Before I get into this article, let’s first establish the conditions in which you normally order a McDonald’s Drive-Thru.
You’re likely rushed, on your way to or from a long day.
Or, like me, you simply want as few people as possible to see you in your
“having-a-bad-day-don’t-ask” state as you order a 20-pack of McNuggets at 2 PM.
Well, that might help to explain why TikToker Aimee Wills seemed so shocked to learn how the company knows who to give whose delicious order to in the stream of cars and passengers.
“I’ve just found out how they know whose order it is in the McDonald’s Drive-Thru,” she said, her hand covering her agonised face.
What happens?
The TikToker said she’d seen another app user, who says she worked for McDonald’s, on the video site.
“Do you know those two lanes you come up and you’re talking to make your order,” she began.
“She said ― she works there, and she said, when you order your food, they take a picture of your face.”
The stressed-out TikToker laughed, “Sorry?? Can you imagine what that picture looks like?” wheezing “oh no!” at the end of her video.
She conceded that though potentially unflattering, the process does “make sense,” before asking her followers to confirm whether it’s true.
And?
HuffPost UK reached out to McDonald’s about the matter, and basically ― yup.
Thankfully, though, the company deletes images within 30 minutes.
“Drive-Thru cameras capture images at the time orders are placed, however, this is not permanently saved onto any device,” McDonald’s said.
“Instead, the image is displayed on the cashier’s till in the drive-thru window and is then automatically deleted within 30 minutes of the sale being completed,” they added.
“The image is captured to ensure that the completed food and beverage order is passed to the same person who placed the order.”
To be fair, it’s not like my messy hair and greasy post-night-out visage wouldn’t have been noticed by the people behind the window, and I don’t think they have enough time to care about it.
Plus, I’d rather that than having to explain whose order is whose in a long line of cars when I just want to be at home with my beloved McNuggets.
Still, I’m glad they have a burn forever attitude to those pics, because I can only imagine the horrors of mine...