You may be familiar with the McFlurry machine such as “how to get a smoothie at McDonald’s” or, more commonly, “the machine that is always broken, which prevents you from getting a smoothie at McDonald’s.” But according to a new report, the Federal Trade Commission is familiar with McFlurry’s machine as “potentially a violation of antitrust law,” which is pretty cold, colder than the frozen delicacies the machine serves, one might say.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FTC sent letters to McDonald’s franchisees earlier this summer with the goal of getting to the root of why these newly created machines always break. With Gizmodo previously reported, the perpetual breakdown of machines has caught the attention of consumers, who have come up with requests to protest their lack of functionality, as well as employers, who did everything possible to design a diagnostic tool to help Franchise owners repair the machines themselves.
To go back a bit, McFlurry machines – manufactured by a brand called Taylor – are notoriously demanding. They must be able to withstand both the cold temperatures needed to keep the ice cream frozen and the heating cycles that make them explode during the cleaning process. Despite accounting for approximately 60% of McDonald’s dessert sales in the United States, according to a survey by research firm Technomic Inc., they are also not at all intuitive and contain what some have interpreted as deliberately abrupt. . code, which is why some franchise owners have such a hard time getting them back up and running.
The unreliability of the machines is what prompted a company called Kytch to step in and develop a diagnostic tool specifically designed to help McDonald’s franchise owners fix their own McFlurry machines. But after Kytch co-founder Jeremy O’Sullivan accused Taylor of infringing on the rights of McDonald’s franchisees to repair their own McFlurry machines and stealing intellectual property in a lawsuit, the FTC reported that it intervene.
According to the newspaper, which spoke to someone familiar with the FTC’s talks with franchise owners, the agency is in the early stages of its investigation and has so far asked about “how McDonald’s reviews suppliers and the ‘equipment, including ice cream machines, and how often restaurant owners are allowed to work on their own machines.’
G / O Media may receive a commission
Fantastic selection back to school.
Long battery life perfect for students.
In its letter to franchisees, the FTC reiterated that “the existence of a preliminary investigation does not indicate that the FTC or its staff have found any fault,” meaning McDonald’s still has no problems.
The investigation comes after the Biden Administration issued a comprehensive executive order in July aimed at examining general device repair restrictions, including the agriculture, health, shipping, transportation and technology sectors.