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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 6 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1314450277063803600 |
| 7 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 9 | [[quoteright:250:[[Series/That70sShow https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric_burger_job.jpg]]]] |
| 10 | [[caption-width-right:250:You can practically ''see'' his soul being crushed.]] |
| 11 | ->''"In case you've forgotten, here's how things work: I ''order'' the food, you ''cook'' the food, then the customer ''gets'' the food. We do that for 40 years, and then we die."'' |
| 12 | -->-- '''Squidward''' to [=SpongeBob=], ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', "[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS3E2ClubSpongebobMyPrettySeahorse My Pretty Seahorse]]" |
| 13 | |
| 14 | The [[BlandNameProduct fictional fast food restaurant]] is a unique establishment. It's the most common first job for a TV teen, and will usually teach them [[AnAesop a lesson]] about money, responsibility, or life, mere moments before they [[ResetButton quit]] or are fired for [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity odd reasons]]. Usually, they are spurred to employment by a specific financial need, and a failure of "The Bank of Mom and Dad" to pony up. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | But the fast food joint seems to deliberately go out of its way to torture the unfortunate teenagers and/or unlucky adults who work there. This includes the [[BadJobWorseUniform ridiculous outfit they are required to wear on the job]] -- a silly hat, featuring a [[LetsMeetTheMeat cartoonish version of what they serve]], is almost a given, along with [[HappinessIsMandatory mandatory happiness]] enforced by their [[PointyHairedBoss pointy-haired manager]]. Kids or teens may be threatened with working there forever if they [[TragicDropout don't finish high school]], don't attend college, [[BookDumb don't do well in either]], and/or they only obtain ADegreeInUseless. This is, however, a CyclicTrope; during economic downturns, even people who [[HardWorkFallacy "did everything right"]] can still find themselves working in or applying to these types of positions. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The standard foil is for the show's underdog to thrive in this environment to the total befuddlement of the "cool" characters who have been successful at everything else except this. Ironically, this can have the reverse effect; after all, who would be ''proud'' of working at a fast food joint? |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Website/{{Wikipedia}} refers to these as "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob McJobs]]". In reality, these jobs can be TruthInTelevision, but there's an equal chance of them being better or ''even worse'' than depicted, because it depends on an individual restaurant's quality of management and workers. The median age of fast food workers is [[https://groundswell.org/fast-food-misconceptions/ 29]], which is quite a bit older than high school or college age. [[BadJobWorseUniform The ridiculous headgear]], fortunately, is universally less common than it is in fiction as [[BoringButPractical a simple baseball cap, visor, or hairnet]] is more common to comply with hygienic regulations. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Sometimes, the character tends to have [[PubescentBraces braces]] to show that they are a young, uncool nerd stuck working at a dead-end job. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Similar workers can be found at SuckECheeses. For the non-restaurant alternative, see SoulSuckingRetailJob and SoulCrushingDeskJob. Compare to ApatheticClerk and WorldWearyWaitress. On the other hand, some find HappinessInMinimumWage. The next step up the "ladder" is working at a KitschyThemedRestaurant. |
| 25 | ---- |
| 26 | !!Examples: |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 31 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnUmpQhiOw This TV ad]] for a company selling credit report monitoring tells how a guy is reduced to wearing a pirate outfit, working in a fast-food place every night singing how he is "selling chowder and iced tea" because "some hacker stole my identity." The ad tries to get people to sign up for its service "so you don't end up selling fish to tourists in T-shirts." |
