although something for me, is their use of ketchup. not to say that I don't like ketchup, but I hate ketchup on my burgers now. Cannot stand it.
Ashley:I do remember you ordering without ketchup. Now that you've said that,
Garret:because you would order and they would just be like, boom. Just ketchup all over this damn burger. And that's all you would taste. Or it would just be a condiment city.
Ashley:I feel like a lot of do that with mayonnaise. I'm like, stab
Garret:it. There's something with ketchup on burgers it takes it to overly sweet, and I like sweet and salty, but not with that, it's just, yeah. But double cheeseburgers are some of my favorites. The select strips. Do you guys remember those?
Aaron:they're on my, my favorite mad that they're discontinued list. Oh. Yes. That was my go-to for sure. That in snack wraps, man. Oh man, I love those. I do remember the
Ashley:snack wraps. Good. Okay. What I was reading was, that since C O V D, they've even taken out a lot more. So are these gone since covid or did a lot of airless leave before Covid?
Aaron:The selects left because of demand. I believe they couldn't keep up with demand,
Ashley:which seems terrible because you're like, you have something that people love and they will buy it. They were
Aaron:good.
Garret:busting. I think they were having issues with like getting chicken or something like they just couldn't keep up. so the strips were amazing. Fries, of course. I mean, their fries are just crack. I actually think they put drugs in their fries
Ashley:they're just, and they're pancakes, huh?
Aaron:It's a thing. Yeah. Mm-hmm. fries are actually McDonald's biggest seller. That's their biggest menu item. Non
Ashley:fries. And they're crispy Yeah, I get it.
Aaron:They spend 4.7 billion on potatoes for their fries and they sell 13 billion servings every year.
Garret:The other one that I liked is Quarter Pounder with Cheese. That's a favorite. And the breakfast items that I love sausage biscuit with egg, that is my go-to jam for the morning. They're biscuits with sausage and eggs. You add cheese on there, so good. McGriddles and egg McMuffins I like them and if people get me them, I'm like, Hey, go to McDonald's and get me something, you know, on your way to whatever, I don't know, some imaginary thing that we're doing I'm not gonna be mad that you bring home an egg muffin.
Ashley:They're gonna throw it in my face and be like, what is this? How dare Peasant] How dare
Garret:you. yeah, But the, the biscuit is my favorite. the other ones are good, but mm. Biscuit.
Ashley:Yeah. Top it's not like, they're making anything special. What is it that's in it that we're like, yeah, I don't know, because I do like their breakfast stuff. I'm definitely the McGriddle. I have a funny story on that because Dustin thinks that he invented the McGriddle. Just he thinks that McDonald's stole it from him. What? In college, him and his friends would make different kinds of tacos, cuz tacos were like really big here. And they would do pancakes with sausage and like eggs and make a taco. And then when they came out with the McGriddle, he was like, No, I've been doing that and I did bring up the sausage corn dog that we were talking about earlier, So I'm like, did you, but if you ask him,, he came up with it it's a sensitive subject. So be careful,
Aaron:so my brief career at McDonald's we would take a Big Mac bun, so you have the top, the middle and the bottom. And then we would do a crispy chicken and a grilled chicken and then like hook it all up. Dang. I could Busing. Busing. It was so good. could made a menu. Plus we were always really stoned. So anything was really
Ashley:Just, you've just incriminated. Allegedly.
Aaron:Allegedly Yeah, I was mixed, like allegedly mixed stone.
Ashley:Me and dirty talking Grim.
Garret:what regular menu items were your favorite ash?
Ashley:my go-to was the quarter pounder or the double cheeseburger meal. I did like the pies too, but it was one of those again, it's nothing special. I was almost like, I cannot believe I'm ordering one of these fried pies. They look dumb. They come in a
Aaron:little pocket stupid. Wait, wait,
Garret:the apple pie.
Aaron:It used to be Fri. Yeah. Is it not fried? Yes, it did too. It used to be fried. No, no, no,
Garret:no, no. I, no, no. Sorry. I'm not saying that. It's not I'll talk about that thing for like the, the fails for
Ashley:me. Okay. Listen here. Mr. Snooty pants, nobody's going to McDonald's because their pallet is refined. All right. So you can make fun of
Aaron:anything that I,
Garret:I can totally make fun of. No, you know what, I'll just put it in here now. Okay, so I call that thing the death apple pie because that's LA Pie. They literally, because they would bake it in the middle of the frigging sun and the radiation levels that would come off this thing as you eat, it would just be like from a nuclear fallout. These things were so hot. They would liquefy your insides.
