# McDonald's claims 99 billion served, but 99 billion what? people? fries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416 "2003-03-19T01:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/1 "2003-03-19T01:01:39Z")
we had this discussion at lunch today, each mcdonald’s restaurant has a sign proclaiming that 99 billion have been served. how does mcdonalds count that? what what exactly is served? there are 25,000 mcdonalds worldwide? bah ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/2 "2003-03-19T01:02:49Z")
They mean people. As in, “We have served 99 billion people.” I’m sure they reached the 99 billion fries/hamburgers/etc a lot faster than the people. Now, do they mean UNIQUE people by that, or would they count the same person coming in every day or so on? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/3 "2003-03-19T01:06:32Z")
**Caesar** , I just hope I’m being whooshed 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/4 "2003-03-19T01:07:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caesar’s Ghost \* > \*\* > > Now, do they mean UNIQUE people by that, or would they count the same person coming in every day or so on? \*\* Given there are only 6 billion people… ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/5 "2003-03-19T01:08:14Z")
i guess my question is more how have they counted that? is there a central base where all transactions go? and does an order of 2 meals count for 2 people if they’re on the same bill? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/6 "2003-03-19T01:09:12Z")
Since there’s only about 6 billion people on Earth at the moment, I don’t think that’s 99 billion _unique_ people. FWIW, I’ve always thought it was billions of burgers sold. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/7 "2003-03-19T01:10:49Z")
good point elfkin… if there are only 6 billion people in the world, each person must have gone to mcdonalds at least 15 times. and i’m sure there are a couple billion people that do not have access to mcdonalds, and another billion that wouldn’t eat it even if they did ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/8 "2003-03-19T01:15:33Z")
For some reason, I’ve always been under the impression that that it referred to hamburgers - I did some poking around at the [mcdonalds.com](http://www.mcdonalds.com) site Also, some now say “Billions and Billions served” instead of stating a number. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/9 "2003-03-19T01:17:46Z")
we just did some math here… 99,000,000,000 people/26,000 restaurants is 3,810,000 customers per restaurant. now, Mcdonalds has been around for about 50 years, and there haven’t been 26,000 restaurants this whole time. however, 3,810,000/ 50 years/ 365 days = approximately 208 people per day per restaurant. i’m sure there are restaurants that get several hundred customers a day, so that would make up for some of it… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/10 "2003-03-19T01:23:42Z")
According to [CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1999/12/06/mcliar.html) it is burgers served: > [@](#): > > ,…the company stopped counting on April 14, 1994, when, at the shady sounding, acronym-needy McDonald’s Biennial Worldwide Convention, then chairman Michael Quinlan announced that the company had passed the **100-billion-burgers** mark… ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/11 "2003-03-19T01:42:28Z")
I read here in one of the recent McDonald’s threads that this number refers to **individual patties served**. For instance, an order of two Big Macs would be “four served”. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/12 "2003-03-19T02:06:24Z")
It’s hamburgers. If you look carefully at the sign, it says: McDonalds HAMBURGERS Over XXX million sold But yeah, they got tired of updating it all the time, so now there’s no number there. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/13 "2003-03-19T03:07:15Z")
I’m reminded of the Bizarro cartoon that shows a busy length of freeway with a similar sign in the middle of it. Cars were colliding into each other and into the the lane dividers, trying to avoid crashing into the pole. The sign read “McObstacle”, complete with the golden arches, and below it, “Billions Swerved”. Had my McD’s bosses had a sense of humor, I would have asked them if I could stick that cartoon to the office door. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/14 "2003-03-19T03:10:25Z")
IIRC, this was first addressed in an _Imponderables_ book. They’re counting hamburger patties. A Big Mac counts for two. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/15 "2003-03-19T04:10:12Z")
But a Quarter Pounder would only count for one? Even though it’s the same size as the Big Mac? ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/16 "2003-03-19T04:42:45Z")
**Q. E. D.** , you know what’s weird about that? I remember seeing signs in the 80s saying stuff like “80 billion”, and I always thought I was remembering wrong (I turned 6 at the end of 1990). Looks like I was right after all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/17 "2003-03-19T04:50:43Z")
Well… every Wednesday, McDonalds sells hamburgers for only 39 cents each. 39 cents! I’d imagine that since last month (since I noticed a poster proclaiming it), I’ve contributed substantially to their overall numbers. At least a million. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-claims-99-billion-served-but-99-billion-what-people-fries/162416/18 "2003-03-19T05:12:05Z")
Also, most of the signs only had spots for two numbers; when they reached 100 billion, there was tie-in and so forth, and I remember this as being in the early 1990’s. They’re probably much higher now – if this number is based on anything. It’s most likely an estimate, based on earnings…no? Oh, and the “Billions and Billions Served” thing? Most of those that I’ve seen have been on very tall poles, designed to be seen from the highway. I assumed it was just deemed too much of a pain in the ass to change the numbers around.