| 32 | * In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr--SazORaA this commercial]] for the Platform/Nintendo64, a kid is getting his first paycheck from the manager of Taco Atomico, who starts to wax philosophic about when he joined the work force. The kid notices that the check is exactly enough to buy the game console advertised and promptly says, "I quit!" (Too bad the kid forgot about paying for other stuff (like tax, electricity, rent, '''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking games]]''' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking for the console]]...minor stuff, you know)). |
| 33 | * In a commercial for Duracell batteries featuring The Puttermans, Todd, one of Trish's dates, is shown to work at a fast-food restaurant called Weenie Land. As he is running on a lesser battery, it runs out of power when he gives Trish her order at the drive-thru, causing him to keel over as a result. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 37 | * In the {{Manga}} version of ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', Chiyo and Osaka take up summer jobs at the local Magnetron Burger (a parody of [=McDonald's=] or the Japanese burger chain, [=MosBurger=]). Osaka gets the job without any second thoughts; however, when ChildProdigy Chiyo claims to be in high school (which she is, having [[GradeSkipper skipped several grades]]), the manager assumes her family needs money and gives her the job out of pity. Doubly funny because Chiyo's family is actually ''[[SecretlyWealthy loaded]]''. The manager even gives Chiyo all the raises, much to Osaka's chagrin, as she doesn't get any. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/BusoRenkin'' has Loteri-ya (a parody of Lotteria, a Japanese fast food chain) which the heroes and villains meet in. The staff seem fairly happy with their situation until the characters show up... in full costume. After Bravo and Papillon start eating there, it is dubbed Freak Burger. |
| 39 | * ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': Kobeni quit her incredibly dangerous DemonSlaying job at Public Safety and switched to fast food work, which seemed to go well for her... until it’s revealed she was being [[BadBoss abused by her boss]] and fellow employees for petty reasons, which ended when [[spoiler:Chainsaw Man (under Pochita's control)]] entered the restaurant. After he killed a great deal of the staff in BloodyHilarious fashion, he forced Kobeni to go on a date. |
| 40 | * In ''Manga/HaventYouHeardImSakamoto'', Sakamoto helps Kubota get a job at [=McDoodle's=] (BlandNameProduct in the anime), and works there himself for one episode. His presence brings in dozens of customers ([[ChickMagnet mostly female]], though he does have [[EvenTheGuysWantHim a few male customers too]]) who order food "and a smile" from him. |
| 41 | * In ''Manga/KOn'', Mugi is so enthralled with the local fast food restaurant that she starts working part-time behind its counter herself later on--even though she is [[{{Ojou}} rich and doesn't really need the money]]. |
| 42 | * In ''Manga/LuckyStar'', Konata tells Kagami and Tsukasa she got a part-time job, but doesn't tell them what it is until they ask the next day. A worker at a fast food restaurant is one of the jobs they imagine, but can't imagine her doing well at. At least, the "dealing with people" aspect. |
| 43 | -->'''Burger Fool Konata:''' Got a problem with my smile? |
| 44 | * ''Anime/TenchiUniverse'': When they get stationed on Earth, [[LovelyAngels Kiyone and Mihoshi]] are forced to get part-time jobs in order to pay for the rent in their small apartment. One of these is working in a fast-food restaurant, where Kiyone actually does pretty well. Mihoshi, on the other hand, [[TheKlutz not so much]]. |
| 45 | * ''Manga/RamenFighterMiki'' is a DeconstructiveParody of the FightingSeries that shows the life of two Kanban Musumes (poster girls) of the Onimaru Chinese Restaurant and the Huet Bakery in the small Hanami town Shopping District. Their job is to attract clients to their respective business and [[CarryingACake make deliveries]]. They subvert this trope, being two young childish {{Arrogant Kung Fu Guy}}s whose constant fighting, [[TheSlacker slacking on the job]] and generous quantity of MundaneMadeAwesome avoid the soul crushing boring related with this trope. |