Ashley:Yeah, I'm surpris. They didn't have a lawsuit. They had the coffee lawsuit with the hot coffee. Yeah. I'm surprised they didn't have an apple pie one. Cuz there is a point. You know it's gonna be hot, so you wait, but you still want it warm and so the edges are cool. So you kind of snip in there and as soon as you hit that middle, you're like,
Aaron:sh I It's still You got a hot tap? Tap.
Garret:breathe. But don't swallow like they said the flavor was apple, but the flavor was hot because that's all you tasted was just hot lava in your mouth. So like no, they, those were awful. Terrible. No. Do you like the
Aaron:other pies? The birthday pies? Pies? I never had I had any of'em. Oh, they are
Garret:what's in'em? Yeah, they have they're
Aaron:birthday cake. Birthday pies. Yeah, it's like confetti. There's pumpkin pies that are really good. What? No pies. They do, uh, strawberries and cream That's pretty good. Dang.
Ashley:Okay. I gotta get up on my pie game.
Aaron:But no doubt. The birthday pies that's where it's at. Right there.
Ashley:I was looking at a thing where they used to have cookies too. They were like animal crackers in the shape.
Aaron:You don't remember those? No. That's how my discontinued that I missed.
Garret:I do remember those.
Aaron:Yeah. The little character cookies. They actually make chocolate chip cookies. do you know that?
Ashley:I do know that. I've never gotten one. Are they? Okay,
Garret:so I will give them this. if you tell them to make it fresh, They're really freaking good. my coworker got'em and I'm like, you're eating McDonald's cookies. And she's like,
Aaron:don't do, do that.
Ashley:She's like, put this in your mouth. Put your mouth
Aaron:Don't do that.
Garret:She's like, try it before you say anything else. And so I was like, fine. I like three or four of'em. I was like, these are good. She's like, you have to tell'em to make it fresh. Otherwise, it's, they're not as good
Ashley:like a subway cookie. Like They're pretty good. I don't expect it to be good. So that might be the thing. It's like, is your expectation here? And you're like, yeah, these are good cuz what I thought they were gonna be, or they're like legit good. can compare to other cookies. Good.
Garret:They were pretty darn good for fresh made cookies.
Ashley:I gotta go get some McDonald's cookies. Okay. Fresh. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Aaron:Yeah. Growing up I was always a Big Mac and a French fry guy. I mean, of course Happy Meal when you're a kid, but. Yeah. And then when the dollar menu came out, when I was in the Air Force we survived off the dollar menu for a couple years. We had a McDonald's, maybe a block or two away from an apartment we lived in. we could always somehow find the money for partying and, but when it came down to food, we would've to scrape up nickels and dimes and go get a, a cheeseburger for a dollar I had a bucket hat that we would just kind of throw our change. And I just remember going one time and setting that bucket hat on the counter being like, Like counting out this chain. You're
Ashley:like, what will this
Aaron:get me at? at the McDonald's? Like you? Yeah. On the counter of the McDonald's. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Imagine being by, I would've
hated
Ashley:you in line.
Aaron:You're like, oh, yeah. They knew us at this McDonald's so much though. Like I had this piece of crap car that only had drive. It didn't have reverses. what
Ashley:You're like past the window and they're like, sir, we need you to back up. You're like, no,
Aaron:you're gonna have I'll outside. Oh man, that car got me in all kinds of trouble. But that's for a whole nother podcast, Yeah. Oh, I'd love to
Ashley:do one on our first cars, or our cars Our favorite
Aaron:car cars. Our favorite car, our biggest piece of
Hamburgler:Rebel.
Aaron:card. But yeah, now the only time I ever really go to McDonald's now is for breakfast. And it's always two breakfast burritos, hash brown and a iced coffee is usually what I get. That's my go-to now.
Garret:Their breakfast is, I think is go, I don't feel like weighted down too crazy after I eat a McDonald's breakfast.
Aaron:Yeah, it's not bad. And the one I go to is, is very close to my shop. I know. Mm-hmm. They're clean and they're quick. So I know I can get in and out,
Ashley:there's that.
Aaron:Convenience. Yep.
Garret:Convenience.
Ashley:Convenience, convenience. Okay. I do have a, a serious question. the make McRib, do we love it or do we hate it?
Aaron:Love,
Garret:I hate that thing
Ashley:oh, terrible. I'm balancing us. I'm in the middle, I'll eat one. I'm not waiting for it to come, but it's cool. It's all right.
Garret:No, my dad. So Jim, cuz I'd never had it before and I remember him you would've think this thing was like, made a gold and I was, What is so good about it. He's like, oh, it's just the sauce and this. So I'm thinking this thing is like one of theirs it up. You're like, yeah, so high. The bar is like, on Mars So I went there one day, ordered it, got it back home, sat down at our kitchen table.
