I used to work for McDonald’s Corporation, and I experienced how this massive company operates. McDonald’s played a significant role in shaping my career, teaching me a great deal. But recently, two events happened that put McDonald’s in the news for reasons beyond the company’s control: a visit from Donald Trump at a franchise in Pennsylvania and an E. Coli outbreak at another location. These incidents highlight how decisions made by individual franchise owners can affect the entire brand.
Franchisee Decisions vs. Corporate Control
Most McDonald’s restaurants are run by franchise owners rather than the corporate office. This means that McDonald’s doesn’t control every decision made by its franchisees. For example, the recent visit by Donald Trump to a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania was a decision made by the franchise owner, not McDonald’s corporate. After the visit, the restaurant received a flood of negative reviews on Yelp, forcing the site to disable comments. I might add, he did not fill the medium fry correctly.
It’s important to remember that McDonald’s is not just a restaurant brand, but a large network of franchises. Over 90% of McDonald’s locations worldwide are run by franchisees, not by the corporate office. While this gives owners flexibility, it also means that when franchisees make controversial decisions, it can backfire—just like the Trump visit.
Franchisees must remember that their community may not share their personal beliefs. When they make decisions that upset the community, their business can suffer. The owner of this McDonald’s could look at the sales ledger from a Sunday in 2024 and easily calculate how much business dropped after the visit. It’s like gambling with your business—sometimes you win, but sometimes you lose big.
Public Backlash from Political Events
Hosting a political figure like Donald Trump is bound to divide public opinion. The Pennsylvania franchisee learned this lesson the hard way when negative reviews poured in after the visit. Even though McDonald’s corporate wasn’t involved in the decision, many people likely believed the brand endorsed the visit. This shows how one franchise’s actions can affect the reputation of the entire company. To further complicate the situation, Trump’s visit coincided with a televised town hall event in Pennsylvania, bringing even more attention to the visit.
Learning from the Past: Avoiding Another Jack-in-the-Box Disaster
When I worked at McDonald’s, food safety was a top priority. We were always reminded to never let what happened to Jack-in-the-Box happen to us. In the early 1990s, Jack-in-the-Box experienced an E. Coli outbreak that caused deaths and left a lasting scar on the company’s reputation. McDonald’s learned from that and invested heavily in strict food safety standards to avoid similar disasters.
Even with all these precautions, food safety can never be guaranteed. McDonald’s serves over 69 million customers a day worldwide, which makes it incredibly challenging to ensure safety across every location. One mistake at a single restaurant can lead to global headlines, as we’ve seen with the recent E. Coli outbreak.
Food Safety and Staying Relevant
While the Trump visit attracted negative attention, McDonald’s was also grappling with an E. Coli outbreak. McDonald’s has strict food safety protocols, but mistakes can still happen at individual locations. This outbreak is a reminder of how crucial it is for franchisees to follow food safety procedures.
McDonald’s also faces increasing competition from casual dining restaurants like Chili’s, which has regained popularity by focusing on quality and customer experience. For McDonald’s, the challenge is staying relevant and maintaining food safety, especially after an incident like the E. Coli outbreak, which can weaken customer trust.
The Dark Side of McDonald’s: What I Saw
During my time at McDonald’s, I saw some unsettling things. I wasn’t involved in the lawsuit about bias against Black franchisees, but the fact that it happened is troubling. I also witnessed McDonald’s efforts to block unions and participated in meetings that targeted certain communities—not because the company cared about these communities, but because it wanted to increase sales. These experiences left me conflicted about the company’s true values versus its public image.
How McDonald’s Makes Money
McDonald’s doesn’t rely primarily on food sales for its profits. Instead, it generates most of its revenue through franchise fees, royalties, and real estate. Franchisees pay McDonald’s to open and operate a store and give a percentage of their sales to the company each month. Additionally, McDonald’s owns a significant portion of the land and buildings its franchises operate on, charging rent for those properties.
McDonald’s also profits from company-owned stores and controls its supply chain, making sure franchisees buy from approved suppliers. This diverse structure ensures McDonald’s has a steady stream of income from multiple sources.
A Mixed Relationship
The Trump visit and the E. Coli outbreak illustrate the importance of McDonald’s balancing the independence of its franchisees with maintaining its brand’s reputation. Franchisees need to be cautious about their decisions because they can have significant impacts on both their business and the McDonald’s brand as a whole.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about McDonald’s. The company has been instrumental in my professional growth, and I’ve learned a lot from my time there. But the reality is, the golden arches may be more like brass,like the golden escalator, shiny on the surface, but the value underneath isn’t always what it seems. McDonald’s success sometimes masks a more complex, and at times, troubling reality.