| 46 | * In the first volume of the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, Yugi and Joey want to go out for lunch at Burger World, (Burger Palooza in the English dub) but Tea tries to steer them away from it, saying that it's a terrible place to eat. Why? She works there, and doesn't want Joey to blab about it to the school, because kids at Domino High School (like at [[TruthInTelevision some real-life Japanese high schools]]) aren't allowed to hold jobs. (Note: In the English dub of the anime, the reason for her not wanting them to talk was changed from "High school students can't hold jobs" to "I'm not old enough to work here.") Still, it was a better job than what they were ''afraid'' she was doing to make money, [[CompensatedDating working as a paid escort for rich businessmen]], something that, it was rumored, the other female students were doing to make money. (And yes, as far as Japan goes, this is ''also'' TruthInTelevision, unfortunately.) |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'': In one issue Irwin apparently runs into ''ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'' serving burgers at the local fast-food place (it turned out to be a blow-up mannequin). |
| 51 | ** In another Keith Giffen story, the Super Buddies are forced to work in a Big Belly Burger in Hell for all eternity. |
| 52 | * The fast food chain "O'Shaughnessy's" ([[BlackComedy "End your potato famine here!"]]) has made multiple appearances across various Creator/DCComics. It's been stated to be a major rival to Big Belly Burgers. |
| 53 | ** During one NightmareSequence inflicted by the Scarecrow in ''Nightwing #10'', ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} hallucinates himself being trapped at a dead-end job at O'Shaughnessy's (the "theme" of the nightmare being how he's doomed to be AlwaysSecondBest to Batman). |
| 54 | * In the ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'' story, ComicBook/{{Superboy}} is turned into "Superburgerboy," a mascot for a cheesy burger chain. It's worse than it sounds. |
| 55 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Foolkiller}}'', after Kurt Gerhardt was laid off from the bank, he had to work in a fast food restaurant. |
| 56 | * The "Fat Boy" restaurant chain in ''ComicBook/GiveMeLiberty'', which wages war using ''giant mascot mecha'' for farmland to raise cattle. |
| 57 | * After accidentally running up a crushing debt, Gina and Brittany from ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'' are forced to work at one of these places for a day before TheRival will agree to loan them the money they need. By FinaglesLaw, [[PassingJudgment exactly the old acquaintances they don't want to be seen by show up that day]]. |
| 58 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'', Mark initially worked at a place like this before his superhero duties happily forced him to quit. |
| 59 | * In Creator/DCComics' ''ComicBook/LooneyTunes'' title, WesternAnimation/LolaBunny works for Machu Pizza, where she specializes in delivering food to some very unusual customers: aliens, monsters, FishPeople, gods and other mythological figures, etc. |
| 60 | * In issue #10 of the Marvel ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' book, Mighty Mouse finds himself working at an outside fast food restaurant (run by fellow Terrytoons character Hashimoto San) after his cartoon show is canceled. |
| 61 | * "Burger Fool" is the actual name of a fast food franchise in the Creator/MilestoneComics universe. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/{{Prez|2015}}'': The protagonist starts out working a soul-destroying fast food job at the House of Corndogs before a video taken by one of her co-workers goes viral and kicks off a bizarre sequence of events that culminates in her inauguration as the first teen President of the United States. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': |
| 64 | ** In ''ComicBook/SpiderManLovesMaryJane'', Mary Jane has to work at a hippo-themed [=McDonald's=] place, which was just one in a string of cruddy jobs. |
| 65 | ** In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', Peter works for a while at a place with a frog theme. And had to wear [[BadJobWorseUniform a frog hat at all times]]. Mary Jane, for her part, puts in time at a Hot Dog On A Stick kiosk in the mall. Later on, Peter's manager at the frog place becomes Cloak, of ComicBook/{{Cloak and Dagger|MarvelComics}}. He actually seems to ''enjoy'' the job. Probably because he's the manager. |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Vol. 2]]'': When a convoluted series of circumstances left Diana homeless and unemployed after being declared dead, she got a job at the local Taco Whiz. Instead of bemoaning her state of affairs, she befriended her coworkers, took the job seriously, and became their Employee of the Month. |
