There are multiple

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

s centering around the fast-food chain

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

. These legends include claims about the food and allegations of discrimination by the company.

Funding terrorism

In the late 1980s, rumors persisted in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that McDonald's was covertly funding the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

, which was designated as a terror organization, via

NORAID NORAID, officially the Irish Northern Aid Committee, is an Irish American membership organization founded after the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969. The organization states its mission is to aid in the creation of a United Ire ...

. The source of these rumors was eventually traced to a

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

talk show in which the company was praised for its generosity in providing funding for employees via

Individual Retirement Account An individual retirement account (IRA) in the United States is a form of pension provided by many financial institutions that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. It is a trust that holds investment assets purchased with a taxpayer's e ...

s, or IRAs.

Unusual ingredients

Large companies have been the subject of rumors that they substitute unusual or

unethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

substances in their products, usually to decrease costs. McDonald's is not immune to such claims.

Earthworms

Dating back to at least 1978, this rumor claims that McDonald's restaurants use earthworms in their hamburgers. This "worm-in-the-burger" rumor was originally attached to

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

burgers.

Cow eyeballs

One belief is that McDonald's uses cow eyeballs in its products, permitting it to brand them as "100% beef". However, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

(USDA) mandates that all beef by-products, including cow eyeballs, be appropriately labeled. McDonald's has asserted that its products contain "100% pure USDA-inspected beef; no additives, no fillers, no extenders." In addition, cow eyeballs are actually more expensive than the more commonly eaten cow parts, due to demand from scientific institutions for experiments. A related claim is that McDonald's buys its meat from a company called "100% Beef", making it possible for McDonald's to call beef by-products and soy products "100% beef".

Mutant laboratory meat

Around March–April 2000, an internet rumor spread via e-mail in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

claimed that McDonald's meat was actually made from a

genetically modified animal Genetically modified animals are animals that have been genetically modified for a variety of purposes including producing drugs, enhancing yields, increasing resistance to disease, etc. The vast majority of genetically modified animals are at th ...

maintained in a laboratory, attributing the findings to the Michigan State University. The e-mail stated that the creatures kept were "figures without legs and without horns, which are fed through tubes connected to the stomach and which in fact have no bones, but a little cartilage that never develops", and "anyone who has seen them assures them that they are very unpleasant things, because in addition to remaining immobile all their 'life', they have no eyes, no tail and practically no fur; in fact the head is the size of a tennis ball". The e-mail carries on saying that "some irreversible health damage can be done by eating this meat, resulting in diseases who manifest themselves in a way similar to AIDS, and have symptoms related to Alzheimer's disease" and ends encouraging the reader to boycott McDonald's until it sells actual beef. The urban legend has also been attributed to other fast-food chains and animal products, such as KFC and mutant chickens.

Confectionery cheeseburgers

One story claims that if McDonald's cheeseburgers did not include pickles as an ingredient, the cheeseburger would be classed as a confectionery item. It stems from the belief that the sugar content in the bun is high, but adding a pickle then keeps the overall sugar percentage below the threshold of what is classed as confectionery. McDonald's have stated that this story is an urban legend.

Pig fat

This rumor is that McDonald's uses

pig fat Pig fat is generally the fat in pork. The fatty acid composition of pork is found to be slightly different from meat of other animals, such as beef and lamb. The proportion of fat in pork can vary from 10–16%, but can be higher depending on the cu ...

in its milkshakes, ice cream, and fried potatoes. McDonald's provides complete ingredient lists for all of its products on each of its regional websites: this includes unidentified fats within the ice cream used to make soft-serve cones and sundaes. The claim that McDonald's dairy products contain pig fat has been denied by the company on several occasions.

Pink slime

Around 2014, a photo of "

pink slime Pink slime (also known as lean finely textured beef or LFTB, finely textured beef, or boneless lean beef trimmings or BLBT) is a meat by-product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler, or to red ...

" or "pink goop" was widely shared and claimed to be what

Chicken McNuggets Chicken McNuggets are a type of chicken nuggets sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. They consist of small pieces of reconstituted boneless chicken meat that have been battered and deep fried. Chicken McNuggets w ...

were made of. This has led to McDonald's Canada releasing a video showcasing how Chicken McNuggets are actually made in response.

Racism

Rumors in 2011 proclaimed an image shows a McDonald's sign announcing a $1.50 surcharge for African-American customers. This was proven to be a hoax.

Drugs

Since 2015,

fake news website Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news websites) are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news— hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and ...

s have purported that McDonald's restaurants in Colorado are converting children's playgrounds to lounges for on-premises

cannabis consumption Cannabis consumption refers to the variety of ways cannabis is consumed, among which inhalation ( smoking and vaporizing) and ingestion are most common. All consumption methods involve heating the plant's THCA to decarboxylate it into THC, e ...

. The story has been disavowed by a McDonald's spokesperson.

Big Mac Conspiracy

The rumour says that hamburger button is actually a Big Mac that McDonald's has planted around internet to advertise the burger on multiple websites. The designer behind the hamburger menu item, Norm Cox, has not confirmed this claim.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

''Make Up Your Own Mind''
a site made by McDonald's, dedicated to clarifying myths and urban legends. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdonald's Urban Legends

Urban legends An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...