50 Fun Facts About McDonald's

In which California city did the McDonald brothers open the original McDonald's restaurant in 1940?

The brothers had run an earlier food stand in Monrovia with their father before moving out along Route 66.

What was Ray Kroc selling when he first visited the McDonald brothers in 1954?

The brothers had bought eight of his Prince Castle Multimixers, and Kroc went to see why one stand needed so many.

Ray Kroc's first franchised restaurant opened in 1955 in which Illinois town?

It was actually the ninth McDonald's overall, but the corporation dates itself from Kroc's April 15, 1955 opening.

For what sum did Ray Kroc buy out the McDonald brothers in 1961?

The figure was set so each brother would clear $1 million after taxes; they lost the right to their own name and had to rebrand their original stand The Big M.

What was the brothers' streamlined kitchen method, the fast food industry's template, called?

They fired their 20 carhops, replaced plates with paper and cut the menu to nine items when they launched it in 1948.

Before Ronald McDonald, what was the chain's original mascot?

The Golden Arches replaced him as the universal symbol in 1962, a year before the clown arrived.

The Golden Arches were originally two real yellow arches on the building. Who sketched the idea?

Richard McDonald drew the rough sketch; the brothers went through several architects who wanted to change or drop the arches before Meston agreed to build two 25-foot neon-trimmed arches.

The Big Mac was invented by franchisee Jim Delligatti and first sold in 1967 in which Pennsylvania town?

Delligatti admitted he simply copied the Big Boy double-decker, and the burger went national in 1968.

Which of these was a rejected early name for the Big Mac?

The Blue Ribbon Burger also flopped; the winning name came from Esther Glickstein Rose, a 21-year-old advertising secretary at headquarters.

In the 1974 jingle, a Big Mac's patties, sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions sit on what?

The special sauce is similar to Thousand Island dressing, and the bun has three slices to hold the two patties apart.

The Economist uses the price of which McDonald's item to compare the buying power of world currencies?

The index was introduced in 1986 by Pam Woodall as a semi-humorous illustration of purchasing power parity and gave the world the word 'burgernomics'.

The Filet-O-Fish was invented in 1962 by a Cincinnati franchisee whose sales dropped every Friday. Why?

Lou Groen's store was in the heavily Catholic Monfort Heights area, and until 1966 Catholics skipped meat on Fridays all year round.

Ray Kroc's meat-free rival to the Filet-O-Fish was a grilled slice of what?

The Hula Burger put pineapple and cheese on a cold bun; the fish sandwich 'won hands down' and was nationwide by 1965.

The Egg McMuffin, invented in 1972 by Herb Peterson, was designed to resemble which breakfast dish?

The perfectly round egg comes from cooking it in a ring mould, and the first officially authorised one was served in Belleville, New Jersey.

According to McDonald's, Chicken McNuggets come in four shapes: the ball, the bell, the boot and what?

The shape is also called the bone; the recipe was created in 1979 by René Arend, the company's first executive chef, a native of Luxembourg.

The McRib, introduced in 1981, is made from what meat?

The patty is restructured boneless shoulder meat shaped like a tiny rack of ribs, and it is a permanent menu item in Germany and Luxembourg.

Since the 1980s, what flavour has McDonald's March-only Shamrock Shake been?

By 1973 it was just a green-dyed vanilla shake; the earlier version used lemon-lime sherbet.

Proceeds from Shamrock Shakes helped fund the first Ronald McDonald House in 1974, in which city?

The daughter of a Philadelphia Eagles player was being treated for leukaemia, and the team, the children's hospital and Ray Kroc raised the money together.

Until 1990, McDonald's fries in the US were cooked mainly in what?

The switch to vegetable oil followed a newspaper-ad campaign by heart-attack survivor Phil Sokolof, and in 2002 the chain paid $10 million to settle suits over labelling the fries vegetarian.

The Happy Meal went national in the US in which year?

The very first tie-in was a Star Trek Meal promoting Star Trek: The Motion Picture that December.

The Happy Meal grew out of a 1970s 'Ronald Menu' created by a franchisee's wife in which country?

Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño's bundle of a hamburger, small fries and a sundae was later developed into the boxed meal by ad man Bob Bernstein.

The Quarter Pounder was created in 1971 by franchisee Al Bernardin in which city?

His slogan was 'Today Fremont, tomorrow the world', and it went national in 1973.

The McFlurry was invented in 1995 by a franchisee in which country?

Ron McLellan's Bathurst, New Brunswick store sold the first one, Oreo-flavoured, on June 7, 1995; the hollow-handled spoon attaches to a blender.

The first McDonald's drive-through opened in 1975 in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Who was it built to serve?

Troops from Fort Huachuca were not permitted to get out of their cars off-post while wearing fatigues, so a window was the answer.