| 67 | -->'''Wonder Woman:''' Feeding people is a just and dignified occupation. I don't know why you are always... dishing it. |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 71 | * In ''ComicStrip/BigNate'', Ellen works at Dilly Burger. |
| 72 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': |
| 73 | ** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/11/12 this strip]], Jon and Garfield order from a drive-through of a place like this, and the wise guy clerk [[YouAreFat makes a crack at Garfield's weight.]] (Which as you can see, he doesn't like much.) |
| 74 | ** There's also Irma's Diner, a GreasySpoon that offers unappealing items: the tea tastes like transmission fluid, ordering "what that guy's having" results in that guy's food being taken from him, and Irma doesn't know if she gives free refills on coffee, because no one's ever asked for a second cup before. Despite the disgusting food, Garfield and Jon frequently eat there. |
| 75 | ** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/01/20 This]] strip has Garfield and Jon eat at Binky Burger, where the clerk is dressed up as Binky the Clown's friend Biff and looks ''very'' depressed. Jon asks if he doesn't like his job, and the guy replies with "''You'' try to get a date in this get-up, pal". |
| 76 | * The ''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}'' Comic strip featured the title character's older brother Brad working at Weenie World twice. The first time was as a teen during the 1990's while the second time was during his layoff from his career as a firefighter. Averted following his second stint when Brad was replaced by best friend T.J. As a member of the Weenie World family, T.J. managed to make his boss's life a living hell by doing everything better than she could including successfully upselling customers. |
| 77 | * The comic ''ComicStrip/LuckyCow'', which is set in the eponymous burger joint, revolves around this trope. |
| 78 | [[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 81 | * In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', the only place Peter can find work in Izuku's universe is a crappy pizza joint with a sleazebag for a manager. He has to fight the urge to curl up and cry on the sidewalk at hitting rock bottom like this. |
| 82 | * In ''Fanfic/TheBoysRealJustice'', when [[Series/TheBoys2019 Frenchie and Kimiko]] are transported into [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Gotham]], they eat at a Batman-themed fast food resturant named the Bat Burger. A [[ApatheticClerk waitress]] dressed as Batgirl very obviously fakes enthusiasm when delivering their orders. Frenchie in particular despises the grease and smoke fumes and how dirty the place is. [[OnlyOneFindsItFun Kimiko]] enjoys their burgers though. |
| 83 | * ''Fanfic/DanganronpaKommSusserTod'': Masato Oda, the Ultimate Fast Food Worker, works at a joint named Wacky Burgers n' Fries. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment His introduction quickly reveals]] that he hates every second of his job, considers it a dead end to his career prospects, and is only working there to make ends meet. |
| 84 | * In ''Fanfic/JuniorOfficers'', Sarabi mentions working a "crappy fast food job" (implied to be Tim Horton's) before becoming a junior officer. |
| 85 | * The ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersSeries'' stories: |
| 86 | ** The series introduces the Pandora's Box, an up-and-coming chain of fast food places with a fantasy RPG theme. Subverted in that, while very trite, it's not a bad place, and is very popular among Shadows, attracting them as customers and employees (especially unskilled ones in the latter case; Shadowkind like kobolds and goblins have found that they can make money working at Pandora's Box simply by being themselves.) |
| 87 | ** In the fic ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersConspiracy'', an important character actually works at a Pandora's Box, and doesn't exactly like it, calling the place a "grease pit" (although she does appreciate the employee discount). It's implied that she's doing it to earn money while focusing on an important plot-related task. |
| 88 | * In the ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' fic ''Fanfic/FirstAidKitsAndDeepSecrets'', Lacey craves ice cream in winter so she takes her girlfriend out for ice cream. The waiter is a bored Inkling who is annoyed that the two "[came] into an ice cream shop in winter and [they] [didn't] even buy straight ice cream". |
