McDonald's with Sarah Silverman

"McDonald's with Sarah Silverman" is Episode 184 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "McDonald's with Sarah Silverman" was released on December 20, 2018.

## Synopsis

On a historic Doughboys milestone, the 'boys are joined by Sarah Silverman (*Ralph Breaks The Internet*, *I Love You, America*) to review a cornerstone of American chain restaurants: McDonald's. Plus, another segment of Pie In This Guy.

## Nick's intro

In 1935, as Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal saw an ambitious public-works program to boost the U.S. economy out of depression, his administration approved a monument meant to celebrate the 18th-century western territorial expansion overseen by Thomas Jefferson, selecting a site along the riverfront in St. Louis, Missouri.

So began the conception of the St. Louis Arch which designates the "gateway to the West," though the slow churn of bureaucracy, combined with the ambition of the design, meant construction wasn't completed until thirty years later in 1965.

Of course, there's another American arch that actually pre-dates St. Louis' river-straddling steel rainbow.

In 1940, brothers Richard and Maurice opened a restaurant in San Bernardino, California, and when they streamlined it into a hamburger stand and mechanized production to vastly increase service speed, it attracted SoCal car-culture consumers in droves.

In 1953, the brothers opened a location in Phoenix, Arizona, designed by architect Stanley Clark Meston in the eye-catching, futurist Googie style of the era, now most famously seen in *The Jetsons* and Disney's Tomorrowland. To draw eyes from the highway, the location included building-spanning yellow parabolas, what would become known as "the Golden Arches," which would become a signature structural element in future outlets.

In 1955, traveling salesman Ray Kroc partnered with the Brothers to franchise their concept nationwide. Recognizing that constructing restaurants with giant arches wasn't scalable, in 1962, the Golden Arches were retrofitted into a logo, joined to form an 'M' standing for the Brothers', and restaurant's, name. It would be used for their signage, packaging, and marketing, becoming one of the most recognized corporate insignias in the world.

Once the conniving Kroc infamously cut the founders out of their lucrative franchising agreement, forcing them to surrender control of their business, the logo and brand name would be all that remained of the Brothers' pioneering contributions to fast food, as Kroc's stewardship grew it into the industry-leading behemoth it remains today. In the midst of exponential growth, Kroc's amoral "min / max" business philosophy led the company to minimize both food quality and worker compensation to maximize profit. But thanks in part to aggressive marketing to children, who would become lifelong consumers, the chain's food has become a key part of the American identity, both at home and in perception from abroad.

So perhaps the real "Gateway to the West" is not the St. Louis Arch, but rather the Golden Arches associated with the Southern California-founded fast-food franchise that is now ubiquitous worldwide - its domestic outlets serving as makeshift community centers, its foreign ones embassies of America's chief export of global capitalism.

This week on *Doughboys*: McDonald's... *breakfast*.

[*TOTALLY PRANKED.*]

## Fork rating

* Mango Pineapple Smoothie
* Triple Breakfast Stacks Biscuit
* Hash Browns
* Hotcakes and Sausage
* Fruit & Maple Oatmeal
 Mike Mitchell
* Triple Breakfast Stacks McMuffin
* Hash Browns
* Hotcakes
* Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles
* Sausage Burrito
 Sarah Silverman
* Hash Browns

With these scores, McDonald's breakfast menu makes the Platinum Plate Club!

## Pie In This Guy

This segment is when Nick presents a mystery pie and a series of clues, and Mitch and the guest try to guess the flavor. To aid their guess they are allowed to phone a friend or smell the pie without seeing it.

The mystery pie for this episode was a Holiday Pie from McDonald's.

## Quotes

**Sarah:** You're such an ally.

**Sarah:** In case Nick wants to fuck it.

**Nick:** And then he was like "son?"

## The Feedbag

My question: considering recent innovations like the Impossible Burger, what would it take for to you to convert to the "V" side? Chain restaurant-like availability? Perfectly imitated taste - which meal specifically? Or veganism enforced by law? Or not even that?

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