The Founder: I was watching a film yesterday evening... - Headway

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The Founder

Matt2584 profile image
62 Replies

I was watching a film yesterday evening with my mum called "The Founder".

Based on a true story, it is about how the fast food chain 'McDonald's' fired up and became the poison hut it is today... Well, it didn't quite go that far but it did give you the idea.

It was a pretty good film too. Michael Keaton played some bloke who invested in the small time fast food drive-thru known as McDonald's. At that time, 50s or 60s, McD's only had one restaurant and it was the real deal.

Keaton got greedy and wanted more money, bought the owners of McD's out, opened up more restaurants and even changed the menus around and took away real, nourishing food and replaced with instant, synthetic crap.

Moral of the story is money and greed ruins everything, EVERY LITTLE THING.

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Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584
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62 Replies

'poison hut' ha, so true :)

barny1 profile image
barny1

Fair play to McDonald's at least they don't pretend sell 'healthy' food. Subway on the other hand make you believe that because they offer the option of putting lettuce on your sandwich makes the meal healthy, it isn't. And they've just created another loyal customer base on Valentine's day by offering every office clerk a free sandwich, yuck.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tobarny1

I don't like McDonald's at all now and I haven't eaten their dor years. I don't really like Subway much either. Well to be fair I haven't ever eaten at Subway BUT I still don't like them.

I have read a thing or two about how their ingredients are fresh when most of them aren't. Another lie there.

I know someone who eats their and I said that even though they boat about eating fresh, some say otherwise and this person said they do use fresh ingredients. How does he know that. I can't exactly trust in his opinion.

steve55 profile image
steve55

greedy and fat,causing our nhs lots and lots of problems. maybe the nhs should sue mcds!!!!

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply tosteve55

you do not have to go in them

steve55 profile image
steve55 in reply tospartan300

i dont, im not lazy, i cook from fresh and know where my ingredients come from.

my food is varied, from french italian, vietanamese, thai chinese all very tasty and just as good as a take a way but a lot lower in fat and good for you

give it a try spartan

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply tosteve55

been cooking a long time stated when I was 5years old all the women in my family were top class cooks I learned from them and bakers but I do have very rarely a take away have had in the last 10 years I Chinese 2 fish and chips and two plain burgers and small fries here in Thailand I sometimes eat street food and noodle soup but the rest I cook from fresh veg and am growing some veg and salad here, I prefer to cook rather than eat out had too many sub standard meals in the past , my wife says trouble with you is that you expect what you get at home quality food, yes I do.

take care

john

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tosteve55

That's a good idea Steve, maybe the NHS should sue McD's :).

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion

McDonald's (or mcdungburgers as I call it) is so popular these days. It is causing so many small businesses and cafes to go bankrupt.....it produces untold amounts of non biodegradable landfill and affects people's health. It also sends out the wrong message to kids in term of healthy eating....I don't think I'd give a film about it a sideways glance.....sorry to be all rants but that place gets on my goat

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toSilmarillion

McDungburgers :), I like it. Personally I call them CRAPDonald's :).

I agree with you about what you said and when I first heard the film mentioned I was thinking that there would be a bunch of lies added to it most likely, despite that it was based on a true story.

So I only really watched the film to catch them out.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300

more mc bashing they are a lot cleaner than most takeaways the food is better than the media makes out, when I was in business I used to work in a lot of Asian restaurants inc Chinese ,and I would not eat in them if you paid me never in over 20 years did I see a clean one although

there maybe exceptions

except Mcdonalds they were very clean , please note that the Indian restaurants are not owned

by Indians ,they are owned by Mohammedan's that is the correct name or Muslims as they like to be called

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

Mac Donald's fast food outlets may be clean....that's not my point...it's more about the damage they do to people's health, their massive contribution to non biodegradable landfill and how they pay their workers poor wages and don't treat them particularly well.