| 89 | * In ''Fanfic/TokyoLittleShop'', Hikari hasn't shown up at the flower shop for 3 days because she wanted to be paid more, so she got a job at Burger World. Shohei finds out when he sneaks out from sweeping outside the flower shop to get a bite to eat, and next thing he knows, he becomes the new fry cook. But their boss Mr. Sonoda finds out soon enough, and the Sharks wreak havoc at the restaurant, [[StatusQuoIsGod leading to Shohei's firing and with him and Hikari returning to their part-time job at the flower shop]]. |
| 90 | * In ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSleepwalker Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'', Alyssa Conover works as a dance teacher until her studio goes out of business in the 2008 economic crash. The only other job she can find that works with her university schedule is at [=McDonald's=]. |
| 91 | [[/folder]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 94 | * In ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'', TJ's sister works at a burger joint. Their parents are just as proud of her getting promoted to "Assistant Fry Chef" as they are of TJ saving the world. |
| 95 | * This type of restaurant is parodied in ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', where the Prince and Fairy Godmother go through the fly-though of the Fryar's Fat Boys, a place with a menu that includes Renaissance Wraps, Sourdough Soft Tacos, and the Medieval Meal (comes with regular or curly fries and a toy - namely a battle axe). Not a completely straight example of the Trope, however, as more of the humor focuses on the customers, rather than the employee, although she ''is'' dressed like a typical tavern serving maid. |
| 96 | [[/folder]] |
| 97 | |
| 98 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 99 | * ''Film/AliensVsPredatorRequiem'' gives Dallas' younger brother a job as a delivery boy for a pizza parlor. The characters go to great lengths to point out how demeaning and humiliating they believe this is. |
| 100 | * Inverted in ''Film/AmericanBeauty''. [[Creator/KevinSpacey Lester Burnham]] quits his white collar job as an editor so that he can work a burger counter and have the least possible amount of responsibility. It has the added benefit of pissing off [[StepfordSmiler his success-driven wife]] even more than being unemployed, especially when he catches her cheating on him at the drive-thru. |
| 101 | * ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'' has Marty's older brother, Dave, in a Burger King uniform when Marty comes home at the beginning of the movie. Once Marty gets back to the future at the end, Dave is instead wearing a suit and working in an office, one of the many things that's improved about his family's life. |
| 102 | * In the original ''Film/{{Bedazzled 1967}}'', Dudley Moore's character is despondent over his miserable life. 28 years old, no girlfriend, lives in a dreary little basement apartment. And yes, fry cook at Wimpy's. |
| 103 | * The 1980s teen movie ''Film/BetterOffDead'' put John Cusack's character in a humiliating job at a pork-burger restaurant that required him to wear a chef's hat with attached ears and snout, even though he works in the kitchen. |
| 104 | * In ''Film/BigDaddy'', Sonny Koufax (Creator/AdamSandler) has venomous contempt for the restaurant chain Hooters and the people (especially the women) who work there. His friend, Kevin Gerrity (Jon Stewart), is similarly humiliated when his fiancee is forced to admit in court that her first job was as a Hooters waitress. At the end of the film, Sonny is taken to Hooters for his birthday dinner and jokes to his pals that "I'm gonna sue you assholes for making me come here." The whole thing wraps up with a BrickJoke as [[spoiler: we see that Sonny's smug, buttoned-up ex-girlfriend is now forced to waitress there in the chain's iconic tank top and short-shorts after making an unethical career move earlier in the movie]]. |
| 105 | * In ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', the boys get into the Battle of the Bands when the woman in charge takes pity on them for working at Pretzels 'N Cheese [[spoiler:and because she's Rufus in disguise]]. |
| 106 | * ''Film/ChaletGirl'': Former skateboard prodigy Kim has work in a fast food burger at the beginning of the movie to make ends meet, before quitting to work as a Chalet Girl. |
| 107 | * In ''Film/ClerksII'' (and at other points in [[Film/TheViewAskewniverse Kevin Smith's verse]]) the fast food chain Mooby's fills this role admirably. |
