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The REAL Reason McDonalds Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken

Johnny Harris · 13.6M views · 2021-04-23 · 29:46

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Overview

Johnny Harris investigates why McDonald's ice cream machines are so often broken, covering the Taylor machines, the repair restrictions on franchisees and the Kytch workaround device.

On Hacker News

HN links it in right-to-repair and McFlurry-machine threads as the go-to in-depth explainer of the franchisee and Taylor arrangement.

Recommended by 8 HN people across 6 months · HN mentions 2021–2025

Topics

Repair, teardowns & right to repairMedia, journalism & propaganda
Search by tags
right to repairmcdonaldstaylorkytchfranchiseesmcbroken

What people said

mcdow · 2024-10 · Recommendation

Here's a great YT video on why McDonald's ice cream machines are always broken: [VIDEO] TL;DW: there are some perverse incentives to keep them broken. Basically the owner operators are forced to use a particular brand by corporate. Corporate McDonalds has a deal with a particular ice cream machine company. That particular company is the only company owner operators are allowed to buy from, and the only company allowed to service the machines. And it's no skin off of McDonald's back for these machines to always be broken, the cost falls on the owner-operators.

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Aaronstotle · 2023-08 · Recommendation

For anyone interested in a good video about this, there is YT video that details how the Ice Cream Machine's being broken is essentially a scheme that McDonald's corporate runs on their franchisees. Source: [VIDEO]

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synchronizing · 2023-08 · Recommendation

Johnny Harris (filmmaker journalist) made a great video on topic: [VIDEO] In short, McDonald's continues to use these frequently malfunctioning ice cream machines due to their long-standing exclusive partnership with Taylor. The cost of repairs fall on the local franchise owners, not McD Corp.

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Sources

Video by Johnny Harris, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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