The contamination with cow dung happens at burger manufacturing level. There are standards regarding the maximum amount of cow dung a burger can contain when being sold.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

and what about all the other fast food outlets ??????????????????? why do they all ways pick on Mcdonalds as for cow dung contamination this cannot happen more scare mongering , just a point one of my friends is in a very senior

position in Mcdonalds Britain and Europe so I know all about the process from start to end I will finish at that

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

The conversation isn't about other fast food outlets! We are talking about the film called the founder which is essentially how McDonald's moved from being an ethical fast food outlet to one that operates using suspect policies.

There have been a number of studies that detail that burgers contain dung and in some cases there have even been humans infected by Ecoli from contaminated hamburger meat......so it's science that's doing the scaremongering ......and quite rightly so! Who wants to eat burgers that are pure beef fat mixed with chemicals? Chemicals which macdonalds removed after the Jamie Oliver case......with cow dung mixed into it....that's disgusting!

That's nice that you have a friend in McDonald's senior management...he obviously hasn't discussed the problems his organisation has....problems that can't even be solved by hamburger university itself.

..there are a LOT of people who don't like the way macdonalds operate. I'm not alone in my opinions.

The mclibel and Jamie Oliver cases only go to prove that a lot of what McDonald's offers are not really fit to be eaten. The fries aren't even vegetarian! Well the Hindus suing macdonalds in America don't seem to think so.

RogerCMerriman profile image
RogerCMerriman in reply toSilmarillion

I'm not sure any one is claiming that McDonalds food is the basis of a healthy diet. But equally They are far from alone, it's food that should be viewed as a treat, not a staple.

I like coffee and cake in a cafe it's clearly a treat and not something to have often, that's the point of treats. I dislike the McDonalds/Burger King etc food, But some do like it, fine as long as they understand what it is i.e. A treat.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toRogerCMerriman

It is a treat but to a lot of people with low income it is a staple but that is not necessarily peoples fault that would mainly be the fault of governments and the rich.

Governments and rich people don't need all that money and there are so many people out there who do need the money.

If everyone where wealthy then I don't think people would be eating at McD's unless of course you're a person who actually likes their meals.

I actually prefer the fast food restaurant Five Guys as it is way better. It might be more expensive but that would be because there burgers are cooked in Peanut oil and peanut oil is very expensive. But as you say "It is a treat"... Plus, we couldn't afford to eat there all the time :).

RogerCMerriman profile image
RogerCMerriman in reply toMatt2584

Matt it's far cheaper to eat in, eating in fast food is a convenience.

It's is a choice rather than a need, i.e. It's not stable.

There are problems that folks particularly young can't cook but that isn't the fast foods fault to be honest.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toRogerCMerriman

I wouldn't know if it was cheaper to eat in or at McD's I don't eat there but for some people, they eat there mostly because they can afford it.

I disagree there, I think that because of fast food restaurants, not many cook for themselves.

RogerCMerriman profile image
RogerCMerriman in reply toMatt2584

Eating in even with limited cookery skills is cheaper always, even if it's microwaved dinners and such.

Personally I find fast food burgers fairly uninspiring food.

I was exhausted last night so oddly enough did pick up a fast food from Macdonalds.

Been trying to work out last time i went to MacDonalds or similar. It could be first time in the 21st century! I'm not a fan I find the such food over sweet.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toRogerCMerriman

I find most processed foods uninspiring.

I refer to them as "fake food" because they aren't REAL food.

Real food is what we all should be eating.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toMatt2584

good cheap food is in abundance on the markets but the main problem is the cost of bus and transport fares then you have to carry it , if you live close to a town centre you can be at least £10 a week better of, single parent families do have a lot of problems with this

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toRogerCMerriman

if you as I have been reading in the press that one day some food is good then the next week it is bad ,I do not take any notice I eat what I want and when I want , my health problems haver never come from what I eat or drink

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

I like the fact you eat what you want, when you want and ignore what Mainstream Media will tell you because the fact is mainstream "news" is mostly a load of crap anyhow.

But when you say your health problems never come from what you eat or drink, are you positive about that?

