Hundreds of millions of customers can’t be wrong: Fast food is undeniably delicious while it’s also convenient, served up fast, and an usually an inexpensive alternative to sit-down restaurant dining or cooking at home. But the main goal of fast food isn’t necessarily to nourish its customers or provide an amazing culinary experience: It’s to make as much money as possible. Major, internationally dominant fast food chains drive the $860 billion worldwide quick-serve economy. They’ll do whatever they can and whatever it takes to outpace the intense competition or carve out a niche.
Attracting customers is tough, and fast food restaurants can’t rely on just good food, good service, and good prices to get people through the door or in the drive-through. Creative copywriting, inventive marketing, false advertising, serving phony food, psychological trickery, and underhanded pricing techniques are just of some the tools at their disposal. Some fast food restaurants may never live down their shady pasts, such as tricking, cheating, and scamming their customers as a matter of course. Here are some of the most egregious, anti-customer sins ever committed by fast food restaurants.
Read more: The Many, Many Ingredients That Are Packed Into McDonald’s Fries
Long John Silver’s Lobster Wasn’t The Lobster Customers Thought It Was
Long John Silver’s location exterior – Bruce VanLoon/Shutterstock
The world needs more Long John Silver’s, but not if it’s going to obscure the identity of its seafood. In 2005, the seafood-focused chain added what seemed like a luxury item to its menu of fried whitefish, clams, and shrimp: lobster. Synonymous with high-priced formal dining, it was suddenly for sale at Long John Silver’s in the form of its Buttered Langostino Lobster Bites, purportedly made from “real langostino lobster.”
This was all a daring and not fully legal marketing move on the part of Long John Silver’s. The Buttered Lobster Bites weren’t made with any of the lobster with which consumers are familiar, and there’s no such thing as a langostino lobster. Langostino is another name for an inches-long shellfish more closely related to the hermit crab than lobster, also known by its unappetizing English name: squat lobster.
When Olympia Snowe, a U.S. senator from the lobster-producing state of Maine, found out about the langostino lobster gambit, she asked the Food and Drug Administration to halt sales, calling the product “an insult to Maine and to the lobster industry,” per CBS News. The Federal Trade Commission stepped in, and Long John Silver’s was forced to rebrand Lobster Bites as Buttered Langostino Lobster Bites in order to let customers know that they weren’t quite eating lobster. Long John Silver’s discontinued the item in 2010.
Taco Bell’s Light Taco Was Heavy On Deception
Old mission-style Taco Bell restaurant – Joe Raedle/Getty
Taco Bell’s Decades Menu brought back old faves in the 2020s, but one item not likely to reappear at the Mexican-inspired fast food chain anytime soon: the Taco Light. An increasingly health conscious population and customer base was a legitimate threat to the bottom line of fast food companies. Various healthy eating trends in the 1970s and 1980s left the peddlers of fat-laden, cheese-covered meals to come up with ideas for how to lure in new, nutritionally-minded diners or keep the customers they had amidst the new trends. In 1983, Taco Bell went the opposite direction, creating a taco longer than its standard crunchy one, adding more calorically dense seasoned ground beef, and utilizing a slightly thinner shell.
Taco Bell then marketed the menu item, named Taco Light, to customers seeking lighter fare. Commercials for the product emphasized the technology and taste, as Taco Light was made with “a flaky flour tortilla that lets all the delicious flavors inside come bursting through.” Very briefly, over a shot of lettuce and tomato, a disclaimer appears in tiny letters on the screen: “Not lower in calories.” Its impact on Taco Bell sales was light; the product didn’t last very long.
A McDonald’s Miracle Low-Fat Burger Was Partially Made From Seaweed
McDonald’s burger with fries and drinks – SrideeStudio/Shutterstock
In 1991, when the desire to eat “lite,” low-calorie, and low-fat was all the rage, McDonald’s, the biggest name in greasy fast food, debuted what purported to be an actually healthy hamburger. If it seemed too good to be true, it’s because it was, as McDonald’s literally filled in some holes with questionable materials in order to make its promise technically true.
McDonald’s promised that the McLean Deluxe would be just as tasty as its other, full-fat burgers, even the Quarter Pounder that it visually resembled. Along with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and ketchup on a bun, the sandwich featured a beef patty that was 91% fat-free. With 10 grams of fat, the McLean Deluxe contained only about a third of what could be found in a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. So how did McDonald’s concoct such a low-fat item? Its suppliers removed a significant portion of fat and then bolstered the weakened protein with water and a seaweed derivative that worked as a binder. The McLean Deluxe didn’t exactly taste like seaweed, but it didn’t exactly taste like a normal McDonald’s burger, either. It faded off the menu by 1996.
