# McDonald's advises employees not to eat fast food **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088 "2013-12-24T16:46:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/1 "2013-12-24T16:46:10Z")
[Another McDonald’s faux pas](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mcdonalds-employee-site-bashes-fast-food-2D11792135) > [@](#): > > “Fast foods are quick, reasonably priced, and readily available alternatives to home cooking. While convenient and economical for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and salt and may put people at risk for becoming overweight…” > > Another post labels a meal with a cheeseburger and fries as the “unhealthy choice” and one with a submarine sandwich and salad as the “healthier choice,” noting that it’s more of a challenge to eat healthy when visiting a fast-food place. To be fair, it’s not McDonald’s that is wrote this. It was written by a third-party vendor that was hired to provide advice to McDonald’s employees. McDonald’s published it though. Last month, McDonald’s published advice to their low-paid workers on how much to tip their pool cleaners and so forth: > [@](#): > > Last month, the company detailed [tipping advice for workers](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mcdonalds-gives-workers-advice-tipping-au-pairs-trainers-dog-walkers-2D11702467), many of whom make around minimum wage. It listed pricey suggestions for tipping au pairs, personal fitness trainers and pool cleaners from etiquette maven Emily Post They gave their employees advice on [how to get out of holiday debt](http://www.cnbc.com/id/101220879): > [@](#): > > use stale bread and bruised apples rather than throwing them out, and “quit complaining” as a way to reduce stress. And to pay off holiday debt, it suggested returning purchases… > > “You may want to consider returning some of your unopened purchases that may not seem as appealing as they did. Selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist could bring in some quick cash,” it continued. “Consider bringing a brown bag lunch and skipping the takeout …. You might also consider a temporary part time job to dig out of debt quickly.” Earlier, they published some [some financial planning advice](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mcdonalds-finance-guide-insulting-low-wage-workers-6C10653604): > [@](#): > > Suggested monthly expenses include $20 for health care; $600 for rent; and $150 payment for a car (that apparently needs no gas.) Unfortunately the budget doesn’t have an allowance for food. I think the one-bedroom apartment I had in L.A. is going for $1,200 or $1,400 a month now. My last car payment was over $300/month. My insurance premium contribution isn’t listed on my pay stub, but I’m sure it’s significantly more than $20/month. My car does use some gas, as it’s a hybrid and not fully electric. Oh, and I do need to eat food. Thankfully, I’ll never have kids so I don’t have to worry about tipping my au pair. Look at me, and you’ll easily see why I don’t have to tip my personal fitness trainer. (And possibly why I’ll never have kids!) McDonald’s seems a bit tone-deaf in regards to the living conditions of their workers. You’d think after the first insensitivity, they’d look into what the advice they’re buying actually says – and have someone in their glass-and-steel citadel do out and see how their workers live. I swear, it’s like that place is run by a clown! ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/2 "2013-12-24T16:58:48Z")
I don’t think McDonalds or any other fast food place advertises its food as a healthy alternative to a home-cooked meal. It’s fast food that is not healthy and they acknowledge that. They’ve offered “healthy” alternatives to fatty burgers and fries due to pressure but they have never advocated eating their food every day. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/3 "2013-12-24T17:29:31Z")
The most tone-deaf, hilarious part is when they suggest returning unopened holiday gifts to get some quick cash. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/4 "2013-12-24T17:49:13Z")
McDonald’s has for a fed long time been careful to advertise that eating there is a special treat or for when you need something fast. They have never tried to claim that they serve healthful food. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/5 "2013-12-24T18:54:09Z")
> [@](#): > > “I suddenly realized that I was trapped in the [Kwik-E-Mart] with … no food!” > > “But Uncle Apu, what about the heat lamp dogs and nacho chips with synthetic cheese covering?” > > “Tsk, tsk. How soon you seem to be forgetting Lesson 12 - ‘Food from Kwik-E can make you sicky.’” - Matt Groening, “Apu Nahasapeemapetilon’s Kwik-E-Comics,” in SIMPSONS COMICS: STRIKE BACK! 61, 65 (1996) (Cited [here](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OtDpJ87FNIcJ:nationalaglawcenter.org/publication/note-food-stamp-trafficking-why-small-groceries-need-judicial-protection-from-the-department-of-agriculture-and-from-their-own-employees-96-michigan-l-rev-2156-2184-1998/wppa_open/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us), oddly enough.) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/6 "2013-12-24T19:03:15Z")
“quit complaining” as a way to reduce stress…Golden Jerry, golden!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/7 "2013-12-24T19:10:36Z")
> [@](#): > > McDonald’s advises employees not to eat fast food. Sounds like good advice to me. I’d also advise McDonald’s employees to not eat fast food. Indeed, I’d advise everyone to not eat fast food. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/8 "2013-12-24T20:41:52Z")
Moving from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/9 "2013-12-24T23:26:34Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Moving from IMHO to MPSIMS. Thank you, **Ellen Cherry**. > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > The most tone-deaf, hilarious part is when they suggest returning unopened holiday gifts to get some quick cash. :rolleyes: To be fair, it reads to me like they are advising returning things you’ve bought for yourself. But the rest of it sounds like, 'If you don’t make enough money, you should sell your possessions. If McDonald’s doesn’t pay enough for you to live on, get another job. Heck, get _two_ other jobs. Sleep and taking care of children (which you should probably sell anyway) are overrated. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > “quit complaining” as a way to reduce stress…Golden Jerry, golden!! 😃 I loved that one. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/10 "2013-12-24T23:56:07Z")
