39 Myths and Counterintuitive Facts That Would Have Gotten Away With It If It Wasn’t for Us Meddling Kids

40 Generous Bits of Trivia That Usually Charge An Arm and A Leg for This Kind of Info

42 Random Bits of Trivia You’ll Have to Body Check Into Your Over-Stuffed Brain and Slam Your Skull Shut Before They Bury You Alive

45 Big Brand Fails and Hilariously Godawful Ad Campaigns

12 Trivia Tidbits to Sprinkle on Your Brainpan As A Garnish

33 Fast-Food Facts to Pull Off the Interstate For

We’d stop for these even if we don’t have to pee

33 Fast-Food Facts to Pull Off the Interstate For

June 19, 2024

If you’ve ever been on a long road trip, you’d know that you usually try to get food, gas and a bathroom break all at a single rest stop. But every once in a while, you see that a really good fast-food joint is coming up. You don’t need gas or need to tinkle, but are you going to risk missing this place for a lesser restaurant down the road? Absolutely not.

That’s how we felt about these facts. We saw them coming up and almost went through the guardrail to get them. They’re just that juicy.

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

33

Since 2014, the number of McDonald's restaurants has been shrinking. McCaf McDonald's McDonald's DRIVETHRU M The company had 14,350 restaurants in 2014, and that figure has been falling by 3% per year since. In 2018, for the first time since 2004, there were under 14,000. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

32

McDonald’s

The first McDonald's drive-thru opened next to a military base in Arizona. 5 McDonald's SERVICE SYSTEM HAMBURGERS McDonald's 25 have Sold OVER 1 MILLION Soldiers at the base couldn't show up in public in a work or duty uniform, so a drive-thru was set up to allow them to buy at McDonald's anyway. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

31

McDonald's replaced its coffee stirrers purely because of cocaine. People were actually using them to snort cocaine off of, and McD didn't want their product to be associated with that, so they redesigned them. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Chipotle

Chipotle 1993 Chipolle CINEMA GRAPHICS THE ULTIMATE POSTER SHOP CRACKED COM GOILL Steve Ells was working as a chef when he opened a burrito stand as a low-risk investment to support his dream of a full-scale restaurant. Не got a loan of $80,000 from his dad. — Source

29

Pizza Hut 1958 PIZZA HUT CRACKED.COM Brothers Frank and Dan Carney borrowed $600 from their mom to open a pizzeria. They came up with the name Pizza Hut because their sign only had room for 8 letters. — Source

28

Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen 1940 DAIRY QUEEN CRACKED.COM In 1938, to test a new soft serve technology, Sherb Noble of Sherb's ran a deal of all-you-can-eat ice cream for 10 cents. In 1940, Noble opened a Dairy Queen, that specialized in soft-serve. — Source

27

Burger King 1953 CRACKED.COM Inspired by McDonald's, the founders bought the rights to the Insta-Broiler, a special grill, which inspired their resturaunt's name Insta-Burger King. It was franchised the following year. — Source

26

Subway 1965 *Petes SUBWAY Ril KITCHEN CRACKED.COM Fred DeLuca was 17-years-old when his family friend Dr. Peter Buck gave him a $1000 loan to open a sandwich shop to help fund his college. It was originally called Pete's Submarines. — Source

25

McDonaldland

The McDonaldland characters aren't original -- they're just ripoffs. C McDonald's lifted everything from H.R. Pufnstuf, one of the most popular kids' TV programs in the '70s. It was so brazen, McDonald's got sued. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

24

McDonald's had a no women hiring policy until the late '60s. Even then, the owner demanded female employees be flat-chested and not work the grill since they didn't have the stamina for intense labor. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Taco Bell is named after its founder, Glen Bell. TACO BELL Не was a California entrepreneur who first owned a mini golf course and a hot dog stand. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

22

KFC 1952 New حته CRACKED.COM After varied careers, Colonel Harland Sanders began selling food out of his gas station in 1930. It wasn't until the invention of the pressure cooker in 1939 where he perfected his quickly fried chicken with 11 herbs and spices. In 1952, he franchised the business. — Source

21

CRACKED CHIPOTLE LIED ABOUT BEING GMO-FREE. They announced that their food was GMO-free in 2015, but their meat and dairy still came from animals fed on GMOs. Chipotle attorneys said, no reasonable consumer would expect that the non-GMO claims would be so strictly applied. — Source

20

Come on in, take a load off!

CRACKED ON-BALANCE - LELAND VER AD ON BALANCE'S LUNCH TODAY M Pepper M M A CLASS ACTION SUIT FOR FALSE ADVERTISING. A Wendy's commercial food stylist said that she uses undercooked beef to make burgers look plumper, and layers toppings with pins. We all know the visual discrepancy, but in 2022, Wendy's and McDonald's got slapped with a false-advertising suit. — Source

19

CRACKED M MCDONALD'S BEEFED UP THEIR VEGETABLE OIL. When McDonald's switched from beef fat to vegetable oil to cook their fries, they forgot to mention that the vegetable oil still contained beef products. A lawsuit awarded $10 million to Hindu and vegetarian groups. — Source

