McDogmeat’s. It’s McDogmeat’s dammit. Get it right.
CHICKEN MCNUGGETS IS PEOPLE!!!
I pretty much dislike all commercials equally, so instead of singling one out for special contempt, I’ll just try to stamp out a little ignorance (or at least a misconception).
What’s your source for this, Tracer?
I worked at McD’s throughout most of high school, and more than once filled up the salt shaker we used for the fries. The salt came from a fifty pound bag we kept in the basement; it was the salt in the blue packaging with the little girl on it – Morton’s, perhaps?
That’s all it was, man. Good ol’ sodium chloride. Nothing more. (Well, maybe a little iodine, too, but that’s it. Really! 
)
~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~
The sugar is added to McDonald’s fries before the restaurants ever receive them, and it’s primarily for coloring, not for taste. It causes them to brown more evenly and nicely. BK does it as well.
“Come on, Phonics Monkey–drum!”
pldennison,
Wouldn’t any sugar added to the fries dissolve as soon as they’re put into the liquid oil bath?
Also, physically (or chemically) speaking, how would sugar help them brown more evenly? The fries are immersed in hot oil on every side. How could sugar possibly do anything to make the browning process more even?
I’ve still got some stuff in storage in McD’s fry boxes. I’ll check out all the fries’ listed ingredients when I get home tonight and post the results.
~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~
As far as I heard, they soak them in a sugar/water solution after they’re cut. Knock-off recipes tell you to do the same.
You’re all so close to the answer. McDonald’s uses a variety of potato that is high in natural sugar. The carmelization of this sugar is what gives McFries their trademark look (source: Wall Street Journal article on McDonald’s).
Thanks for the clarification! I had heard about this from an Alison Bechdel cartoon. However, the way she put it (“I’m running a battered women’s shelter on a shoestring and McDonald’s gets $450 000 of taxpayers’ money to advertise Chicken McNuggets in TURKEY!”) was ambiguous. I didn’t know whether it was Chicken McNuggets in Istanbul or Turkey McNuggets.
Matt – I honestly can’t remember where I read that… but below is probably the link to where I found it.
In case you haven’t noticed, like I haven’t hit you in the head enough, I REALLY hate McDonnalds! Yes, I know, there are bigger issues in the world besides this one but hey, I pick my fights!
For some other fun facts about McShit please visit:
http://www.mcspotlight.org/
Best!
Byz
Well, I don’t hate McD’s as much as Byzantine. But I have questioned some of the ways they spent their money.
You remember the McD’s near Downey that was the center of a “historic preservation” fight a few years back? That particular place was run by a fellow named Roger Williams who purchased the franchise direct from Richard and Mack McDonald.
When you-know-who took over in 1955 Roger’s franchise got grandfathered in.
Over a period of 20 years McD’s tried to get that location to lose money. A company McD’s opened up a few blocks away down Riverside. Another opened up a few blocks in the other direction.
I always wondered why this huge corporation got a hair up it’s a-- over a little hamburger stand that had been franchised by Richard and Mack.
And saw fit to spend shareholder’s money attempting to shut it down.
What I find strange about Salad Shakers is that they’re now apparently stealing product ideas from Saturday Night Live sketches. Does anyone remember the Big Shredder parody from SNL a couple of years ago? It was supposed to be a fast food restaurant that did shredded cabbage with a side of mayonnaise which you mixed in yourself. They had a parody commercial in which they had teenagers (well, SNL cast members dressed up to look like teenagers) in one of these fast-cut montages doing teenage things and talking about how wonderful this stupid product is.
Well, pldennison, it looks like you’re at least half right about sugar being added. From the list of ingredients on a box of McD’s fries:
So sugar (in the form of dextrose) is indeed added, although the box doesn’t make it clear what its purpose is. It looks like disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate (whatever the hell that is!) takes care of the color issue, though.
And as an aside, doesn’t “natural flavor” cover quite a bit of territory? I mean, arsenic and strychnine would be natural flavors, too!
~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~
Here in DC, McDonald’s has an insipid radio spot where some woman with a sickly-sweet Southern accent is the voice of the “Mickey-D’s Menu Line”. She starts:
“Good mornin’ or good afternoon! You have reached Mickey-D’s Menu Line”
She continues on with the special of the week. Her sentence syncopation is bizarre; she almost sounds drunk. Then at the end, she sings a cappela (and poorly):
“You get more for your money 'cuz McDonald’s treats you riiight.”
“<small>Did somebody say ‘McDonald’s’?</small>”
“You don’ have to whisper!”
I’ve really gotta wonder: where are these McDonalds with these great fries?
It’s unanimous on this board- McDonald’s makes fries somewhere bewteen good and divine, while BK fries are crap.
In SF, I find it to be the opposite. McD’s are limp and always way too salty or practically unsalted. BK are crispy and perfectly salted. Or are my tastes bizarre (in which case, what the hell is wrong with all of you?).
JMcC, San Francisco
http://members.tripod.com/~weirdstuff/index.html
“Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they’re snoring”
i hate to take up the glove for mcstuffers but do not forget that the coca-cola company makes the number one WORST ads in the world.
we all hate mcstuffers, but how much more do we hate “santa drinking coca-cola”, “polar bears drinking coca-cola” or “its so funny” etc…
bj0rn - coca cola is a product of a company made to brainwash us all!!! but sprite is ok 
the McD commercials I hate the most are the ones that play so hard on your heartstrings. If you come home from a shitty day and are hanging by a thread as it is, you don’t need to see some little cherubic blind girl ordering a Happy Meal from the braille menu. Goddammit! You have pushed me over the edge into helpless sobs for the last time!
Remember, McDonald’s is a vital family-bonding part of growing up, so if you don’t take your kids to McDonald’s they will all run away from home and become crack whores.
I used to work at McDonalds (Yes…my nametag did say McCat) and discovered that there is nothing that really bothered me about their advertising. It is something I programmed myself to ignore.
My problem lies in the fact that, while opening the store one day at dark-thirty in the morning, someone said the words “Sausage McMuffin with Egg”.
Now, this may seem trivial to anyone else, but I am a freak. The way it was said made me think of “The Wizard of Oz”, specifically, “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!!”
Now, clear your head. Take a deep breath and say it…“Sausage McMuffin with Egg, Oh My!!” Rinse, spit, and repeat. “Sausage McMuffin with Egg, OH MY!”
I am sure you can understand my pain as I am sure this will stick in your head as it did in mine 10 years ago. It is a plague that I cannot escape. It calls to me in the night. The voices scream it. They chant incessantly. They won’t leave me alone. They won’t stop!!! AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
“One evening I pulled Beauty down on my knees.
I found her embittered and I cursed her.”
–Excerpt from Une Saison en Enfer
–A. Rimbaud