What Happened To The McFlurry?
In this episode of Underunderstood, John Lagomarsino tries to find out why and when the McFlurry stopped being mixed.
The McDonald's McFlurry was created in Canada in 1995, and quickly became a staple of the menu worldwide. It's your typical McDonald's vanilla soft serve swirled with sweet mix-ins like M&Ms, Oreos, caramel, or Rolos.
McFlurries are typically served in a paper cup with a large, straw-like plastic spoon. It's not commonly known, but that spoon is actually the key to a McFlurry. It clips into a special machine, which spins the spoon rapidly to mix the confection.
But John noticed a disturbing trend: none of the McFlurries he has purchased in the past decade or so have been mixed with the machine. In fact, the machine at his local McDonald's is completely unplugged, with its cable wrapped around the top.
Googling this issue surfaces lots of complaints about McDonald's soft serve machines, but not much information about the phenomenon of unmixed McFlurries. Most people don't even realize there is a machine for mixing them. John even found that in Australia, McDonald's officially discontinued the McFlurry machine in favor of mixing by hand.
John's reporting found that McDonald's employees have various theories about the change. Some indicate that the machine is "violent," spewing ice cream all over employees and occasionally boring a hole in the bottom of the McFlurry cup. Others say they're under so much pressure to work quickly that it isn't worth the time spent mixing a McFlurry — customers just don't care.
But then why hasn't McDonald's made the process less labor-intensive or improved the machinery? And how widespread is this problem anyway? The crew at Underunderstood wants to find out, so they've started crowdsourcing data through what they call The Flurry Index.
The Flurry Index collects data from McFlurry buyers all over the country, to determine how widespread the trend of unmixed McFlurries really is. You can add your data to their custom McFlurry mix tracker on their website.
Underunderstood is a podcast that explores stories the internet missed. You can listen on their website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or subscribe by searching "Underunderstood" in your favorite podcast app.
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