The McCafé coffee-shop concept was created by McDonald's in which country in 1993?

It began in Melbourne, and locals there call the chain Macca's, a nickname it has used in official Australian branding.

Which television weatherman played the very first Ronald McDonald in 1963 Washington, D.C. commercials?

Scott had just finished playing Bozo the Clown on local TV; the familiar costume and make-up came later, from circus performer Coco the Clown in 1966.

When Grimace first appeared in 1971, what was he?

'Evil Grimace' tested badly, so McDonald's removed his extra arms and made him a lovable lump; the company has confirmed he represents a giant taste bud.

What does McDonald's say Grimace is meant to represent?

His 2023 birthday shake became an internet phenomenon, and his 2024 first pitch at Citi Field coincided with a Mets winning streak.

In 1973 the creators of which children's TV show sued McDonald's, claiming McDonaldland copied it?

Sid and Marty Krofft argued Mayor McCheese was a copy of their own mayor character; the Kroffts won and several McDonaldland characters were dropped.

What does the Hamburglar steal?

He and Grimace both started as villains and were softened over the years into lovable rogues.

Hamburger University, McDonald's management training school, awards its graduates a degree in what?

It began in 1961 with 14 students in a restaurant basement, and more than 275,000 people have since graduated.

In the 1994 hot coffee lawsuit, how old was plaintiff Stella Liebeck when she was burned?

She suffered third-degree burns from coffee served at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit; the jury found McDonald's 80 percent responsible.

The hot coffee jury's punitive award against McDonald's was later cut by the judge. To what figure?

The reduced figure was three times her $160,000 compensatory award, and the parties settled privately afterwards.

The McDonald's Monopoly promotion was halted in 2001 after what was discovered?

Jerome 'Uncle Jerry' Jacobson of Simon Marketing skimmed the winning pieces for years, a scheme later dramatised in the HBO series McMillions.

In the US Monopoly promotion, collecting which two properties traditionally wins the top cash prize?

The dark blue pair is printed so rarely that in some years the four railroads were briefly worth even more.

In 1992, who became the first celebrity to have a McDonald's value meal named after him?

The McJordan was sold only in Chicago, and a gallon of its barbecue sauce later sold for $10,000.

The 2016 film The Founder tells Ray Kroc's story. Who played him?

Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch played the McDonald brothers, and B. J. Novak played Harry Sonneborn, the man behind the real-estate strategy.

Which executive convinced Kroc that McDonald's real business was owning land under its restaurants?

The model built through McDonald's Franchise Realty Corp still holds: real estate is about 99 percent of the company's assets.

Roughly how much weight did Morgan Spurlock gain in 30 days in Super Size Me?

Within weeks of the premiere McDonald's dropped its Super Size option, though it said the decision was unrelated.

Sedona, Arizona has the only McDonald's arches that are not yellow. What colour are they?

City officials rejected yellow in 1993 as clashing with the red rock scenery, and the company's first alternative choice was accepted.

The Big Mac in India is sold under what name, since it contains no beef?

McDonald's even opened vegetarian-only restaurants in India, the first at Amritsar in 2012.

After leaving Russia in 2022, McDonald's sold its 850 restaurants to a buyer who reopened them under what name?

The name means roughly 'Tasty, and that's it', and the sale required that no McDonald's branding be used.

What did the McDonald brothers cut their menu down to when they relaunched their original stand in 1948?

The 15-cent hamburger was the star, alongside a cheeseburger, three soft drinks, milk, coffee, potato chips and pie.

The oldest McDonald's still operating, opened in 1953, is in which Los Angeles-area city?

It was the third McDonald's ever built and the second to feature the Golden Arches design.

Which Major League Baseball team did Ray Kroc own from 1974 until his death?

He bought the club after retiring from running McDonald's in 1973; his widow Joan later became one of the biggest philanthropists in America.

The Big Mac Index says the most expensive Big Mac in the world (as of 2015) was sold in which country?

The cheapest was India's Maharaja Mac, with Hong Kong the next cheapest for a real beef Big Mac.

Which pizza chain did McDonald's hold a majority stake in until 2006?

McDonald's owned Donatos Pizza until December 2003 and Boston Market until 2007, and held a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006.

Fred Turner, who became McDonald's CEO in 1973, started at the company in 1956 doing what job?

He was Operations Vice President by 1958, when the chain had just 34 restaurants, and he later succeeded Kroc as chairman.

The Big Mac Index describes itself as making exchange-rate theory more what?

The idea is that a Big Mac is a standard basket of goods sold in most countries, so its local price hints at whether a currency is over- or undervalued.

Which circus performer designed the Ronald McDonald costume and make-up in 1966?

Michael Polakovs, Coco's real name, also played Ronald himself for several years.