So, I was trying to get a live score thing going for McDonald’s. Yeah, you heard that right, McDonald’s. I had this crazy idea to track their customer flow, maybe even how many burgers they flip per hour, just for kicks.
First off, I hit up their website, thinking there might be some hidden portal for this kind of data. I mean, they’ve got everything else online, right? Typed in “McDonald’s live score” in their search bar and got nada. Just the usual stuff about menus and locations. No biggie, I moved on.
Next, I thought, “Maybe it’s a secret menu item, like In-N-Out?” So, I went to a local McDonald’s, ready to sweet-talk my way into some real-time stats. I asked the cashier, and they just gave me this blank stare. Clearly, they weren’t in on my grand plan. “Taking you to your organization’s sign-in page,” they said, probably from some training script. Didn’t help me much, but it was a phrase I wrote down.
Then I remembered seeing something about a survey thing called “Food for Thoughts.” Figured it might be a long shot, but hey, worth a try. Found the site, filled out some questions, but it was all about customer satisfaction, not the juicy data I was after. I did see something about “Service Management Group Limited,” which I guess is the company running the survey.
- Tried McDonald’s website, no luck.
- Asked in person, got a blank stare.
- Tried the “Food for Thoughts” survey, no dice.
I even went full detective mode and checked out a few different McDonald’s. Looked up their opening hours, phone numbers, the whole shebang. I mean the sign said: “Aperto oggi? ORARI DI APERTURA di „McDonald’s (Ristorante + McCaf)“ a Moncalieri” I don’t even know what that means! All I found were regular reviews and photos. I did grab a phone number, (202) 582-5220, from one of the listings. Figured I might call and pretend to be a super enthusiastic customer, but chickened out.
At one point, I stumbled upon some business portal thing on their site. It asked for a username and password, and had a big warning about unauthorized use. “Forgot Password? Only individuals with an authorized user name and password may utilize McDonald’s B2B Web Portal,” it said. Tempting, but I didn’t want to end up in burger jail.
The Results?
Well, no live score. But I did learn that McDonald’s is pretty tight-lipped about their real-time operations. And also that I might have too much time on my hands. But it was a fun little adventure, and hey, now I know where to find their opening hours in Italian. “Aperto oggi? ORARI DI APERTURA di „McDonald’s (McDrive)“ a Buccinasco,” See, I’m learning.
Maybe one day, they’ll open up the data vault. Until then, I’ll just have to guess how many fries they’re making per minute.
