Every fast food customer has been there — you're craving an ice cream cone or McFlurry with your Big Mac or Chicken McNuggets, but when you pull up to the drive-thru window, you're told the ice cream machine is broken. This seems to be a recurring problem at McDonald's specifically, which has led some to wonder why they don't just get better machines. There is a bit more to it than you might think, because sometimes the machine isn't exactly broken, but simply going through an intricate cleaning process. Here's the real reason why the McDonald's ice cream machine always seems to be broken.
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00:00Being a fan of McDonald's ice cream isn't easy. You get your hopes up for a cone and
00:04cruise through the drive-thru, only to be told the ice cream machine is broken. Again.
00:10It's a problem nearly every McDonald's fan has likely experienced at least once in their lives.
00:15And without a functioning ice cream machine, there are no ice cream cones,
00:19no sundaes, and none of your beloved McFlurries.
00:21The problem has gotten so bad that fans are turning to social media to decry the lack of
00:26frozen treats. In 2016, it was the most common service-related complaint to McDonald's on
00:31Twitter. And if anything, the problem has only gotten worse since then.
00:35Apparently, there's a perfectly good reason that McDonald's ice cream machines seem to
00:39be broken almost more often than they're working. They're not broken. According to a 2017 Wall
00:44Street Journal investigation, industrial soft-serve machines must go through a laborious
00:48cleaning cycle that can last hours. It's an 11-step process that includes using a sanitizer
00:54solution to clean seven removable parts. There are also two irremovable parts that must be scrubbed
00:59for at least 60 seconds before the entire outside of the machine is wiped down with a sanitized
01:04towel. During this labor-intensive process, the machines are unable to serve up any frosty
01:09goodness. And if the crew is busy serving customers, cooking food, or cleaning other
01:13parts of the restaurant, the machine sits unassembled and inoperable. The soft-serve
01:18machines also go through a four-hour heat-cleaning cycle every night to get rid of any bacteria
01:22lingering on the inside. And some employees may start that process early to get a head start on
01:27closing up. If that's the case, you're out of luck. Not to mention, many McDonald's are now
01:32open 24 hours, meaning there's really no time to clean the machine without disappointing a
01:36few ice cream-loving customers. To McDonald's credit, they do seem to be aware of the issue
01:41and, in March 2017, revealed a plan to replace the old ice cream machines with newer versions
01:46that have fewer parts to clean and would be easier for employees to maintain. Unfortunately,
01:51customers are still waiting for those magical machines to materialize.
01:54In November 2017, a McDonald's representative told Business Insider that while the company
01:59had identified which new machines would work best, they had yet to actually purchase the
02:03machines and move them into stores. Of course, the problem with the ice cream machines isn't
02:07always that they need to be cleaned. Every now and then, when an employee tells you that it's
02:11broken, it actually is. Many of the machines are reportedly old and temperamental, which makes
02:16them prone to breaking down. Richard Adams, a consultant to McDonald's franchises, told The
02:21Wall Street Journal that he once conducted a survey showing that 25 percent of McDonald's
02:25restaurants weren't selling ice cream because the machines were truly broken. Not surprisingly,
02:30McDonald's doesn't seem to be in a hurry to fix or replace the machines that are frequently
02:34breaking, probably because the new machines are eventually on the way.
02:38In response to the perpetual lack of ice cream at the Golden Arches,
02:42one frustrated customer went so far as to develop an app to address the issue.
02:46Raina McLeod created the free app called IceCheck solely for the purpose of warning
02:49customers about McDonald's locations where the ice cream machine was on the fritz.
02:53And rival fast food giant Wendy's took an opportunity to throw some serious shade at
02:57McDonald's during a 2018 Ask Me Anything Reddit session with the company's social media team.
03:02Wendy's couldn't help but take the bait when a Redditor asked why McDonald's ice cream machines
03:06were always broken, writing,
03:08"...same reason they serve round burgers. Cuz they cut corners."
03:11Ouch.
03:12Whether the ice cream machine is truly broken or it's just in the middle of a lengthy cleaning
03:16process, the availability of soft serve at McDonald's is always a gamble.
03:20Cross your fingers the new machines arrive sometime soon. Or just go grab a Frosty.