Subway Sold Chicken And Tuna Subs That Weren’t Totally Made With Chicken And Tuna
Tuna sandwich from Subway – Justin Sullivan/Getty
Among an array of freshly sliced meats, Subway shops in the United States offer multiple kinds of chicken — heavily sauced and chopped stuff used for the Sweet Onion Teriyaki, and an Oven Roasted Chicken patty. Subway was somewhat misleading with those names, because according to an investigation, those sandwich fillers were only about half poultry. Reporters from “Marketplace,” a Canadian news show from the CBC, submitted samples of both chicken products for multiple rounds of DNA testing, and researchers determined that the Sweet Onion Teriyaki chicken strips were just 42.8% chicken, and Oven Roasted Chicken patty was 53.6% chicken. Not counting trace amounts of seasonings, preservatives, and fillers, the rest of the poultry was really soy, along with more than 10 times as much salt as one would find in chicken purchased at a supermarket.
Another Subway luncheon meat alternative also wasn’t what the chain said it was. In 2021, two California residents filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that Subway committed fraud and intentional misrepresentation by selling a surreptitiously tuna-free concoction as tuna. The plaintiffs ordered laboratory testing of tuna filling obtained from several Subway outlets, and the results indicated that the product was made from various proteins and other foods, none of which were tuna. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2023, while Subway added a “Tuna Facts” page to its website, attesting to the authenticity of its seafood.
McDonald’s Left The Value Out Of Its Extra Value Meals
McDonalds burger and fries – Patcharaporn Puttipon4289/Shutterstock
The modern fast food combo meal — generally consisting of a sandwich, fries, and a soft drink — was introduced by McDonald’s in the early 1990s. Instituted partially at the behest of Coca-Cola, which wanted to sell more of its products at McDonald’s, a manager named Alan Dimayuga suggested bundling otherwise individually ordered burgers, french fries, and soda, giving each a number that could become shorthand for regular customers. McDonald’s made it a national program, and initially kept the price of each “Extra Value Meal” about 15 cents less than what it would cost if the three meal parts were ordered separately.
However, that stipulation faded with time. In 2016, Illinois resident James Gertie sued a local multi-unit McDonald’s franchisee for false advertising. Customers who purchased the two-cheeseburger Extra Value Meal at Karis Management Company-run McDonald’s paid 41 cents more for the combo than if they’d individually purchased the two sandwiches, fries, and soda. Two years later, more McDonald’s customers filed an Extra Value Meal lawsuit — a two sausage burritos, hash browns, and coffee meal sold on the breakfast menu was over-priced by 11 cents more than its constituent items at Chicago-area McDonald’s. That case was dismissed.
Dunkin’ Used Cheap Ingredients Instead Of The Nice Ones As Advertised
Dunkin’ Donuts exterior signage – Ken Wolter/Shutterstock
As terms, “butter” and “margarine” are often used somewhat interchangeably; in the real world, they’re quite different. Butter is made from churned cream, a natural product more expensive than margarine, a factory-made imitation butter created from processed vegetable oil. Butter is viewed in a more favorable light, and that’s partly why Dunkin’, formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts, experienced legal fallout when it presented itself as a restaurant chain that used real butter when it really served margarine. Two lawsuits filed in Massachusetts accused about 20 franchised Dunkin’ Donuts of buttering its bagels with margarine, even when it said it used butter and when customers requested real butter be used. The switch-outs all took place between June 2012 and June 2016.
Around the time its lawyers were busy with the faux-butter case, Dunkin’ Donuts was sued again, this time in a New York City federal court by a local who alleged “false, deceptive, and misleading” practices, per Boston.com, in how the chain advertised Angus Steak-based breakfast sandwiches but served cheaper, lower quality ground beef on the items instead. And later in 2017, a Chicago Dunkin’ customer filed another lawsuit, a class action matter that took issue without how the company’s purportedly blueberry doughnuts and some pastries were completely devoid of any true berries. At the time, Dunkin’ products were flecked with imitation blueberries, or “flavored crystals” made from blue dye and two kinds of sugar.
At Subway, A Foot Didn’t Mean 12 Inches
Footlong sandwich from Subway wrapped and atop bag – The Image Party/Shutterstock
In 2013, Matt Corby of Perth, Australia bought a foot-long sandwich from Subway. Sensing that it didn’t quite measure up to its stated, implied length of a foot, or 12 inches, the customer measured the sandwich and discovered it was an 11-inch-long sub. He griped about it on Facebook, and a photo of the sandwich next to measuring tape confirming its undersized length went viral.
Responding to the negative attention, and the notion that it was lying to its many customers and had been for years, Subway explained that its foot-long subs didn’t necessarily have to be a foot long. “The length of the bread baked in the restaurant cannot be assured each and every time as the proofing process may vary slightly each time in the restaurant,” a representative of the company wrote on the Subway Australia Facebook page, (via ABC News). And furthermore, Subway claimed, “Footlong” was a registered trademark used to describe its general large sandwiches and to not make any promises about its specific size. In the U.S., a team of lawyers put together a class action lawsuit accusing Subway of deception. A judge tossed the case out of court in 2017.
