Hamburger Business Review
Hamburger Business Review
October Surprise Episode
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October Surprise Episode

Why is McDonald's a major focus of the US Presidential race and how did we get here?
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Politics and McDonald’s

There is a delightful amount of “Elect Mayor McCheese” fan created imagery, which is a wonderful escape from the brutal reality of the US Presidential Election. But never before has McDonald’s played such a role in politics, and so today we explore some context about what the heck is happening.

Why Are We Covering Politics?!

Donald Trump is purportedly scheduled to work the fry station at McDonald’s in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 19th.

Trump can’t stop obsessing over Harris’s McDonald’s job. So now he’s off to work the fryer at the fast food joint.

We think this is perhaps more than just a publicity stunt and the subtext here is nothing less than the essential difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris & McDonald’s

In November of 2012 the New York Times reported, With Day of Protests, Fast-Food Workers Seek More Pay:

The biggest wave of job actions in the history of America’s fast-food industry began at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday at a McDonald’s at Madison Avenue and 40th Street, with several dozen protesters chanting: “Hey, hey, what do you say? We demand fair pay.”

The unionization drive, called Fast Food Forward, is sponsored by community and civil rights groups — including New York Communities for Change, United NY.org and the Black Institute — as well as the Service Employees International Union. The campaign has deployed 40 organizers since January to rally fast-food workers behind unionization, saying the goal is to raise wages to $15 an hour.

This long running battle for fair pay for fast food workers is a big issue for Kamala Harris, and it puts her ideologically opposed to Donald Trump. Here is a Fight For Fifteen video with Harris posted on Facebook:

Trump’s Beef

Initially it might seem Donald Trump is just jealous. We know he loves McDonald’s and maybe he is mad that Kamala Harris gets to “claim” his favorite restaurant. But his response is so weird. It’s both predictable and also uniquely Trump:

He claims she didn’t work at McDonald’s.

Like with Obama’s birth certificate, he demands to see records that prove she worked there. This is an unhinged way to attack a political opponent.

Presidential Politics and McDonald’s

There is a history of Presidents and hopefuls showing up at McDonald’s to seem more like a “man of the people.” Some, like Bill Clinton, really liked McDonald’s. There is a famous SNL skit about it (possibly based on this Clinton and Gore C-SPAN video).

But McDonald’s has been used as a symbol of the people by many politicians. Ronald Reagan campaigned at a McDonald’s…

Ronald at McDonald’s.

And Mitt Romney tried to win over some positive press coverage by handing out fries to reporters.

It's an amazing aspect of our democracy that the most powerful person would eat, and occasionally relish, a food that is so pervasive and maligned just to seem like a normal guy. (Seems easy enough but it can backfire and make you seem weird.)

McDonald’s is like what Andy Warhol said about Coca-Cola:

What's great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. ― Andy Warhol

Trump & McDonald’s

Where Harris comes at McDonald’s from the angle of the labor, Trump comes at McDonald’s as a customer.

Like with Clinton, we know that Trump honestly loves to eat McDonald’s. The most iconic image of Trump is him with fist raised in the air and blood on his face. But the other for me is from the White House dinner when the government was defunded, and he assembled a feast of fast food. He just looks so pleased with himself.

On an episode of Election Profit Makers they theorized that this election is barely a fight between the two candidates because Trump talks to his side and Harris talks to hers and other than one debate, they don’t really interact. This limited interaction gives the McDonald’s argument more weight, even though it is wildly stupid.

Why Is Trump Working at McDonald’s?

On the surface he seems to be implying that Harris never worked at McDonald’s because working there is easy, and she said it was hard. But the subtext here is that he’s saying McDonald’s is an easy and small job, one that does not deserve higher pay or benefits.

He also figures that if he can cross the counter from customer to employee he can negate the labor power of Harris’ punch. He is a self-professed “counter-puncher” and if he can undermine Harris edge out a little more media attention then that is a victory.

His measuring stick is attention, and people love talking about him working at the fry station.

Predictions

Zach: Yes, he will work at the fry station. No, it will not give him the election.

Mike: He will not “work” the fry station. He may be photographed standing near it. He may touch parts of it, but he won’t be working. And I agree, it won’t change anyone’s mind or vote.


New HBR Crew Member

To our Canadian listeners, we are sorry, this is not the hockey player.

We are also incredibly excited to announce that the Hamburger Business Review team is expanding. We’re bringing on the talented and experienced Chris Higgins as our producer for the second season (which will be the next episode you hear!).

What Chris lacks in McDonald’s knowledge he makes up for with his technical audio skills and storytelling acumen. You might know Chris from his documentary series Best of Five: The Classic Tetris Champions, as writer/host of the Election Ride Home Podcast, from his writing for Mental Floss, or maybe his report for This American Life.

For Fun

This short film captured in a single aerial shot, shows a young man’s proposal to his girlfriend at a McDonald's drive-thru is interrupted by an eager customer offering help with their order. We don’t’ often recommend experimental shorts, but when we do, they are about McDonald’s.

Discussion about this podcast

Hamburger Business Review
Hamburger Business Review
Analysis and discussion about the business of burgers. Also original reporting and investigation!