Ashley:Oh man. I was like, man, lit a candle.
Garret:yeah, I had a bite and I was like, what
Hamburgler:Rebel.
Ashley:Is this? Is
Garret:this texture? And so I, I took another bite and the sauce was awful. It just tastes like ketchup with maybe a little bit more vinegar or water The bread, like
Ashley:what kind of bread is a McRib on? I don't remember
Aaron:that. Dooo bread. like a hoggy. But the mc, McRib, I think Garrett, you and I talked about this earlier. There's there's no rib in the mc McRib at all,
Ashley:right? No, there not. It's like meat that's just put together, like a
Aaron:nugget shoulder meat. It's from his shoulder. Yeah.
Ashley:Pork shoulder. Pork shoulder. The two things I wrote about the mc McRib is that it's, do you remember it's slogan?
Aaron:It's back.
Ashley:No, it's chomp.
Garret:It's back.
Ashley:it had a one word slogan and it was chomp and people remembered it. And I don't remember that at all. No, I And then it was created because they had a chicken shortage and they were like, oh my God, we're not gonna be able to keep up with our chicken.
Garret:The nuggets?
Ashley:Yeah, and so that was the whole reason the mcg, McRib even exists, but mm-hmm. I'm Mitzi, like I don't think I have had one since the, like back in the. Yeah. You know, I've seen the things where it's like, it's back. I'm like, okay, cool.
Aaron:Do you remember when, Walmarts had McDonald's in the back of'em? I don't know if they still do that or not. Yeah, I think they're in the front now. ours had it in the very back and it
Ashley:had, I remember them being, you had to walk back, but now it's like you walk in there to the left, like they're right. Mm-hmm. I think they made some kind of contracting. They're like, we need to be closer
Aaron:to this. Yeah, no, we need to get the, the ex entering and exit traffic, not the
Ashley:people. Well, plus it's genius cuz I have to eat before I, if I go grocery shopping, which I, I can't say I really go there up to Walmart to grocery shop, but if I would, I would wanna eat first and I'm like, You. It's a perfect like tag left, get you some food in your stomach otherwise dusts like, oh my god, you didn't eat, did you? I'm like, what's wrong with Turkey legs? Like,
Aaron:actually with the big old Turkey leg.
Ashley:but like I'm at the Ren fair. I'm
Aaron:When I worked at the Walmart there was a guy that went to high school with, he looked like Quasimoto, so we, we named him Quasi, but that's what we just called him. I can't think of his real name. But anyways, he worked at the McDonald's in
Ashley:the back. Did he like lean into that? Was he like Yeah. Oh
Aaron:yeah. He got there. Yeah, he was cool with it. Wow. I don't know if he actually knew what who Quasimoto was or, oh
Ashley:no. But he found out later in the
Aaron:McDonald's. I just remember him bringing me a whole sack of M McRibs and we just sat there and just devoured
Ashley:bathroom. How many, are we talking like five?
Aaron:12 or so. Like I didn't eat 12. I probably ate four of'em though,
Garret:All right. I was about to have convulsions.
Aaron:but would do this multiple times. This wasn't just a one time thing. I would at least eat two every shift he was working. I'd like hook it up quasi. Oh my gosh. But what
Garret:did you like about the McRib?
Aaron:I just I don't know. It's kinda
Ashley:smokey. I feel like I had like a little flavor.
Aaron:Yeah, that's got a little, little sauce. A little pizzazz. You know, a little something you could probably go to save-a-lot and buy the fake McRib I would go eat those right now.
Ashley:Probably just microwave'em.
Aaron:Oh yeah. Boil grill, boil. boiled McRib. I say that's maybe what I got. Sounds delicious. I'm gonna go over a few items that were that. Weren't necessarily flops or anything and see if you guys remember'em. So do you guys remember the salad shakers? Yes, I do. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I really like those. And I was sad to see those go.
Garret:I liked them, but apparently they were worse for you than eating the
Ashley:burger. Oh, no. Was there just a lot in them? I felt like that with the price depressing. I love that parfait, but I'm like, I know this is not good for me. This is like Sugar city.
Aaron:And then I had the the little animal character cookies. Chicken selects. We already talked about those. I miss What about the bagels, man? did they not do the
Ashley:bagels? Bagels anymore? I did like those bagels.
Aaron:were gone, man. They're
Ashley:gone. They were pretty basic, but I don't know.
Garret:Bagel or biscuit? I'm gonna do biscuit 10 out of 10 times.
