10 Things You Didn't Know About McDonald's | Top World List

You've enjoyed a tasty burger and some fries from McDonald's not only is it one of the most popular companies on the planet.

But it also is the biggest in the world they have over 37,000 locations and have stores in more than 115 countries.

But just because you've eaten a Big Mac doesn't mean you know all there is to know about the company that sports those golden arches here today we'll be highlighting some of the things you don't know about McDonald's. 

No 1. McDonald's has sold over four trillion french fries

It's hard to imagine ordering food at McDonald's without adding a side of fries all of their value meals come with french fries and until recently all of their kid meals came with fries.

As well this is probably why McDonald's has sold well over four trillion french fries since they opened their doors in 1948.

This golden crispy and salty treats are a fan favorite when you watch McDonald's commercials. They always highlight their fries and it's hard to imagine eating a McDonald's burger without some fries on the side.

But the company doesn't pretend their fries are healthy. It's no secret a lot of the items on the McDonald's menu are high in fat and calories.

But that doesn't seem to have slowed down their sales with more than four trillion fries sold they must be pretty tasty.

No 2. Even the president eats McDonald's

From this site

You would think that if you were President of the United States he would treat yourself to fancy food all the time but that's currently not the case while on his presidential campaign.

Donald Trump would order McDonald's all the time his typical order included two Big Macs two fillet of fish sandwiches and a chocolate shake and the president isn't the only famous person who likes to drive through.

The golden arches even David Beckham enjoys fast food from time to time the athlete once ordered two Big Mac meals and two cheeseburgers for himself during one trip and the drive-thru.

No 3. In 1948 you could order a hamburger at McDonald's for just 15 cents

When the McDonald brothers first opened their chains of the popular restaurants the menu had only four items all they offered was hamburgers cheeseburgers potato chips and pie.

There was no such thing as McDonald's french fries they didn't offer sandwiches like we see today like the Big Mac or quarter pounder and they only charged about half as much as you would pay to sit down in a restaurant.

For example, a McDonald's hamburger only cost fifteen cents in 1948 oh how times have changed today the menu is offered on rotating flashboards in the eat-in restaurant and a value meal costs about 60 times.

As much as a hamburger did when the chain first opened and an interesting tidbit McDonald's didn't start out as a hamburger restaurant, in fact, they began as a small roadside restaurant and some other interesting menu items. 

Number 4. McDonald's originally operated as a BBQ joint in California

In the 1940s dick and Mac McDonald the brothers who opened the first McDonald's only served BBQ food they opened their BBQ joint at the corner of 14th and East streets in San Bernardino California.

The idea was for the restaurant to be a carhop with people ordering their food to eat at a roadside table or in their cars.

But it wouldn't be long before the brothers sold their company to Ray Kroc who would go on to turn the restaurant into the largest fast-food company on the planet.

No 5. The $ 1 Million song contest

From this site

Today McDonald's doesn't have to waste millions of dollars on advertising there probably isn't a person in the United States who hasn't eaten at the fast-food chain dozens of times.

However, in 1988 McDonald's put out a contest called the 1 million dollar menu song. It was an advertising gimmick. They put out flimsy ads in newspapers and invited people to sing the entire McDonald's menu without screwing up.

The odds of winning the contest were one in eighty billion basically they ripped off the melody of a song called life is a rock performed by a group called.

The reunion in 1974 you can still find a few renditions of the song on YouTube if you look hard enough but this contest wouldn't produce the familiar jingle that most people growing up in the 1980s would hear.

No 6. Ronald McDonald first appeared in 1963

From this site

As creepy as he may be Ronald McDonald the official mascot for McDonald's fast food first appeared in 1963. There was a bit of controversy over who actually created the red-haired grimacing clown Willard Scott who had been a radio personality on WRC-tv in Washington DC.

He created the character Scott had played Bozo the Clown until 1962 and claims he created the Ronald McDonald character based on Bo so however Oscar Goldstein. The man who owned the Washington DC McDonald's franchise in the 1960s says that it was, in fact, him who created the red-headed mascot. 

No 7. A McDonald's Big Mac only has 540 calories

McDonald's first released its Big Mac in the mid-1970s and the sandwich would soon become a fan favorite however when people started becoming more health-conscious.

People began complaining about the McDonald's fast-food and that it was too fattening, in fact, there were rumors that the company's Big Mac had more calories than a normal human needed to eat in a day.

The reality though is that a Big Mac with cheese is only about 540 calories while this might seem a bit high it's not that much more than any normal lunch. Now how many of these calories come from fat is a different story. 

No 8. McDonald's is worth almost 160 billion dollars

When you want to see what a company is really worth you just take a look at the number of shares and multiply that by the value of each this is how it's done for a company like McDonald's.

It's because there are both company-owned locations and franchise-owned locations it's not like you can just look at the company's sales for the prior year using this model of valuation.

McDonald's is worth one hundred and fifty-nine point six four billion dollars when you think about it that's more than the GDP of most small countries where does all this money come from it comes from the sale of Big Macs happy meals and even salads.

No 9. McDonald's buys a 1 billion pounds of beef per year 

You don't get to be worth 150 billion dollars without serving a ton of food, in fact, McDonald's serves about 68 million people every year that's more than the population of Great Britain in order to meet their customers growing appetites.

The company needs to purchase more than 1 billion pounds of beef every year. This is to make the 75 hamburgers they sell every second of every day that's a lot of cattle.

No 10. In 1992 McDonald's was sued over their hot coffee

What has been described as one of the most ridiculous lawsuits of all time?

McDonald's was sued in 1992 for having coffee that was too hot 79-year-old Stella Liebeck ordered a coffee at a McDonald's drive-through.

She put the cup between her legs so she could add milk and sugar. The coffee spilled and burned Laibach she sued McDonald's for damages and got almost three million dollars.

The real kicker is that lie backs attorney was originally willing to settle the case for 20,000 but the company refused to settle.