Top 10 Worst Things McDonald's Has Ever Done

If it were up to Ray Kroc[a], his name would be the only one tied to the founding of McDonald’s. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t. The first restaurant was opened in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. Kroc, curious why the siblings bought so many milkshake machines from him, visited the restaurant in 1954. From there, he became a “franchise agent.” However, Kroc wanted it all. In 1961, he paid $2.7 million for the business. However, there was a catch. The original California site wasn’t included - and Kroc wanted it. The brothers, who lost the rights to the brand, renamed the restaurant “The Big M.” Livid, Kroc opened up a McDonald's nearby, eventually driving “The Big M” out of business.

The phrase “Bloody Sunday” has been used for several catastrophes in history. However, it’s primarily tied to the 1972 massacre in Derry, Northern Ireland, when British troops opened fire on unarmed citizens during a march, taking the lives of 14. The Irish band U2 released the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” mostly about this infamous incident. Fast forwarding to 2019, McDonald’s in Portugal decided it was appropriate to release Halloween ice cream with the slogan “Sundae Bloody Sundae.” Yikes. The Irish were understandably livid with this tasteless marketing pun. The outrage forced the Portuguese arm of McDonald’s to cancel the campaign and issue a public apology.

Condiments are usually a tasty addition to a meal that can bring out its flavor. Yet, according to some McDonald’s branches, they can also be a tool for first aid. In 2015, the labor campaign Fight for $15 announced that McDonald’s workers in 19 cities filed 28 complaints to officials about poor health and safety standards at the restaurants. With many employees lacking first aid training or franchises having missing or empty first aid kits, workers have stated that managers had told them to put condiments on their burns. According to a Heart Research survey taken that same year, 4 out of 5 fast food restaurant staff members had been burned in the past 12 months, which is a lot of mustard to get through!

Without workers at its over 13,000 US restaurants, McDonald’s couldn't hand out Happy Meals and Big Macs to rake in a fortune. Yet even with that knowledge, that hasn’t stopped the franchise from stealing from them. In 2013, McDonald’s workers issued a lawsuit against the chain for wage theft. In 2019, the corporation settled the lawsuit with California workers for $26 million, alongside promises of basic rights like breaks. It’s not only a US issue, as employees in Australia sued McDonald’s in 2022. The chain has a history of misleading its workers. In 2013, it released budgeting advice to its staff, including lowering stress by “not complaining.” The budget also implied its workers would need a second job to get by.

In 2002, droughts and floods led to a famine in southern Africa, affecting countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola, forcing millions of people to struggle for food and hundreds to lose their lives. That same year, once again not reading the room, McDonald’s decided it was appropriate to release a limited-edition product for the Summer Olympics called the McAfrika. Sold in Norway and Denmark, the product was immediately criticized for its insensitivity to the continent’s struggles, especially when the countries selling the sandwich were incredibly wealthy. While the company apologized for the timing, instead of removing the product, it continued being sold through the campaign. The McAfrika even returned for the 2008 Olympics before vanishing once more.

There’s perhaps no company in existence that has gone to court as many times as McDonald’s when it comes to other companies using “Mc” or vaguely similar names to their trademarks. In 1996, Ronald McDonald – a real person, not the clown – won against the franchise when they closed their nearby site after harassing him for decades for operating the “McDonald's Family Restaurant” since 1956. In 2019, the Irish chain Supermac’s successfully contested McDonald’s trademarks of “Mc” and Big Mac in the European Union. The chain has also fought and lost to Malaysia’s McCurry, the UK’s McChina Wok Away, and many more. Hopefully, the fast food juggernauts don't go after folks with "Mc" in their family name.

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, McDonald’s might not seem like the best place to go. But if there’s no option, at least it has french fries available that you can have, right? Nope. For years, the company has faced lawsuits for advertising its fries and hash browns as vegetarian despite them being made with beef, which is very much not a plant. In 2002, McDonald’s settled various lawsuits by donating $10 million to vegetarian and religious groups who typically don't consume cattle, such as Hindus. Even today, the fries still contain beef in the US, while the UK and some other countries sell only the vegan version.

In 2015, shocking footage emerged from T&S Farm in Tennessee. An undercover activist from the group Mercy for Animals recorded videos of staff fatally clubbing chickens. The spy, who was there for 4 weeks, claimed they saw over 100 incidents of abuse there. The farm was contracted by Tyson Foods, who supplied McDonald’s with its chicken. Along with being dropped by Tyson Foods, T&S Farms’ owners were also criminally charged, receiving fines of $50 altogether plus court costs and a year of probation. Speaking of animal abuse, in 2012, McDonald’s announced its plan to cease using gestation cages for its pigs, which stop pregnant and nursing sows from moving. However, according to investor Carl Icahn in 2022, the group hasn't fulfilled this promise.

In 2020, over 50 Black McDonald’s franchise owners issued a $1 billion lawsuit against the firm for racial bias. They claimed the company used their race to make them open sites in majority Black areas of inner-cities, which are often less financially profitable. They also stated they were given shorter deadlines for renovations than White owners and had no financial aid. One of the Black owners was Herb Washington, a former sprinter and baseball player for the Oakland Athletics. He alleged he was forced to sell some of his sites to White owners by McDonald’s. In 2021, McDonald’s settled the case with Washington, paying $33.5 million for his remaining 13 franchised restaurants. However, in 2022, the $1 billion lawsuit was dismissed.

In 1986, as part of London Greenpeace, Helen Steel and David Morris began handing out leaflets that criticized McDonald’s for various reasons. In 1990, the corporation issued a defamation lawsuit in England against them, which became infamously known as “McLibel.” With sky-high legal costs, 3 members apologized to McDonald’s, as the chain requested. But not Steel and Morris. The franchise plowed millions into their side, compared to the defendants spending £30,000. In 1997, the court ruled in McDonald’s favor, despite agreeing with some of the leaflets’ content. However, Steel and Morris weren’t done and took the UK government to the European Court of Human Rights. In 2005, the court ruled in the duo’s favor over claims of an unfair trial with McDonald's. Justice McServed!


Is there a dirty McDonald’s deed that we forgot? Well, unlike every one of their ice cream machines, our comments section isn’t broken.




[a]Kroc = crock