The Politics of McDonald's

And why I'm writing about it AGAIN

There was an interesting piece in Politico about how McDonald’s is embraced worldwide by politicians so that they can say they worked there. From a Brit:

“It’s seen as a shorthand for: I’m a man or woman of the people. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, quite the opposite: it’s saying I’m prepared to do hard graft. I earned my stripes. I’m like everyone else on the streets.” Source.

This made me think of questions. Like: how many countries have a McDonald’s? If you click the link to the map here, you can see where each country ranks in the number of McDonald’s and how much a Big Mac costs in each country.

Okay, that was for my own amusement. But it made me think about whether a candidate would be more appealing to the general electorate (worldwide) if they had worked at a McDonald’s.

I went looking for polling on this issue, and I could find none. I found information on how the US partisan press covered when the Convicted Felon (who would be barred from getting an actual job at McDonald’s due to a criminal conviction) did his photo op. Exactly what you’d expect. The right-wing press is insane. (Personal opinion.) I’m not going to share the articles from the right-wing because they are unsettling. Google if you must.

Why am I thinking about McDonald’s? I’ve been spending as much time as possible talking to undecided voters. This is much harder than regular canvassing, and it’s exhausting. When I turn on the TV, I am gobsmacked by the lies in the ads from MAGA-world. When I read on the internet, it’s overwhelming to see what people are writing about. I am in the middle of two books, both of which I recommend highly: one on political messaging, and the other on how to retire.¹

And so, I’ve been thinking about McDonald’s. And sadly, because I get tracked, and I Googled, now I keep getting all sorts of information on the place popping up for me. Did you know that McDonald’s feeds 1% of the world’s population every day? That 87% of all Americans eat there at least once a year? That the average American visits 54 times a year? Even more fun facts here.

I had not realized that McDonald’s was such a big deal. While as a company they are nowhere near the world’s largest employer, if you include the McDonald’s employees employed by franchises (and therefore not direct company employees) they are the second largest private employer in the world (after Walmart).

Certainly there are more interesting things to think about. For example, if you were Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, what will it feel like to walk in your new penthouse next week? Will Rudy have stripped out all he could, or will there be guards around to prevent his thievery? Will they sit on the furniture and imagine what it would be like to live there? Will they giggle about his taste? You can see some photos here, and I can tell you that is NOT my taste, especially the ceiling in the dining room, and the kitchen table blocking the fridge. (Your mileage may differ.) We all know that they won’t be living there, they’ll be selling. Hopefully, they WILL take a ride in their new Mercedes that was once owned by Lauren Bacall before they auction it off. The money they make will be life-changing, especially compared to their shared horror of the recent years. But if I were them, I would wish my original life had never been taken from me, no matter how opulent my new life might be.

I guess what I’m feeling is what a lot of people are feeling - on one hand that the election can’t come fast enough, and other hand that there are still so many undecided voters to talk to.

As a political junkie, my sleep is disrupted with questions like:

• Might we finally be rid of Anna Paulina Luna and Mariannette Miller-Meeks? It’s looking good, but fingers crossed.

• Might Janelle Stetson rout Scott Perry so he can be formally charged, and hopefully convicted? This will be a real squeaker, and I’ve got a good feeling.

• Can John Avlon pull it out in the NY 1st? Not counting on it, but would love if it happened. Looking really good for Laura Gillen in the next-door 4th. Face it, Anthony D'Esposito shouldn’t have put the woman with whom he was having an affair on the office payroll.

I could go on… but likely none of the rest of you keep detailed lists of Congressional races. And Senate races. And specific counties in the swing states. And spreadsheets of successful/unsuccessful voter conversations.

And so, I’m thinking about McDonald’s as a distraction. Something that SHOULD have nothing to do with politics. When I had a road job, my boss and I had to drive from Corpus Christie to San Antonio. Not that long a drive, only 2 hours, but we were hungry. The ONLY place to stop was a McDonald’s. And the ONLY things I could find on the menu to eat were an apple and a bottle of water. (This was decades ago, as I understand it “cookie” would now be a choice.)

Which brings me to a story about Texas. In 2008, I had to go on a business trip to Dallas. I also had to go meet a client in Prosper, which is tiny, and the roads aren’t direct. I got lost and ended up on a dirt road. There was a group of men doing some sort of work, and I was going to have to ask them for help because I wasn’t just lost, I was hopelessly lost. They were very helpful. And because I cannot help myself, and because I had Texas forms on me, I registered a few of them to vote because why miss an opportunity?² Dammit, even my memories are political <wan smiley face>.

Time to canvass!

1. I have told my bosses that I have a firm retirement date of Friday, 5 March, 2027, at 4 pm, but I’m taking the afternoon off. I wish I could retire earlier, but there is no one to take over my work.

2. Until everything went online, whenever I traveled, I always procured voter registration forms for the state(s) I was visiting. Just a habit.