🍔 Season 1 Complete!
"there is nothing McDonald's doesn't touch"
We’ve completed ten episodes of Hamburger Business Review! Congrats to us, your hosts Mike Merrill and Zach Rose, and to you, our supporters and listeners. Did you miss an episode? You can go back and listen to them all here.
Paid subscriptions are now turned off as there are no new episodes coming, but thanks so much to our financial supporters! We will send out occasional updates letting you know what we’re working on.
👟 McTrot 2023
Last Thanksgiving, while his partner was working back-to-back shifts at the hospital, Zach set out to eat at every McDonald’s in Manhattan in 24 hours on foot. Two pairs of shoes, a four-hour nap, and 23 hours, 54 minutes after starting, he sank his teeth into an apple pie at the Wall Street location.
While it certainly felt successful, the truth is that he didn’t eat at the McDonald’s in the children’s section of Macy’s or the McDonald’s on Varick street because they were closed for the holiday. He finished having checked off only 48 of the island’s 50 McDonald’s restaurants.
He’s been on the StairMaster basically ever since. This year he’s confident he can close out all 50 and he’s looking to make it happen on Thursday, November 30th, 2023. If this sounds like something you or someone you know would be interested in, email Zach at zachrose@fastmail.com.
We will of course be keeping you all up to date on our various adventures, but this is a unique opportunity to join one of the most distinguished McDonald’s experts of our time in a truly historic attempt of fast food patronage.
📋 After Burgers
I wrote my personal After Action Review about season 1 here. The tl;dr is:
we didn’t really know what we were doing
the process changed and improved as we went
not all case studies are created equal
a weekly pace was too ambitious
🗂 Mike’s Tab Dump
I have a number of saved articles and links I gathered during the last few months and maybe you’ll find some of these interesting. I think it’s funny that all press seems to be bad press for McDonald’s.
April 8th, 2023: Work From the Office, Get Laid Off at Home
April 27th, 2023: Rev. Al Sharpton Threatens Action Against McDonald's Over Racial Discrimination
April 27th, 2023: The U.S. economy is losing steam. Bank woes and other hurdles are to blame.
May 2nd, 2023: Low wages, short hours drive many fast-food workers into homelessness
May 5th, 2023: You may never eat inside a fast food restaurant again
May 6th, 2023: The Death of a Place to Sit
May 7th, 2023: Burger King vs. McDonald’s (video/reel)
May 11th, 2023: Supreme Court Upholds California Law on Humane Treatment of Pigs
May 12th, 2023: Krispy Kreme set for doughnut ‘halo effect’ at McDonald’s and Target, say analysts
May 13th, 2023: Wendy's Makes a Key Change McDonald's, Burger King Hasn't
May 24th, 2023: 10-year-olds found working at a Kentucky McDonald's until 2 a.m.
June 5th, 2023: A NEW ‘REPORT’ FROM MCDONALD’S COULD CHANGE THE FAST-FOOD CHAIN FOREVER
✅ Closing Remarks
We’ll be continuing to keep an eye on McDonald’s and the burger industry. This week I’m meeting up with Brian Thompson who hosts the investigative “Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald’s?” podcast.
If you’re in Los Angeles or New York please reach out and we’ll meet up for a McCafé!
-Mike (and Zach)