I misunderstood the “parody” in the title, I expected a send-up of corporate training videos. It wasn’t until pretty near the end it dawned on me - this is real. Somebody was paid a great deal of money to put this video together, and they weren’t laughing at the time, and those are some pretty great dancers.
But they missed an opportunity for weirdness - doesn’t Ronald also wear white gloves?
Back when McDonald’s used to actually cook the food in the restaurant. Now they just reheat frozen food. I can do that at home thank you. They need to go back to their roots in many ways.
First, how much you want to bet they didn’t get the rights to do this.
Second, what the hell is the point of it. It’s not really teaching anything, it’s just a song saying clean it. In many cases it’s not even showing how to properly clean.
I’ve heard of Americans in some foreign countries where sanitation and food origins are sketchy (or at least percieved to be) seeking out McDonalds because they could be assured that they where getting safe- if crappy- food. I’m an eat from a street food vendor anywhere in the world kind of guy, but I get it in the way I get the Warhol quote about Coke: “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.”
Once you’ve learned how to clean, step up your grill skilllz.
Say what you will about the McD’s and training videos…and the campyness of the video.
But that’s some damn fine dancing and choreography…very impressive.
I prefer “Hot Drinks”.
A friend of mine working at Kinkos licked some poisonous toner jelly off his hand thinking it was a left over lunch spill. Kinkos responded by actually making a safety video… dont eat the toner jelly!
Where can I get a Wendy’s training videos greatest hits album?
Cold Drinks has that fantastic New Wave/Hip-Hop sound.
Not a lot of training going on in that video, but it was pretty damn impressive and funny.
Really peculiar seeing the old decor, with plants and floral decal things under the checkout counter.
I had one summer fast food job growing up. Three months as dish washer and floor-swabber at Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips.
I’m trying to imagine how an inspirational video would handle the most unpleasant task I ran across that summer, cleaning up a bathroom stall that had been attacked by a shit-smearing vandal. That happened twice.
IANAL but I do remember a Weird Al Yankovic interview where he said that he does not need to get permission to do a parody of someone’s song, and by extension I suppose you don’t need to pay rights for it either - apparently song parody is covered by fair use.
On a side note, Al’s personal policy is to always get permission from the artist he wants to parody (notwithstanding an imbroglio he had with Coolio), which is why Al has never parodied a Prince song, because Prince has never given him permission to do it.
It is sad but my reaction was concern about how many unsafe practices in the video that the trainee might think is acceptable practice.
It’s about cramming the concept of clean everything into the viewer’s head with a catchy tune so it stays in their consciousness. Theory being if you’re thinking about cleanining, you’re gonna remember to clean stuff.
I, too, found myself having a totally weird amount of nostalgia at the old style seats and uniforms.
re: actual cleaning in fast food places. I worked summers at a local burger chain and one evening as we were busting down the grill an order came through on drive thru - a couple, with the girl whining that she didn’t really want the burger she ordered.
After they drove away, my friend who manned the grill, said, “Yeah, she’s not going to like that burger.” He’d been cleaning the grill with vinegar at the time they ordered, and he’d poured vinegar all over the patty.
And that, kids, is why I never order fast food near closing time.
The sickest I ever got in more than a year living in China was after eating at a McDonald’s. I don’t know for sure that it was the McDonald’s that did it, but it was definitely the McDonald’s that I tasted coming back up.
RE: Warhol Coke
reminds me of a documentary on the abstract expressionists that migrated to the US. I don’t recall who was being interviewed (perhaps Motherwell was talking about them), but they got on the subject of adapting to the US… They mentioned that none of the expats liked Coke, but they soon learned that wine did not go well with hot dogs.
The choice between coke and wine for a pairing with hot dogs has an actual objective correct answer: beer.
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