I wonder how many mcdonald’s employees have pool boys. Never even heard of an au pair before. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/11 "2013-12-25T00:09:41Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > I don’t think McDonalds or any other fast food place advertises its food as a healthy alternative to a home-cooked meal. It’s fast food that is not healthy and they acknowledge that. They’ve offered “healthy” alternatives to fatty burgers and fries due to pressure but they have never advocated eating their food every day. > [@hajario](#): > > McDonald’s has for a fed long time been careful to advertise that eating there is a special treat or for when you need something fast. They have never tried to claim that they serve healthful food. Spoken like people who didn’t bother to check the link in the OP which showed an example of the McDonald’s “Employee Advice” website clearly picturing McDonald’s fries and burger with the label “Unhealthy Choice”. It’s way more blatant than just encouraging their employees to eat a balanced diet. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/12 "2013-12-25T03:46:21Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > I don’t think McDonalds or any other fast food place advertises its food as a healthy alternative to a home-cooked meal. It’s fast food that is not healthy and they acknowledge that. They’ve offered “healthy” alternatives to fatty burgers and fries due to pressure but they have never advocated eating their food every day. Actually, when McDonald’s France ran ads that said “However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald’s.” But A spokesman for McDonald’s in the United States said the company did not agree with the views expressed in the advertorial. “This is the opinion of one consultant in France,” the company said in a statement. “We do not share this view at all.” [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/30/business/30FOOD.html?pagewanted=1](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/30/business/30FOOD.html?pagewanted=1) So McDonald’s US, at least, seems to think their food is fine for everyday consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/13 "2013-12-25T04:19:35Z")
$600 makes some sense if you live with a roommate or two. The \*Nickel and Dimed" author seems indignant and perplexed that she can’t really make it working service jobs, but ignores the fact that the people around her usually have roommates. But yeah, $20 for health insurance- that might buy you a worthless discount card. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/14 "2013-12-25T18:40:13Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Sounds like good advice to me. I’d also advise McDonald’s employees to not eat fast food. Indeed, I’d advise everyone to not eat fast food. But fast food tastes good! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/15 "2013-12-25T22:22:20Z")
Don’t McDonald’s employees get a discount on food they buy there? You get a dinner break and you have to eat something. Buying McDonald’s food might be cheaper or as cheap as bringing a sandwich from home, and cheaper than going to the Burger King down the street. Of course it isn’t good for you, but young people (and IME, McD’s employees are almost always under-25s) probably eat a lot of junk food anyway. They’re not thinking about fat and sodium and cholesterol yet. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/16 "2013-12-26T00:55:49Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Don’t McDonald’s employees get a discount on food they buy there? You get a dinner break and you have to eat something. Buying McDonald’s food might be cheaper or as cheap as bringing a sandwich from home, and cheaper than going to the Burger King down the street. They get to eat all the sandwiches that fall on the floor. I once saw a fat manager stepping on the hand of a starving employee that reached for a fallen Big Mac. Going to Burger King in a McDonald’s uniform…priceless! Hell, they’d draw and quarter an employee who did that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/17 "2013-12-26T02:33:29Z")
> [@James\_Toothpaste](#): > > But fast food tastes good! 😃 Not compared to food. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/18 "2013-12-26T02:35:08Z")
I don’t know why they’re giving life advice to their employees anyway. Even if their advice was relevant, who asked them? > [@a35362](#): > > Don’t McDonald’s employees get a discount on food they buy there? You get a dinner break and you have to eat something. Buying McDonald’s food might be cheaper or as cheap as bringing a sandwich from home, and cheaper than going to the Burger King down the street. When I worked there many years ago, we got a free sandwich/chicken nuggets, soda, and fries with a long enough shift. That was it though, you couldn’t decide to have a salad or shake or something instead. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/19 "2013-12-26T02:58:08Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Not compared to food. McDonald’s fries do (or did, I’ve not eaten there in years) have a very delicious aroma. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088/20 "2013-12-26T03:03:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Going to Burger King in a McDonald’s uniform…priceless! > Hell, they’d draw and quarter an employee who did that. 🙂 You are vastly overestimating the extent to which McDonald’s managers give a shit about their jobs and employees, or particularly what their employees do once they leave the doors of the restaurant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-advises-employees-not-to-eat-fast-food/677088.md?page=2)