18

CRACKED SUBWAY SUBWAY BREAD IS LEGALLY MORE CUPCAKE THAN BREAD. At 10 grams of sugar per foot-long, an Irish judge ruled that the sugar content is too high to be considered bread, and should actually be classified as a confectionary. — Source

17

CRACKED EXHIBIT A SHOP BIG MAC neo BASTS TO AMIST BUILDA PRIZE BELL . BIPSAC FURD EXPLORER A LA THE MCDONALD'S MONOPOLY SCANDAL. In the '90s, McDonalds' Monopoly marketing executive Jerry Jacobson made $24 million by stealing and selling the game's most valuable pieces. — Source

16

CRACKED BREAM FAST T AT TH CELL 'TIL MAM TACO BELL'S MYSTERY MEAT BY THE NUMBERS. In 2011, a lawsuit claimed that Taco Bell's beef contained only 35% meat and could not call itself beef. Taco Bell spent millions to prove that it's actually 88% beef, so we're left trying to account for the other 12-65%. — Source

15

CRACKED BURGER KING SOLD HORSE MEAT IN EUROPE. In 2013, after meat suppliers were caught mixing horse meat with beef, trace amounts of horse meat was found in European Burger King burgers. — Source

14

CRACKED STARBUCKS' PUMPKIN SPICE WAS A PUMPKIN-LESS POSSIBLE CARCINOGEN. Chemically tested in 2015, the PSL contained no trace of actual pumpkin, and was high in caramel color class IV. Experts debate its link to cancer, but Starbucks played it safe by releasing a new syrup without the chemical (and with actual pumpkin). — Source

13

CRACKED MCDONALD'S WAS COOL WITH EXPIRED MEAT! In 2014, reporters filmed an American-owned Shanghai factory changing the dates on expired meat before sending it to McDonald's and KFC locations in China. KFC dropped the supplier, but McDonald's kept using them. — Source

12

Popeye's CRACKED.COM Chicken Sandwich 700 calories = There are few things better in this life than Popeye's Spicy Chicken Sandwich, but 14 pieces of their Chicken Nuggets is equal in calories. — Source

11

Chick-fil-A CRACKED.COM Cobb Salad 800 calories You could get a salad in an attempt to eat healthy. Alternatively, you could order 25 pieces of their Chicken Nuggets for the same calories. — Source

10

Dunkin' CRACKED.COM Large Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee 880 calories II A large Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee with skim milk has the same calories as 3.2 Chocolate Donuts with Sprinkles. — Source

9

Arby's CRACKED.COM Large Jamocha Shake 758 calories You could drink one large shake or eat 4.9 Regular Roast Beef sandwiches to consume the same amount of calories. — Source

8

Hard shell tacos were popularized by Taco Bell. They were developed in the U.S. in the 1890s. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Fast food restaurants keep their menu confusing to get you to spend more. BILL 10035 BELF BURG HUNGRY - REPLACE 17 JACK'S HUNGRY JACKS GOLDEN FRIES Expresso! Wraps to go LADVE FAR The Wraps $5.45 2 Wraps 2 Sousage, The jumbled mess of menu items that stare back at you are designed to not give you enough time to make a careful decision, forcing you to pick an item that catches your eye first - usually one of the more expensive ones. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

There are more public libraries than McDonald's in the United States. CRACKED.COM Although they aren't as prominently advertised, in 2014 there were 16,766 public libraries found in all 50 states, compared to 14,157 McDonald's restaurants. — Source

5

Western junk food is banned in a South Pacific island to combat health problems. CRACKED.COM Leaders of Vanuatu province want to turn local people and tourists away from unhealthy imports in favor of locally grown crops and seafood as a way to combat future health problems. — Source

4

In-N-Out stopped accommodating burger orders of any size after someone ordered a 100x100. IN-N-OUT BURGER CRACKED.COM A group of friends in Las Vegas in 2004 ordered a 100 beef patty x 100 cheese slice burger from the fast food restaurant, as they always allowed orders of any size for additional cost. Now the cap is a 4x4. — Source

3

Pizza Hut delivered to the ISS. The company paid the Russian space agency $1 million to deliver a salami pie. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

2

One burger can contain hundreds of cows. All thanks to a 1960's innovation called the disassembly line. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Pizza Hut used to be the largest purchaser of kale in the U.S. Pizza Hut Pizza-Hut 5' It wasn't even eaten - it was a garnish on their salad bars. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

21 of the Best Wordless Gags in Comedy History

Movies & TV

25 Trivia Tidbits About ‘Galaxy Quest’ on Its 25th Anniversary

Science & History

5 of the Oldest Board Games in the World

Trivia & Jokes

44 Random Bits of Trivia We Shucked Out of the Smartest Clams in the Ocean

Movies & TV

The Five Craziest Musician Cameos on Sitcoms

Movies & TV

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia Assigned to You by the Trivia Distribution System

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

33 Movie Facts to Boost Your Film Buff Street Cred

2

33 Easter Eggs and Behind-the-Scenes Facts About Famous Superhero Movies

3

20 Jokes That Become Funnier When They’re Explained

4

5 Parts of Life We’re Stuck With Because the King Ordered It

5

5 Things You Thought Were Going to Be A Way Bigger Problem When You Were A Kid