# McDonald's Ice Cream Conspiracy!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937 "2009-08-10T15:35:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/21 "2009-08-10T23:08:44Z")
We had sundaes after school registration last week. For the longest time every time I’d go to Wendy’s the frosty machine was down. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/22 "2009-08-10T23:31:10Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Re: The “Lazy Fuck” theory I can tell you from personal experience (Yeah, I worked at McDonalds as a teen. What can you do?) that the process of cleaning those machines is a heroic undertaking. There are a stupid amount of moving parts and everything needs to be sanitized (which is a Good Thing™) and then put back together. It really isn’t something that you want to do after you close. That would suck. Now I could really get behind the company having some balls and cutting off the sale of ice cream at a specific time to plan for down time but then they wouldn’t be being the soulless weaseling corporation that we have come to know. Knowing that, and knowing the level of motivation of the average McWorker, I am pretty relieved that I never buy ice cream from those places. Presumably the alternative to saying the machine is broken is serving ice cream from a gunked-up old machine that hasn’t been properly cleaned in god knows how long. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/23 "2009-08-11T00:45:35Z")
About once a month, I buy a McDonalds **Oreo McFlurry** sold at most locations here in Tokyo. No broken machines in sight. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/24 "2009-08-11T04:11:05Z")
I can’t even remember how many times I’ve visited a McDonald’s wanting a sundae or a cone or a milkshake only to have their machine down. They must be ridiculously unreliable or perhaps there is indeed a conspiracy… ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/25 "2009-08-11T05:06:49Z")
I thankfully put my tour of duty in after the era of machines that you had to break down every night, these actually heated the mix at the end of each night to keep it safe, or some such nonsense. They had an onboard screen though, that would lock the machine out when you had to take the entire thing apart and clean it. If you didn’t do it _that day_, it just wouldn’t make ice cream anymore, and you’d have to do it then. So I became the Ice Cream Machine Technician ™ of our store, it was specialized knowledge, apparently. Anyway, if you came in there on Sunday wanting ice cream after church, you were basically screwed. Depending on what tiny rubber gasket I lost, or what piece the stupid maintenance calendar said I was supposed to replace, or running out of the gross food-grade lubricant that sucker is COATED in, I may not have had it done until 1 or 2 PM. You’re on your own if all the 14-year-olds called in and you have to get pulled to the floor. And sometimes the thing just BROKE. Compressor went out, or some widget broke, and out came our maintenance guy(s) to fix it. One was terribly cute… This also probably had something to do with the fact that we were the oldest store in the district and were neglected, in regards to equipment and upkeep. \ ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/26 "2009-08-11T16:08:39Z")
I think there’s a consipracy at Wendy’s too - I haven’t been able to get a chocolate frosty in months. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/27 "2009-08-11T16:47:35Z")
If it gave big profits, it would work all the time. Most comes from drinks and fries. They do not go down. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/28 "2009-08-11T23:22:33Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > …I don’t think it’s a conspiracy. Of course there is, it’s just directed against the original poster that’s all ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/29 "2009-08-11T23:30:22Z")
McDonald’s is also apparently in the grips of a crushing Toppings Embargo that forces them to ration out a couple of drops of hot fudge on a “sundae.” Where’s a good blockade runner when you need one? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/30 "2009-08-12T05:02:08Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > McDonald’s is also apparently in the grips of a crushing Toppings Embargo that forces them to ration out a couple of drops of hot fudge on a “sundae.” Where’s a good blockade runner when you need one? Must be related to The Great Ketchup Crunch. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937/31 "2009-08-12T05:19:50Z")
Here’s the real deal circa '87. We had a whole shift of second shift closers. Most of us were high schoolers and all had school in the morning. Often times, in fairness to his or her shift, depending on traffic (volume) our manager would order us to start breaking down the Shake and ice cream machines early to fully clean and sterilize the intricacy of screws and valves. It was in Pity to get us out before 12:000 - 1:30 A.M or much later, depending. I do guarantee, that machine was spotless. A dirty ice cream machine is a huge health risk. My McDonald’s never cut any corners. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-ice-cream-conspiracy/505937.md?page=1)