It is a sweltering summer’s day and the only thing that is keeping you sane is the thought of that velvety McDonalds’ ice cream that you have been craving since you started your summer bod diet. Finally, you succumb to temptation and drive to your nearest McDonalds.
While almost foaming at the mouth, you opt for the drive-through and wait for the call to order. With glee, you order your favorite ice cream and then it happens. The lady taking your order starts her sentence with “I’m sorry” and immediately you know what is to follow.
She continues to confirm your suspicion and says that their ice cream machine is out of order. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Now you can be a bit more proactive and find out which McDonald’s machine is broken before you set your heart on your treat.
McBroken: The wonder of technology
You are not alone in your disappointment and thanks to technology and a dude who could not handle another heartbreak, you can now see whether your local McDonalds’s ice cream machine is out of service.
The McBroken website provides you with a comprehensive nationwide list of all the shops that are out of order. When you visit the site for the first time the penny drops for the first time as you realize how likely you are of disappointment. If you are in San Jose, you have a one in five percent chance of getting that sucker punch blow to the gut.
Looking at the states
On a national scale, it is hard to believe that almost 10 % of all the ice cream machines of McDonalds are out of order. Although not all the states are equally bad, there are a couple that stands out. One would think that they just do not care that much for ice cream.
The top 5 states with the most broken machines are San Jose with 18.52%. Phoenix comes in at a close second with 17.39%, while Philadelphia clocks in at 15.62%. San Diego and San Francisco seem to be in a slight tussle for fourth and fifth place with the former coming in at 13.64% and the latter biting its heels with 13.33%.
How the site works
When you log onto the site, you are greeted with a very modest screen that contains a column on both the right and the left side and a map of the United States littered with green splashes that resemble a plague outbreak chart. The column on the left contains all the addresses of the different branches and their ice cream machine status. The right side lists all the states and the overall percentage of their broken machines.
You are kind of screwed if your geography skills are wanting as you will have to zoom in to your precise location if you want to find the franchises near you. As you swipe over the map, the green dots will show you that all is good in the land of McDonalds. The red dots are the ones that spell disappointment.
At this stage, it looks as though the site only caters to McDonald’s in the USA, but if you are traveling outside the States, then you are left to the old way of doing things, ordering and hoping for the best.
Hopefully, there are people across the pond who will also taste the disappointment of a broken ice cream machine to the extent of monitoring them all. Then you will never have to wonder whether you should not rather go to an ice cream parlor instead of going for the quick and convenient route of McDonalds.