5 WTF McDonald’s Scenes in Movies and TV Shows
Furthering the Rick and Morty-ization of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the new season of Loki has a tie-in deal with McDonald’s, complete with a Loki-branded McNugget sauce that thankfully hasn’t led to any violent incidents involving history’s saddest rioters. This seems to be because an episode of Loki features a scene set in an early 1980s McDonald’s.
But Loki certainly isn’t alone; the history of cinema is littered with examples of McDonald’s products being shoehorned into movies in an effort to trick us all into buying their hot, salty garbage food. And some of them got pretty goddamn weird, like how…
Don't Miss
Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.
Richie Rich’s Personal McDonald’s Is Basically Hell on Earth
1994’s family comedy about America’s cataclysmic wealth inequality, Richie Rich, contained at least one memorable moment: a scene that revealed that Richie has his own personal, fully functional McDonald’s located in his house.
This wacky idea may have been appealing to every kid in the 1990s, but it’s pretty horrifying for everyone who stops to think about it for even two seconds. In addition to the rampant food wastage, think of how mind-numbingly depressing it would be working a job where your only customer is “the world’s richest boy.” Oh, and by the way, you’re working inside his friggin’ mansion. A point that was once dramatized by the YouTube channel Fairbairn Films.
Eat the Richie Rich.
‘The Longest Yard’s Cheeseburger Eddy is More Product Placement Than Man
It’s one thing to shoehorn the McDonald’s logo into a scene; it’s quite another to make the fast-food brand one character’s entire identity. But that’s precisely what happened in the Adam Sandler-starring remake of The Longest Yard, which also featured the character “Cheeseburger Eddy” played by Terry Crews. Perplexingly, every facet of Eddy’s being seems to revolve around McDonald’s — he even refers to his balls as McNuggets and calls one guy a “McAsshole.”
According to ‘The Fifth Element,’ McDonald’s Will Mandate Surprisingly Sexy Uniforms
Set in a terrifying future in which the only form of entertainment is a constantly yelling Chris Tucker, The Fifth Element oddly includes a scene set at a McDonald’s drive-thru for flying cars. The movie — and implicitly McDonald’s, which presumably signed off on the scene — is suggesting that in the future, McDonald’s female employees will be required to wear sexy, cocktail dress-like uniforms, complete with matching red wigs. Say what you will about working for McDonald’s today, but at least “Sexy Ronald McDonald Cosplay” isn’t part of the job description.
‘Josie and the Pussycats’ Features a Creepy McDonald’s-Themed Bathroom
The underrated Josie and the Pussycats movie contains a number of ironic, gratuitous product placements. But topping the Target-themed private jet was the band’s McDonald’s-themed bathroom, complete with burger and milkshake sponges and creepy Ronald McDonald dolls hanging from the walls. Apparently, McDonald’s was totally cool with their brand being associated with an unseen figure stalking nude women.
‘Mac and Me’s Unhinged Dance Sequence
While the previous entries gave some fast food for thought, the apex of cringey McDonald’s movies is, of course, Mac and Me. While the film is best known as the E.T. rip-off responsible for Paul Rudd’s classic running Conan gag (and nearly ending with police gunning down a small child in a wheelchair), the movie’s most sanity-testing moment by far is also the most conspicuously McDonald’s-centric. Somehow, a trip to the golden arches causes a spontaneous yet elaborately choreographed musical number to break out. Yes, diners and staff all groove to the sounds of some random guy’s boom box, presumably while enduring the pain of severe Filet-O-Fish cramps.
You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time you’re reading this).
