McDonald's has reported disappointing sales over the past few months, and the former fast food giant is in desperate need of a comeback. Can James Franco be the one to make that happen?
Well, he's certainly going to try. The actor that never ceases to surprise and entertain us with his off-camera activities penned a laudatory op-ed about McDonald's that was published in The Washington Post on Thursday. Franco described how when he was an 18-year-old college dropout and struggling actor trying to make it in Hollywood, he couldn't find a job to support himself until McDonald's gave him a chance.
"All I know is that when I needed McDonald's, McDonald's was there for me. When no one else was," Franco wrote in the op-ed in support of the fast food chain.
Though the op-ed starts off sweet, it gets pretty weird pretty fast. It ends up as one long rant about Franco's days as a McDonald's employee, fooling customers as he practiced his foreign accents during his late shift at the drive-thru, eating french fries right out of the fryer (ew) and complaining about how horrible it was when parents ordered food for their children.
And the kicker? Franco eventually quit his job at McDonald's after three months of working there because he snagged a role in a Super Bowl commercial for Pizza Hut, all places. Ouch. Where's your loyalty, bro?
From then on, Franco has been able to support himself through acting, but he clearly hasn't forgotten about his time at McDonald's. Well, sort of.
"I still love the simplicity of the McDonald's hamburger and its salty fries. After reading 'Fast Food Nation,' it's hard for me to trust the grade of the meat," Franco wrote in his op-ed. "But maybe once a year, while on a road trip or out in the middle of nowhere for a movie, I'll stop by a McDonald's and get a simple cheeseburger: light, and airy, and satisfying."
So... how do you want us to feel about McDonald's again, Franco? I'm very confused.
This op-ed comes just days after McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook announced the fast food chain's turnaround plan to revitalize sales and restaurant traffic. This will include reorganizing the corporate structure, cutting costs by $300 million annually and a greater focus on franchising, in addition to raising the pay of some 90,000 workers to $1 above the mandated minimum wage, which was announced last month.
And now that McDonald's seems to be going in a sexier direction with its mascots, maybe it can make Franco the new Grimace or something. It sounds like he might be up for it.
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