This is probably the only time in history that someone has asked for no more cowbell. It's also probably the only time that McDonald's and cowbell are being used in the same sentence. So what's going on with the American fast food chain? Well, in April 2017, the brand announced that they would begin using fresh beef in their Quarter Pounders, not frozen. These Quarter Pounders are cooked to order, but that small change required a restaurant update behind the scenes. That brings us to the sound: McDonald's installed cowbell buzzers every time an order with fresh beef comes through the line.
Of course it makes sense in practice and in theory; employees can easily monitor the grill and incoming orders through sound without checking screens constantly. However, it's not the system that's the problem. It's the sound. Reddit user M68000, a McDonald's crew member, posted a question to the McLounge subreddit asking for advice from their fellow McMembers.
Other crew members even chimed in with the same issues.
Even the managers of the store can't stand it, except for one. The Quarter Pounder is a popular menu item, so we can only imagine how often the store employees will hear it once every store begins their fresh beef Quarter Pounders, which were promised in most national stores by mid-2018 last year.
So the next time you're at McDonald's, listen for the cowbell to hear just how terrible it is for yourself. And if the store employees look a little agitated or frazzled, just make sure you cut them slack. The customer is always right, but sometimes we just don't know what the working conditions are like behind the drive-thru and front counter.