You can't say something and not know for sure.

Unless you eat and drink completely organic?

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toMatt2584

100% I got mine from a vaccination ,brain damage ,stroke, serious damage to nervous system, + demylination of nerves or ms type muscle loss in right shoulder and arm it now drops down +other things, before vaccination I had a full medical in hospital I passed with flying colours doctor said I was very fit for my age fitter than most younger males blood heart blood pressure ,it was because I was fit I did not die on the night after the vaccination, what a night that was I relive that nearly everyday October 20th 2006 ,vaccination 4.30 pm paralyzed 8 pm on my own no help in pain so severe you cannot begin to understand so yes I am 100% sure, from what I know now you should be more worried about vaccinations and what they contain mercury is in some, than fast food

check it out it is all there on the webb

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

I know all to well about vaccines.

I gave up the flu jabs a couple of years ago and yes, the vaccines have mercury in them.

But even more worrying for me right now is chemtrails. Planes or what look like planes, some will call them drones, leaving dense trails of chemicals in the sky. A lot of people see them as normal, they call them contrails. This is where the general public have been deceived. Contrails are normal. Contrails occur when the heat from the exhaust mixes with the cold of the high altitude to form ice crystals which last for seconds. It is much like our breath on a cold day. Condensation trails. Chemtrails is something completely different and they are literally dumping poison on us. It happens all over the world.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

the studies do not refer to McDonalds yes some beef maybe contaminated but Mc meat is processed the same way as your local butcher sells, the burgers are not fat and chemicals but are prime fore quarter beef, as for j oliver i would not concern myself with him not a saint for sure ,but I will say not every multinational company is perfect a lot have skeletons in the cupboard from slavery to every crimes against nature and people drug companies included

I buy my food Haram not Halal esp pork . some of the beef I buy here is sold on the hoof with no added water and no dung

take care

john

steve55 profile image
steve55 in reply tospartan300

john i think alot of people forget how, even now, in european countries not all meat is taken to be slaughtered, if its for family and friends it can be down on the farm.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply tosteve55

same here in Thailand beef and pigs killed in the back garden, nobody dies from fresh meat

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toSilmarillion

I have read quite a few horrible things about McD's food like how there is plastic and arsenic in the food or it's cooked in plastic/arsenic.

The fries are cooked in the chemical used for putty! So says Mike Adams of Natural News.

I saw a video of Mike looking closely into a chicken nugget using a microscope. The chicken looked nothing like what real chicken should look like and he even found human hair in the nuggets.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toMatt2584

naturalnews.com/048553_fren...

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

Cleanliness may be good but I don't agree with being too clean, example: hospitals.

I believe being too clean, as in restaurants, hospitals, can be damaging to people's health.

Or is it a case of 'what' is in our cleaning products? Some sources will tell you that it is what is in our cleaning products.

Instead of buying Mr. Muscle, Flash, Dettol and so on to scrub down surfaces, why not use the juice of a lemon? It is cheaper and a lot more effective and safer.

sca2013 profile image
sca2013

My first job as an employee was for McDonalds in 1966. Back then when Ray Croc was running the show, long since dead now, french fries were made in each store . They were washed, scrubbed, sliced, blanched and deep fried (yes still not very healthy), but better than how its done today. Each batch of meat was thoroughly inspected and tested for proper fat content and quality in each store before it was served to the public. Soft drinks made with sugar. Anyway still not that healthy of food but way better than what they serve up in today's stores. In 1966, the store I worked in won the QSC (Quality Service and Cleanliness) award for southern California. Part of what we got for this was a dinner with Ray Croc. It was quite a positive experience. I think Rays's predecessors probably deserve much more of the credit for the crap coming out of today's McDonalds. There's my 2 cents worth.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tosca2013

That's right, Michael Keaton portrayed Ray Croc in the film and the 2 friends who opened up the very first McDonald's was Dick McDonald and his friend Mac.

It started out with Ray Croc hoping to invest with certain companies, one talking to Colonel Sanders of KFC.