Chipotle Lied By Omission About Its Nutrition Facts
Chipotle menu board with calorie counts – Brandon Bell/Getty
Made mostly from heavily spiced pork fat, the traditionally Spanish called chorizo is categorically not a food that is low in calories. And yet when Chipotle introduced chorizo to the list of protein choices customers could order in their burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads in 2016, the Mexican-inspired chain’s menu board noted that it contained just 300 calories. This presentation made it seem like any Chipotle entrée with chorizo as its foundation would provide a mere 300 calories — patently false, and the focal point of a lawsuit.
Three men filed a case in Los Angeles County Superior Court after eating chorizo burritos at three separate Chipotle outlets in California. All felt way too full after consuming what they were led to believe was just 300 calories — they’d really eaten much more. Deep in Chipotle’s nutrition information on its website, the company noted that those 300 calories were just for the chorizo; a nutrition calculator showed that a burrito made with the sausage, rice, black beans, salsa, and cheese in a tortilla came in at 1,055 calories. “Consumers are lulled into a false belief that the items are healthier than they really are, and thereby encouraging repeat patronage by consumers who are concerned about the nutritional values of the food they eat,” the lawsuit alleged, (via the Los Angeles Times).
Burger King’s Ads For A Chicken Sandwich Were Blatantly False
Burger King chicken sandwich with lights – Efood / Facebook
In 2010, Burger King added a chicken sandwich to its U.K. menu, the Tendercrisp. Television commercials indicated that the chicken burger (as they’re known in England) was a very large product, with a male actor barely able to wrap his hands around the giant sandwich. The advertisement did what it was supposed to — drive traffic to Burger King and increase orders for the Tendercrisp. But when some customers actually got the Tendercrisp into their own hands, they were disappointed by the relatively small stature of the product.
Two Burger King patrons reported the commercial to the Advertising Standards Authority, a U.K. fair trade commission and commercial watchdog. Agents investigated by purchasing three Tendercrisp sandwiches and agreed that the real-life product didn’t resemble the one depicted on T.V. at all. Ruling that their Tendercrisps’s height and width didn’t compare favorably than the ones seen on TV, the Advertising Standards Authority ordered Burger King to stop airing the ad. “We concluded that the visuals in the advert were likely to mislead viewers as to the size and composition of the product,” the ASA said in a statement, (via BBC).
A Roundup On How Chipotle Kept Rounding Up
Chipotle sign in front of location – Erman Gunes/Shutterstock
There are a lot of shady things you can’t ignore about Chipotle, like the time it essentially instituted a price hike without telling customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the United States briefly weathered a coin shortage — to limit the spread of germs via physical contact, countless merchants stopped accepting (and customers limited their use of) hard metal money. Responding to the lack of coinage in its own way, Mexican-inspired chain Chipotle attempted to make change less of an issue. It simply rounded up its prices and totaled tabs to the next dollar; that way, customers wouldn’t have to look in their pockets or purses for coins, and Chipotle wouldn’t have to touch as many nickels, dimes, quarters, and pennies.
Evidence of this plan led to a customer-filed lawsuit against Chipotle. “It has become very clear that this is a top-down directive form the corporation, this is how they should handle this situation,” representing attorney Frank Salpietro told CBS News, adding that the practice unfairly targeted and overcharged customers who used cash rather than a debit or credit card. This wasn’t the first time that Chipotle tried out the scheme. In 2012, Chipotle restaurants in New York and New Jersey were caught rounding up prices to the next 25-cent mark.
How McDonald’s Skimps On The Fries
Box of McDonald’s fries standing upright – Lauren Decicca/Getty
McDonald’s is a fast food chain that serves the highest quality french fries, and it may attempt to provide paying customers with as few of them as possible. It’s a relatable, near-universal experience: You open your bag from McDonald’s and pull out the small packet or larger box of french fries, and they inevitably seem under-filled or just scant in some way. It turns out, our eyes do not deceive us, as McDonald’s may train its employees to purposely under-load french fry containers. A post from a 2017 Reddit thread called “What did your job want to hide from customers” from a former McDonald’s employee went viral for seemingly confirming the theory. “I worked at McDonald’s and they taught me how to punch the fry carton just right while putting the fries into them so that it looked full, but actually wasn’t,” the Reddit user said. “I only had one customer call me out on it.” Other former McDonald’s workers weighed in with their experience, corroborating the first account.
When asked to comment on the exposé, McDonald’s spokesperson Terri Hickey denied that the fast food giant ever did anything wrong. “The notion of a secret trick is absolutely false. There are strict procedures in place to ensure that fry boxes and bags are appropriately filled,” Hickey told HuffPost.
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