It’s become a bit of a meme at this point, and for good reason: McDonald’s ice cream machines are often out of service.
If the ice cream machine is out, you can say goodbye to any dreams of getting a McFlurry until it’s fixed.
Theories abound about the reason for their regular breakdowns, with one Redditor claiming to have got the inside scoop from a repairman.
“We've all heard the jokes, seen the memes, been told it's not broken, just being cleaned, they said.
“But I was chatting with a McDonald's repairman this week and his answer to the mystery was pretty crazy. To clean the ice cream machine properly, it takes just short of 4 hours. They keep breaking down because no one has time to clean them properly.
“McDonald's even started sending managers to seminars just to learn how to clean it. And once you start taking it apart to clean, there are dozens of individual parts. It's a nightmare hassle machine that McDonald's hasn't figured out an easier way to keep clean and working properly. So don't be sad when you can't get ice cream at McDonald's, be pleasantly surprised when you can.
“But if you can, also be kind of sketched out wondering if the machine has been cleaned properly.”
It actually runs a bit deeper than that. Per CNN, until recently the machines could only be repaired by one firm, significantly impeding how quickly they could be fixed.
“McDonald’s franchises haven’t been able to fix the soft serve ice cream machines on their own because manufacturing company Taylor owns the copyright and exclusive rights to fix the machines — until now,” it said.
“The United States Copyright Office granted a copyright exemption last week that gives restaurants the ‘right to repair’ the machines by bypassing the digital locks that prevented them from being fixed. The inability to make timely fixes has been a bane of the customers’ existence, so much so, that there’s a third-party website called McBroken.com that tracks their availability.”
As of October 2024, stores are now able to conduct their own repairs or get a non-Taylor engineer to carry out the works. It’s still early days, but this could mark the end of an ice cream-free era.
This news hasn’t quite eclipsed a revelation out of Mexico: over there, you can get McFlurries from dedicated mall kiosks - surely the greatest fix possible for those fed up of rolling up to their local restaurant to be met with disappointment.
After all, given these dedicated kiosks revolve around one product - ice cream - they wouldn't be able to open if the machines weren't working, so surely it's in everyone's best interests to ensure they're running smoothly.
It’s unclear whether they have a similar reputation for unreliability, but either way it seems they’re a hit in central and South America.
“The same in Argentina in every mall, and you even have some small stores,” said a Reddit comment regarding the kiosks.
In fact, it seems they’re pretty common in countries known for their hotter climes.
“Same in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand,” said another.
“The same in Nicaragua!” and “They're in every mall in Brazil also.”
FOODBible has approached McDonald’s for comment.
Featured Image Credit: NurPhoto / Contributor/Getty Images
Rachael Davis