# McDonalds your milk shake machine is not broken! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 2, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970 "2006-08-02T03:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/21 "2006-08-02T14:20:31Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Where on Wilson? Near the metro? For your dining pleasure: [Carvel Ice Cream and Bakery](http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr=&q=carvel&near=Arlington,+VA&cid=0,0,11759016034499435392&ll=38.883393,-77.099670&spn=0,.02&iwstate1=form:to&sa=X&oi=local&ct=directions-to&iwloc=A) 3322 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA (703) 248-3226 Close to both the Clarendon and Virginia Square metro stops. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/22 "2006-08-02T14:30:20Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > Same here. There used to be a Carvel store at the Manor in the late seventies, early eighties. The only store in the area now is out along the Fruitville Pike, in the Kmart plaza. Remind me to point it out to you the next time we travel that way. Oh, I know. I’ve seen the sign before when we’ve been out that way. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/23 "2006-08-02T14:32:21Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > You’re probably just being a smartass, but [the first ingredient is whole milk](http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html#6): > > > [@](#): > > > > Chocolate Triple Thick® Shake: > > Shake Mix: Whole milk, sucrose, cream, nonfat milk solids, corn syrup solids, mono and diglycerides, guar gum, imitation vanilla flavor, **carrageenan** , cellulose gum, vitamin A palmitate. Contains milk ingredients. Chocolate Syrup: High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, cocoa (processed with alkali), natural (vegetable source) and artificial flavors, salt, potassium sorbate (a preservative), vanillin (an artificial flavor). May contain small amounts of other shake flavors served at the restaurant, including egg ingredients when Egg Nog Shakes are available. Whoa, I knew that McDonald’s shakes had milk, but [seaweed](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_097b.html)?! The _horror_! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/24 "2006-08-02T14:35:06Z")
> [@One And Only Wanderers](#): > > And that’s fine and is their decision and all, but wouldn’t it be better to put a sign out front saying “Milkshakes/Ice creams will not be available after 8pm” (or whatever) rather than habitually lying to the customers by saying it’s broken when it ain’t. Well, if they do this and the owner (franchise) or regional manager (corporate) comes in and see it, there will be ugliness. AFAIK – and I speak not as one who works at McDonald’s, but has worked retail grocery for many, many years – they’re supposed to wait until the restaurant closes before breaking it down. They want to go home earlier, so they do it earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/25 "2006-08-02T14:39:45Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Of course McDonald’s has milk in their milkshakes. Don’t you think it would be a national scandal if they did? People love to get back at the Man. > > Anyway, I came in here to complain about the same thing. Only I think it’s been broken since last November and they just haven’t bothered to fix the damn thing. > > Now I want a softserve. ☹ It seemed to me they used to call them “shakes” instead of “milkshakes” because there was more other crap than milk. Perhaps they changed this as whole milk is listed first in shake mix. > [@McDonalds Website](#): > > Vanilla Triple Thick® Shake: > Shake Mix: Whole milk, sucrose, cream, nonfat milk solids, corn syrup solids, mono and diglycerides, guar gum, imitation vanilla flavor, carrageenan, cellulose gum, vitamin A palmitate. Contains milk ingredients. Vanilla Syrup: Corn syrup, water, vanilla extract, caramel color, citric acid, pectin, sodium benzoate (a preservative), FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Yellow #6, calcium chloride. May contain small amounts of other shake flavors served at the restaurant, including egg ingredients when Egg Nog Shakes are available. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/26 "2006-08-02T14:50:41Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Wow, I always thought Coldstone Creamery was hideously expensive for a product that wasn’t worth the extra money. I agree. I have had it twice, and it’s OK, but _hwaaaay_ overpriced. Write that particular McDonalds. Explain, don’t bitch. Be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/27 "2006-08-02T14:52:58Z")
> [@Seven](#): > > It seemed to me they used to call them “shakes” instead of “milkshakes” because there was more other crap than milk. Perhaps they changed this as whole milk is listed first in shake mix. That was my thinking as well. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/28 "2006-08-02T14:54:50Z")
Actually, I also remember them being referred to as McShakes. Now McDonalds is on this healthy food kick…you know, real ingredients and such. I just knew I had seen milkshake on their menu and I knew there wouldn’t be a chance in hell someone wouldn’t have jumped all over it if it wasn’t milk! Liek the French Fries cooked in beef fat and the Hindus. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/29 "2006-08-02T15:06:11Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Well, if they do this and the owner (franchise) or regional manager (corporate) comes in and see it, there will be ugliness. AFAIK – and I speak not as one who works at McDonald’s, but has worked retail grocery for many, many years – they’re supposed to wait until the restaurant closes before breaking it down. They want to go home earlier, so they do it earlier. A lot of times, it’s the owner or the store manager who tells the employees to break the machine down early. It’s a pain in the nuts to clean, it takes forever, and the store doesn’t want to pay people to stay any longer than they have to. It’s not unusual for a manager (or a franchise owner) to say that “I want everybody punched out by \_\_\_ o’clock. I don’t care what it takes.” It’s not like the drones are always given much of an option about it. I’ve heard owners instruct employees to tell the customers the machine is broken too. It’s easier just to give them a line of bullshit than it is to get in an argument with some asshole with an over-developed sense of entitlement. Its not like McDonald’s has some kind of legal obligation to sell anybody a milkshake at _any_ time of day. If they don’t want to put it on line at _all_ during the day, they don’t have to and they don’t owe the customers an explanation about it. “Sorry, we don’t have milkshakes today,” is all the answer they need. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/30 "2006-08-02T15:24:51Z")