| 108 | * ''Film/CloudAtlas'': Papa Song's Dinery where Sonmi~451 and her fellow clones work is a nightmare version of a fast food restaurant. In the novel, it's strongly implied to literally just be UsefulNotes/McDonalds, with multiple references to its "Golden Arches", the red and yellow colour scheme, and the Papa Song mascot resembling a clown. The film (very likely to avoid getting sued into oblivion) avoids this, having Papa Song look like an obese, smiling yellow Buddha-like figure, which is strongly thematically relevant on its own, given that Sonmi eventually becomes a REAL Buddha-like being in history herself and Buddha is mentioned very prominently in her story in the novel. |
| 109 | * ''Film/ComingToAmerica'' features African prince Akeem and his manservant Semmi getting jobs at [[CaptainErsatz "MacDowell's"]] as part of an attempt to blend in. Akeem actually enjoys the work, but Semmi can't stand it. |
| 110 | * ''Film/{{Compliance}}'' is about as dark as this trope gets. The manager at a burger place gets a call from a cop telling her that a young female worker at the store has stolen something and must be strip-searched. The manager blindly follows orders. Said worker then gets subjected to increasingly perverse sexual humiliations, all at the behest of the man on the phone, who turns out to not be a cop at all. ''[[http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1728839 Based on a true story.]]'' |
| 111 | * ''Film/DontTellMomTheBabysittersDead'': After the babysitter dies and the kids lose the money their mother gave them, the oldest sister first has to take a minimum wage job in a fast food joint to support the rest of her siblings because it's the only place that will hire teenagers. It's precisely because the job is so bad with so little reward that she decides to pose as an older secretary to work at a big firm instead. |
| 112 | * Since it focuses on a fictional fast food chain called Hella-Burger, the slasher film ''Film/DriveThru'' features a lot of these, including one played by the director of ''Film/SuperSizeMe''. |
| 113 | * Vincent in ''Film/{{Elle}}'' (at least until he quits after his girlfriend has [[ChocolateBaby a baby obviously not his]] that he insists is) is a rare non-American example. |
| 114 | * The Whammyburger in ''Film/FallingDown'', whose employees have to put up with [[VillainProtagonist the customer from Hell]] who flips his lid over them [[DisproportionateRetribution not serving breakfast just minutes past 11:30]] and complains about the false advertising of the big, juicy burgers on the menu versus the sad, soggy little burger they give him, all while he's waving a gun in the air. |
| 115 | * In ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh'', Brad works at two fast food restaurants. At the first one, he is fired after being forced into an argument by an overly demanding customer; at the second one, he quits in the midst of a delivery ... which he was required to make while wearing a pirate uniform. |
| 116 | * The 1997 comedy film, ''Film/GoodBurger'', which was based on the recurring sketch from Nickelodeon's ''Series/AllThat.'' Featuring loveable idiot Ed who [[HappinessInMinimumWage loves his job]] as much as his brain can allow, while his snarky sidekick, Dexter, is the epitome of Burger Fool. As far as fast food jobs go, the employees weren't treated badly and they all seemed to like each other and Good Burger. Their rival Mondo Burger, on the other hand, treated their employees as slaves and had a hellish boss. |
| 117 | * In ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', the title characters go to a location formerly a White Castle, to find that it has been turned into a rival chain. They ask the drive-thru attendant (Anthony Andersen) where a White Castle is, and he becomes so impressed by their determination that [[BerserkButton he flips out and trashes the restaurant]]. |
| 118 | * In ''Film/HotBot'', Huffy and Nard work at fried fish and doughnut shack called Batter Up, which is every bit as depressing as it sounds. |
| 119 | * ''Film/IsiAndOssi'': Isi applies to work at a burger restaurant. The supervisor is initially reluctant to hire her as most of the workers there are morons. Isi's a rich girl, and her snooty parents are horrified to find out that she works in a burger joint. |
| 120 | * ''Film/KingOfThieves'': Terry is a septuagenarian man with a job flipping burgers for an impatient supervisor. |