Aaron:Do you guys remember the mc Jordan, when we were kids of Michael Jordan Burger? No. What in
Garret:a blip comes back, but I don't remember if I had it or not though.
Ashley:I feel like I remember him on the commercials. Yeah. But I do not remember if that was just Michael Jordan on a McDonald's commercial or that he
Aaron:did him, especially around the Olympics. You know, ham, Larry Bird, Barkley, mm-hmm. they all did a lot of McDonald's commercials. Now Garrett, do you remember the triple superhero burger? It was released for Batman Forever. I couldn't figure out why it tied into it. It was three patties. It looked pretty good, but I don't know what it had to do with Batman forever.
Garret:it doesn't ring a bell at all.
Ashley:And I'm assuming you're only asking Garrett because he's older than me. and he would remember. I know exactly why you're asking. I was like, I mm-hmm. would like you to not assume that I have not done a bat
Aaron:member group. Okay.
Ashley:I'm feeling very excluded.
Garret:So I'm looking at it and it almost looks like it's on a longer
Aaron:fun. Yeah,, a burgers, like the Batman symbol, like how it's more oval
Garret:I don't know if it's just the pictures, but I don't remember having this, no.
Aaron:Okay. And then the big and tasty what made it
Ashley:big and and tasty? It was just like extra large or
Aaron:It was big and it was tasty.
Ashley:the descriptive words in those,
Aaron:like
Ashley:Kind. What I expect
Aaron:I do remember the big and Tasty had. Round bacon That was like the shape of the Yes. Yes. It was like they, I do remember that. Yeah. Yes. I thought that was good for a while. So ones I have on my list that these were ones that came and went. These weren't necessarily the ones that I loved, but they did at one point try a bratwurst out. Ch Brot. They did a cheddar melt Yep. To try to compete with Arby's.
Ashley:Right., they did a Mcil.
Aaron:Mm-hmm. Oh,
Ashley:they did some mighty chicken wings. Corn dogs. And then they tried to do pasta at one point and people were like, what are you doing? So it was like Alfredo Spaghetti and Lasagna.
Aaron:Yes. Mixed spaghetti. Yep.
Ashley:No. Yeah. And like I'd mentioned earlier, they had a mc lobster that, they took away but is still served in New England area
Aaron:do they still, so they had aem, a Crabb Canada and a Mc lobster to try to, it's
Ashley:like one of those things where I'm like, would I, yeah, I would, I really would. No, never. I would, I would not.. you don't do seafood though. You don't care. I
Aaron:know, but even if I did
Garret:I don't think I could do.
Aaron:Never. And then the mc d l t. was where it came with the bottom of the burger and the patty. The container had two separate compartments where the burger was on one side. Yeah. And the lettuce tomato, because
Ashley:they wanted like hot things, hot, cold things cold. And people were like,?why am I building? I don't work here. You see a name tag,
Aaron:work here. The reason that flopped so hard was because of the size of, the styrofoam container. And that was during like the styrofoam. Oh. Where they're like, you're using too much. And that was, so, that's why that really flopped.
Ashley:Huh? Oh, I also have They came out with the McLean. Is that on a flop? Like them McLean, 91% Fat-free burger.
Garret:Do you know why?
Ashley:because it supersized me.
Garret:No, it was made with 90% beef, 10% was water and then there was a derivative of seaweed I think it was a binder And I was like, who did you try my mine? No, I don't remember trying it. but what were they thinking? Seaweed. I did see one that they were trying to do meat alternatives and they did just a pineapple slice.
Aaron:Yeah. So that's on my list. That was the hula burger
Ashley:But it wasn't like meat in a pineapple, it was
Aaron:just a No. Yeah. It was just a
Ashley:huge, I wonder if they still served that in the Hawaiian
Aaron:ones. I bet that's what I was gonna ask you. I don't think they do. So the owner invented a couple things for lint for people to eat. Oh, okay. Cause they can't eat meat. So that's how the fish filet was invented.
Ashley:You know what I didn't understand about the fish filet is I never put seafood really with cheese. Excluding shrimp Alfred. I always would see the filet and then like this slice of cheese melted on it and and I'm like, I don't understand.
Aaron:yeah, So there was the Mick Pizza that flopped. They said the pizza was actually really good, but it it took too long to prepare to keep up with the rest
Ashley:of all the They're not for that.
Aaron:We already talked about the mc brat and the Mick hotdog. there was actually for us a limited time onion nuggets. looked like a chicken.
Ashley:I read that they started as onion nuggets and then turned into the chicken McNuggets
Aaron:Really? see, I didn't see that. They were little pieces of fried onion,, like
Ashley:that was in like the seventies. I saw the advertis.
