"The Founder A Trumpian biopic of Ray Kroc

[DemocratSinceBirth]

IT WAS apposite that “The Founder” opened on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration; Ray Kroc—a businessman who transformed the McDonald’s franchise—was a turbo-charged egomaniac. He neared bankruptcy several times, behaved with questionable business ethics and became successful beyond even his wildest dreams. He was also the offspring of immigrants (Czech, rather than German), thrice married and, obviously, a big fan of fast food.

Unlike the president, however, Kroc was entirely self-made. At the age of 52 he was criss-crossing the Midwest as salesman of milkshake mixers. With normally mediocre sales, Kroc cannot believe it when an unsolicited order for six milkshake mixers comes in. His curiosity is piqued: he drives all the way from Missouri to San Bernardino, California, to check out the business. The restaurant increases its order when he talks to them on the phone.

What he finds in San Bernardino is a bustling joint where customers happily stand in line for burgers and fries that are miraculously prepared in 30 seconds rather than 30 minutes (this is 1954). Kroc meets Richard and Maurice McDonald, the founders of the business, and invites them to dinner to learn about the Speedee Service System they devised. The brothers tell him how they introduced Taylorism to the burger kitchen, served food in practical paper wraps rather than on fussy plates, and made clients stand in line rather than sit in the car to get their food. Their system became the model for the fast-food industry around the world.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/01/founder

Saw it today.

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. Song by Mark Knopfler:

About Ray Kroc

Boom, Like That

[bullwinkle428]

5. GREAT song! Have seen him perform it more than once live.

[HoneyBadger]

2. Amazing movie, Keaton's best ever role

He comes across as brilliant, obsessive, always a dreamer, but not a nice guy. The brothers are brilliant, but have zero vision. He partners with them, they make his life challenging, he steam rolls them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. I would...

I would have let the brothers keep their name on their original restaurant and given them their one percent royalties. But that's why I'm not rich.


It was funny how his country club pals junked up his franchises.

[HoneyBadger]

4. The brothers got quite a bit of money each

But it does make me think of the unnamed somebody that sold DOS to Bill Gates for 5 figures.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. What is interesting is how far McDonalds has departed from it core mission

What is interesting is how far McDonalds has departed from it core mission of just serving burgers, fries, and shakes.

[HoneyBadger]

9. Fast casual like Chipotle really took a bite out of fast food

The franchises got desperate. Then corporate got more desperate. The worst thing is all day breakfast. If you watch the movie, you quickly realize how messed up that can be.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. The original McDonalds reminds me of an In And Out which is hugely successful

It has a limited menu and it's core mission is to serve good burgers, fries, and shakes at a reasonable price. Like the original McDonalds owners they don't want to franchise either.

In a way that seems unfair because they could create so many jobs and opportunities like McDonalds. However they believe it would dilute their product like the original McDonalds owner.

[Docreed2003]

6. I saw it with my wife a couple nights ago

I made a similar Trump comparison. It was a compelling movie but Kroc is a tough character to watch because he's such a conniving asshole.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. He was a Willy Loman like character until half way into the film.

His dark side was revealed when he discovered McDonalds.

Once thing I noticed is Kroc made a lot of the people around him rich. Who has Trump enriched beside himself?

[Ligyron]

10. Only his kids

[HoneyBadger]

11. Fred Turner was the surrogate kid

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. According to the movie his secretary became rich and so did some of his business associates.

Kroc had a proletarian side to him. He was looking for people to help him expand McDonalds. When his country club associates purchased some franchises and ruined them he looked for an alternative. He started going to VFW Halls and looking for ordinary Joes to help run his business. I thought that was laudable. A few of them he found there became rich beyond imagination.

He was ruthless though. I like to believe you can get ahead in anything including business while maintaining one's character.

[HoneyBadger]

14. His secretary did not just passively become rich like

A random Facebook employee, she smashed the glass ceiling.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. I agree... And if the depiction in the movie is true so did Joan Kroc.

I wonder what happened to the first wife in the movie.

BTW, he also screwed over his second wife.

[Ligyron]

16. LOL, my reply was referencing Trump's kids.

I think it was Kroc's secretary who built a home on Palm Beach that was pretty cool. Seaside,on prime real estate, it consisted of a group of pod-like structures connected by underground tunnels. I was amazed to see anything underground that close to the ocean with its sea level water table.

[HoneyBadger]

17. McDonalds is back!!!

McDonald’s announcement that it will briefly test a “Big Mac ATM” in Boston on Jan. 31 is a marketing gimmick, just like putting 10,000 bottles of Special Sauce on sale at selected Golden Arches yesterday.
For a few hours, the machine will spit out a Grand Mac or Mac Jr. for free – sort of: You have to plug in your Twitter handle and then a tweet will be generated saying: “Check out the new Big Mac,” according to The Boston Globe.