> [@Enter the Flagon](#): > > For your dining pleasure: > > [Carvel Ice Cream and Bakery](http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr=&q=carvel&near=Arlington,+VA&cid=0,0,11759016034499435392&ll=38.883393,-77.099670&spn=0,.02&iwstate1=form:to&sa=X&oi=local&ct=directions-to&iwloc=A) > 3322 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA > (703) 248-3226 > > Close to both the Clarendon and Virginia Square metro stops. 🆒 I believe it’s far more important to note that this location is actually the home of Mario’s (Carvel occupies just a corner of the shop), which makes the best goddam pizza east of the Appalachians and south of the Mason-Dixon line. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/31 "2006-08-02T15:48:54Z")
Back when I worked there, the friggin’ thing was broken more often than not. Which would lead to this conversation: Customer: I’ll have a chocolate shake and a … Me: I’m sorry sir, but the shake machine is broken. C: Okay, then, make it a hot fudge sundae. Me: Actually, all of the ice cream products come from the same machine, so we don’t have those either. C: Okay…how about a soft serve cone. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/32 "2006-08-02T15:56:52Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I just knew I had seen milkshake on their menu and I knew there wouldn’t be a chance in hell someone wouldn’t have jumped all over it if it wasn’t milk! Liek the French Fries cooked in beef fat and the Hindus. They cook their fries in beef fat and Hindus? How can they sell them so cheap then?! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/33 "2006-08-02T16:03:38Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > They cook their fries in beef fat and Hindus? How can they sell them so cheap then?! 😉 Maybe there’s a surplus of Hindus. It’s all supply and demand, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/34 "2006-08-02T16:05:14Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > They cook their fries in beef fat and Hindus? How can they sell them so cheap then?! 😉 I know this sort of thing is frowned upon, but I really did have to wipe spaghetti off my screen just now! Note to self: Never, ever eat spaghetti while reading the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/35 "2006-08-02T16:09:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Whenever I see Carvel mentioned, I can’t help but hear Tom Carvel’s gravel-voice saying “Fudgie the Whale” and “Cookie Puss”. And when I hear mention of Carvel, I hear Patton Oswalt saying, “And you couldn’t cut those cakes with a fucking _lightsaber_…” ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/36 "2006-08-02T16:15:48Z")
I used to work at McD’s when I was in high school. Did an “open” one morning, which includes setting up the soft serve/shake machine. Well, I opened up the back of the machine to load in the shake and soft serve mixes and was HIT with an horrendous stench - the f\*cker who had closed the night before must have been on a “punch out by X o’clock or else” trip, because the back of the machine (yes, where the mix gets poured in) was crawling with maggots! :eek: It took me about an hour just to clean it out properly! Never had a McD’s shake or soft serve since then! But you go ahead - enjoy!!! 😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/37 "2006-08-02T16:18:43Z")
I wish I had not opened this thread when I have a McDonald’s milkshake actually sitting here. Thanks, Dotty. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/38 "2006-08-02T16:33:38Z")
> [@Dottygumdrop](#): > > Well, I opened up the back of the machine to load in the shake and soft serve mixes and was HIT with an horrendous stench - the f\*cker who had closed the night before must have been on a “punch out by X o’clock or else” trip, because the back of the machine (yes, where the mix gets poured in) was crawling with maggots! Pretty sure that it had to have been left that way a little while, certainly more than overnight. I’m no fly expert, but it takes 2-3 days for maggots to reach the first stage of their development, which is only a couple mm long, before then, they are not much bigger than the eggs flies lay. According to the fly article on wikipedia, it is a pretty constant growth cycle- enough that forensic scientists use maggot size to estimate time of death. Still gross, grosser even considering the fact that it was likely that way for several days, meaning somebody might have bought a shake and got tiny maggots in their shake. They probably thought those chunks were ice crystals. _pukey_ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/39 "2006-08-02T16:38:06Z")
> [@Enter the Flagon](#): > > For your dining pleasure: > > [Carvel Ice Cream and Bakery](http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr=&q=carvel&near=Arlington,+VA&cid=0,0,11759016034499435392&ll=38.883393,-77.099670&spn=0,.02&iwstate1=form:to&sa=X&oi=local&ct=directions-to&iwloc=A) > 3322 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA > (703) 248-3226 > > Close to both the Clarendon and Virginia Square metro stops. 🆒 Carvel’s is OK, but it’s just a chain… [Frozen Dairy Bar](http://cityguide.aol.com/washington/dining/venue.adp?page=detailSummary&id=102472111) on Rt. 50 in “Falls Church” is THE shit. Their frozen custard is like buttah! Think Carvel’s with the butterfat content of Ben & Jerry’s (if not more). Try it and you won’t give a shit if Mc Donalds never serves another cone. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970/40 "2006-08-02T17:41:46Z")
10:00 last night. Sitting here at my desk. “Oooo…”, thinks me, “I think it’s time for a Sundae’s run”. Oh, Sundae’s…_the_ best ice cream parlor around, and they’re open nice and late – no dealing with lazy bastards who don’t feel like making a sundae. Ohh, decisions, decisions…vanilla with peanut butter cups and caramel? Maybe a banana split. What to get, what to get… And then it hits me – we moved. Sundae’s is a fucking hour away, and there’s nothing comparable around here! :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-your-milk-shake-machine-is-not-broken/366970.md?page=3)