Garret:I would totally eat that. That sounds
Ashley:good. I eat that too. I think there
Aaron:are things, lemon onion, like yum. Speaking of we didn't talk about that. chicken McNuggets, yeah, that's one of the most popular items. It is one of the highest calorie items. But did you know that there are four different shapes of chicken nuggets and they all have different names? What, Ashley, why does that offend you,
Ashley:Ashley? I just, what are we doing as a society? I just don't, I dunno. It's making me rethink everything.
Aaron:but when you hear the names and now when you see the chicken nugget, you're gonna be like, well, this is either a boot, a bone boom, a bell or a ball.
Ashley:Okay. They're all bees.
Aaron:Yeah, they all are very similar shape
Ashley:like,
Aaron:Which one are you? Little boot. Little boot. Hmm. Yeah. I don't really do the nuggets I like strips. If they were crunchy chicken strips, those were good, but like nuggets, I'm like, eh, The only time I ever. eat a chicken nugget really is the, if I get like a FOFA FO from Wendy's you know what I'm talking about? And they come with the little nuggets. No,
Ashley:four for four for Wendy's. I've never heard of that
Aaron:It's a four for four. I I get get four nuggets for$4. No, you get four items, you get a burger fries. Oh, a drink and nugs for four bucks.
Ashley:And they do have the$5 biggie bag, which you can kind of upgrade, but Hey, hey, hey. Quit talking about the competition
Aaron:save it for the Wendy's episode. for real well this this is a McDonald's show a Wendy show. So they came out with this sandwich, it was called the me Africa. I read that and it had pita bread it looked really good. It sounded delicious. But they said the problem was the timing that they decided to bring it out. They were celebrating Africa when Africa was going through the worst famine in recorded history. So they quit because they felted, it was insensitive to Africa. I got just a couple more. There was the McStuffins. Which is pretty much a hot pocket I don't even
Ashley:think I could order a mixed oven. I'll have fries and a coke and a mixed stuff. And especially if you got the 16 year old, they're like, yeah, you will.
Aaron:Yeah, you will.
Garret:Cause that's all of a sudden, porn music starts playing in the back.
Ashley:she ordered the mixed of it.
Aaron:Was that sexy? Yeah. And then the last couple there was the Mick Catfish sandwich, which obviously it did not turn out.
Ashley:I feel like in certain areas the mc catfish would be okay. Like Louisiana, but here it would
Aaron:probably, if it was decent catfish. I
Ashley:was just gonna say that is there's also Those people make their own catfish and fry it up and they're like, mine's better.
Aaron:And then the last one, was the mixed soup. It was this cup of vegetable soup that looked like grog,
Ashley:soup is not a to-go item. you're not driving down the road, blowing on your soup
Aaron:Panera bread.
Ashley:I don't consider them fast food.
Garret:I think they're like a midy.
Aaron:I feel like they're
Ashley:a pickup take home because even their sandwiches are difficult.
Garret:I guess you're right.
Aaron:All right. Well, anything to add?
Garret:Did we already go through the dislikes?
Ashley:I don't wanna ask cuz Garrett's gonna say pancakes, which is just rude. I don't really have any dislikes. Do I?
Garret:really?
Ashley:I think if I'm not gonna like it, I probably don't try it. I, I have never, had the fish sandwich. Cuz again, the cheese thing is weird for me. Yeah. And I don't feel like I really go out on a limb when I go. I'm not like, oh, what new can I try at McDonald's I'm usually hanky and I'm starving and I'm trying to get somewhere because I stopped there as a last resort and I'm like, just gimme the Quarter Pounder, you know?
Aaron:I say it like that too. Okay. Fish filet. That's my only one.
Garret:I guess we already have gone over most of the ones organically that I don't like, including the hot cakes.
Ashley:Oh yeah. They're called hot cakes.
Garret:Hot garbage. More like it
Ashley:I'm gonna start calling, doesn't it? Hey, head cakes. a little hot. Oh gosh. It's cute. I don't know if there's anything else. I'm, excited for our next, McDonald's series just about the toys.
Aaron:cool. Mm-hmm. All right, as usual, thanks for listening. follow us on all social media and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts.
Ashley:anybody wanna go visit McDonald Land? Creepy island?
Aaron:No. I do.
Ashley:I say that I don't do scary things
Aaron:I'm all over it. Let's go
Ashley:I just feel like it would be, the flasher No,
Aaron:the lone jogger.
Ashley:The lone jogger would be like on remember on Labyrinth. Such weird when like the Rock guys were like, but I haven't got to do it for such a long time. rubber rubble rub rubber, please let flash you he's still living there. Just waiting.
Aaron:Hamilton b Erler,