He took on McD's, bought out the original owners, opened more stores and the food and drink got worse.

If McD's food and drinks did not contain sugar in their products, diabetes would not be so much of a problem and their would be no need for sit-in restaurants like today. It would be drive-thru's selling lush, tasty food like it started with.

According to many sources, sugar is classed as a poison.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300

McDonalds is still a good fast food outlet , if you are that bothered just go and look in every supermarket and look on the labels to see what crap is being sold, that's my dollars worth, esp America where a lot of meat products contain growth hormones and are banned in europe

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

If McDonald's are 'good' then Five Guys must be spectacularly amazing.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

I do admit that I think America's stores are worse than ours but that doesn't mean our McD's stores are any better.

I've read hundreds of stores in America have closed down now, Ray Croc would be pleased :).

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion

Do you work for macdonalds?

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

no but I know a lot who have and still do

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion

I urge you to do some reading about mcdonalds

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

and kfc burger king and every other food processing factory, I cook my own food most of the time even here in Thailand where sometimes it is as cheap or cheaper to eat out depending on what you want to eat, my diet is also slightly different here due to the hot climate and availability of food, we have vendors coming round the village everyday selling food , sweet corn cooked 4 for 40 pence, fruit chicken pork squid veg a lot different to over regulated sick europe

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

Your diet is slightly different compared to Europe and America.

In America, fast food restaurants are everywhere. So much sugar is in America and UK are not too far behind.

So, America has all those food chains and all those cases of obesity and diabetes and so on.

What goes in your mouth clearly matters.

Diabetes doesn't just pop up from nowhere. Everything happens for a reason.

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toMatt2584

we have all the fast food outlets here and more as for diabetes there is a lot of that here they have a sugar rich diet , I have left meals in when I first came here due to high sugar content would have been fine without it , I tell people if they cook for me no sugar , that is why I cook my own meals

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

That's right. Sugar is the problem. Sugar is added to virtually all processed foods, even savoury dishes.

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

I love the food in Thailand!

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

which thai food do you like because I rarely eat it , there is the food you see on telly and in cook books and there is native Issan food , frogs lizards chicken feet duck head and beak insects beetles in fermented fish sauce, raw beef with blood and chilli to name a few , I prefer indian or china

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

I like the stir frys and noodle soups. I ate mainly vegetarian food though.....I tend to steer clear of things like scorpion and spaghetti marrow salad and the likes...I did try the deep fried beasties though. It kind of put me off chicken when the wee man from the cafe was out back chasing them with an axe.....

.I did make the huge mistake of eating fermented sausages and I got bad food poisoning. I did try the raw beef with a raw egg dip and it was nice.

I was only a tourist for a few months right enough. I'm sure it's different living there

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

so you know what I am talking about,

life is good here did you try sato rice wine it is made all over Thailand and surrounding country's it is made from sticky rice no sugar as the rice is full of sugar but does not taste sweet till fermented with a special complex yeast wine yeast will not work easy to make and a nice drink with a rice meal,

when you coming back , maybe we could meet up ? come and stay in village with us nice and relaxing slow pace of life no real pressure just what we all need and lots of sun

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

I tried Thai. Whiskey a few times! Hangover from hell! So I avoid Thai spirits.havent tried the wine

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

what lao kaao deadly stuff the locals drink it for breakfast, well I am sat on the front porch this evening just chilling when one of the relatives brought me what looked liked pork scratchings

the main light was off he said alloi delicious was just going to eat one when I took a closer look

he had brought me deep fried baby rat , that's Thailand, Hong Thong is a nice drink warm

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

I'd go vegetarian....you can't go wrong with veg and tofu lol.....I thought deep fried rat was a dish from loas.....no wait a minute that's Bar b que rat on a stick....mmmmmm

I was given a nice salad and kebabs once in Thailand.....it turned out to be chicken heart kebab......don't get me started about the sir fried silk worm larvae......giant white maggots.....you can imagine the texture of that. The worst was having a coffee at the end of a street full of dog restaurants in Hanoi......the smell of wet dog was something I'll never forget and I was very upset!