| 121 | * In ''Film/{{Loverboy|1989}}'', the protagonist tried to make money working in a place called Señor Pizza (which sold both pizza and Mexican food), where the worst part of the job was [[BadJobWorseUniform having to wear a fake moustache.]] (Which would probably have [[NoOSHACompliance been a health code violation]] in RealLife.) During most of the movie, however, he ended up using the place as a front to make ''real'' money as a male escort, and a few of his friends at the place helped. |
| 122 | * ''Film/MarriedToTheMob'' has two of these; the fried chicken joint where Angela applies for a job, and the boss turns out to be a total pervert, and the clown-themed burger place where the attempt on Tony's life takes place. |
| 123 | * Subverted in ''Film/TheMenu'', where Julian's first job was at a no-name burger joint, and the only time in his life when he enjoyed cooking. |
| 124 | * Musical horror comedy, ''Film/PoultrygeistNightOfTheChickenDead'' - When a Ku Klux Klan funded military-themed fried chicken chain, The Chicken Bunker, builds a restaurant build over an ancient Indian burial ground, the chickens killed take their revenge by taking "possession" of the customers and turning them into "fowl" zombies. The restaurant is meant to be the ultimate example of Burger Fool (despite being a chicken fast-food restaurant). Includes necrophiliac chicken humping, shit-stained restrooms, skirt wearing senior male employees, masturbation in chicken grinders, delicious vats of chicken beaks and claws, cash register humping (lot of sex in here isn't there?), chicken buckets slathered with human waste and excrement, vomiting, ravenous drumsticks, acid nuggets, and the aforementioned zombie chickens. |
| 125 | -->'''General Lee Roy:''' "The general has provided AMPLE accommodations for your displaced Indian dead. They have gone to a better place." \ |
| 126 | [cuts to employee dumping skeletal human corpses in a common dumpster] |
| 127 | * Music/DemiLovato's character in the ''Film/PrincessProtectionProgram'', Rosie, is given a job at a Frozen Yoghurt place by the AlphaBitch specifically to humiliate her and is sabotaged by said Alpha Bitch, but she quite rightly points out that the only person who can feel humiliation is yourself, proceeds to give the Alpha Bitch a speech and walk out with her head high. |
| 128 | * ''Film/ScotlandPA'' starts off with our heroes, the [=McBeths=], doing soul-crushing work at Duncan's Cafe. When they eventually take over the restaurant, it's shown in one brief scene that Pat [=McBeth=] ''really'' enjoys lording it over her new underlings. |
| 129 | * Ian Lafferty of ''Film/SexDrive'' works at a bizarre, Mexican-themed donut kiosk in the mall. Part of the job included a huge, slightly racist mascot costume. His close friends didn't hold it against him, but the punk kids at the mall would take advantage of his limited vision in the suit to stick a dildo onto the front of his costume as he wandered around. |
| 130 | * ''Film/SuburbanCommando'' has a place called "Surfin' Burger", and the drive-thru guy is totally a SurferDude. He gives his spiel to a pair of surly alien bounty hunters who have stolen a "Just Married" car. He congratulates them on their marriage before they angrily blow up the speaker box. |
| 131 | * In ''Film/{{UHF}}'', George and Bob are fired from "Big Edna's Burger World" after a distracted George [[spoiler:squirts ketchup and mustard onto customers, among other screwups]]. |
| 132 | * ''Film/{{Waiting}}'' offers a somewhat downplayed example with the titular restaurant Shenanigans, but this trope is in full-swing once you get past the kitsch facade of a family restaurant and get into the back room. Low-quality "food" that's prepared in microwaves, a soul-draining loser of a manager, and employees who are so miserable they cheer themselves up by flashing their penises at each other, spitting in the food of rude customers, and getting [[DrowningMySorrows completely mangled]] every night after work. |
| 133 | * ''Film/WestBankStory,'' the 2007 Academy Award winner for Best Short Film, involves what amounts to [[SeriousBusiness Dueling Falafel Fools]]--the Kosher King and the Hummus Hut--and has the young, beautiful Hummus Hut employee (the owner's sister) fall in love with an Israeli soldier, making for a pretty little musical parable about [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Israeli-Palestinian Conflict]]. Yes. Did we mention that it's a parody/reworking of ''Theatre/WestSideStory''? |