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toSilmarillion

the people here are Loa Thai, so that would explain the deep fried baby rat, silk worm grubs are tasty a nutty flavour ant eggs very bland , they will eat just about anything but they do not like cheese esp vintage Chedder which means I get to eat it all myself, never had dog but depending which breed can be tasty I have been told, never seen buffalo meat on sale here ? every which way you look there is a buffalo Liddle sold it once ,but what we have to understand is that western values and cusine are very different to other nations and we must respect that

take care pal

john

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion in reply tospartan300

there's no harm in chatting about things that people eat in other places. I got laughed out of a restaurant in far north Thailand for asking for egg and chips (dodgy stomach) ....I find it all very interesting....I don't think I could eat a dog though as I've been friends with a few of them.So overall what would you say is the weirdest thing you've eaten.....?

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

Thailand sounds like a lovely place. Nice, friendly people, a slow pace of life living in a village. That sounds right up my street :).

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toMatt2584

it is as long as you know what you are doing same everywhere, where I am you cannot get bacon unless you go to khon kaen then it is hit and miss

the villages only cater for thai people so you have to plan your food in advance

Silmarillion profile image
Silmarillion

I don't particularly like any of the fast food monopolies. I say buy local and save small businesses

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply toSilmarillion

I don't like many fast food restaurants now.

I'll eat at Burger King once in a blue moon or a RogerCMerriman stated, as a treat.

Five Guys is one of my favourite fast food restaurants though.

Again, it is a treat :).

spartan300 profile image
spartan300 in reply toMatt2584

never seen a five guys ?

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tospartan300

They are still quite new to England.

They started out in America, it was apparantly former president Obama's favourite fast food chain.

They have moved to England and their are a few in London. They have moved further down south and have opened a store in Southampton which is about 30 mins or so from me.

mac39 profile image
mac39

When I was in the states I loved taco bell, jack in the box and Carl's Jr, as a kid I used to love saving up and going to wimpy, now its as and when with mc'd's or burger king,

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tomac39

Yes, times have changed mac and probably for the worst.

barny1 profile image
barny1

I've just watched the film, I thought it was pretty good at showing how McDonalds began but was disappointed that they didn't touch upon the modern McDonalds experience and the controversy about the quality of food they sell. The only hint regarding the quality of food was when they showed how Ray Kroc decided to use powdered milk instead of real milk for their milkshakes claiming they tasted just as good, even though the original founders were against it. But nothing about the 'meat' they use for their hamburgers, which I thought was what most people wanted to know. I wonder if this film had McDonalds influence over its development? It was shocking and disgusting to learn 1% of the world's population eats McDonald's every day.

Matt2584 profile image
Matt2584 in reply tobarny1

I was the same. At first I didn't really know if I wanted to watch the film because although it said it was based on a true story, a part of me was saying "Yeah right".

But anyway, I watched and it was better than I thought. When it started with one restaurant and real ingredients I was thinking "Is this what the rest of the film is going to be like? In that case the , 'true story' would be a lie". McDonald's sounded brilliant around the 60s and as soon as Ray Kroc started to use powdered milk was when my mum turned and looked at me and said "Here we go" as that was the main starting point to when McDonald's became CRAPDonald's :).

I would have wanted to see more of the meat side as well and how they changed from 100% beef to 'pink slime' but I expect as Jamie Oliver had already proved it the directors of the film didn't want to add anything like that as they found it embarrassing? I don't know for sure there, that is just my guess.

I wouldn't have been surprised at all if there was some sort of inflience of the development of the film, that was what I was expecting too.

I think a lot of films have some sort of influence over them. I think the film Snowden did. I watched a bit of the film but not all my mum watched all of it.

Mainstream media made it sound like Edward Snowden was a bad guy but he was far from that.

It's the same with Saddam Hussein, Gidaffi, Osama Bin Laden and so on.

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