| 134 | [[/folder]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 137 | * In ''Literature/AudreyWait'', the main character's day job is at an ice cream shoppe called [[InherentlyFunnyWords Scooper Dooper.]] The character introduces the uniform (bright pink hat and T-shirt) and slogan (also "Scooper Dooper!") with all the affection people might give a used piece of toilet paper. |
| 138 | * Steve Chapman's "Burger Creature" is set at a nameless franchise with an overweight, greasy and perverted manager who drinks mostly-vodka screwdrivers every morning and uniforms the same color as the paper bags. One unnamed past employee quit due to "heat exhaustion aggravated by a growing fear of food." |
| 139 | * The main character of Michael J. Nelson's novel ''Literature/DeathRat'' is at one point forced to work at "Medieval Burger," whose uniform includes a hat adorned with miniature battlements. The protagonist, like everyone else, is unable to figure out exactly ''how'' this helps the restaurant sell food. This mirrors his own experience. It's the job he had to pay the bills between stand-up shows before he was hired on to ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. |
| 140 | * ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'': The story's entire premise is that a [[MaouTheDemonKing demon king]] accidentally strands himself and his top demon general on Earth while pulling a VillainExitStageLeft. While the general tries to find a way back home, the Demon King (Maoh) gets a job at the local [[UsefulNotes/{{McDonalds}} MgRonalds]] to support them. However, the job isn't depicted as hellish at all, and Maoh ends up on the management fast-track because of his empathy for the customers, level-headed mentoring of his co-workers, and ability to stay cool under pressure. Much of the show's humor is derived from the juxtaposition of the two worlds, such as Maoh giving a "[[TodayXTomorrowTheWorld Today the night-shift manager, tomorrow the world!]]" speech with a completely straight face. |
| 141 | * Eric Schlosser expounds on the plight of fast food employees in ''Literature/FastFoodNation'', noting that [=McDonald's=] entire plan is to make the job so simple and brainless that they can teach a new employee in 15 minutes, making any given employee totally expendable. |
| 142 | * In ''Literature/GoingBovine'', Cameron works at the Buddha Burger. |
| 143 | * In ''Literature/GoodOmens,'' [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Famine]] opens a chain of fast food restaurants named "Burger Lord." Its employees are perky, in a soulless sort of way, except for [[ElvisLives that one guy...]]. Of note is the food it sells. It's a reformulation of MEALS, Famine's line of microwave health dinners, called CHOW. Like MEALS, CHOW contains slightly fewer nutrients than the packaging they sell it in, causing the satisfied customer to die of malnutrition very rapidly, but the evil food scientists working for Famine have found a way to load CHOW with all manner of fat and sugar without increasing other nutritional content, meaning that customers essentially starve to death while growing morbidly obese. Famine finds this endlessly amusing. |
| 144 | * A surprisingly sympathetic example occurs in ''Literature/ScrappedPrincess'', where Pacifica and crew stop at an inn and have to sell "Soopy Buns" to earn their tab. Part of the job entails dressing up as a green [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney]]-like mascot named "Soopy-kun" and peddling the innkeeper's wares to customers. The innkeeper is actually nice to them, and Raquel enjoys doing the work, while Pacifica tries donning the costume and winds up scaring a little boy away when the jaw of the costume falls off. Leo takes the "Soopy-kun" job for a while when Pacifica leaves, but he gets to keep it with him when he returns to the city with Winia later on. |
| 145 | * ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': The Anxious Clown, With clown-costumed waiters, balloons, and food with names like "Surprising Chicken Salad". |
| 146 | * At one point, ''Literature/StephaniePlum'' decides to get out of bounty hunting. Among her failed alternate jobs is a one-day stint at Cluck-in-a-Bucket, goofy headgear and all. Turns out setting one's workplace on fire isn't good for continued employment. |
| 147 | * Played straight and not at all for laughs in ''[[Literature/OryxAndCrake The Year of the Flood]]'' - not only are the pay and work conditions at Secret Burger abysmal, but the meat is implied to be at least some percentage of [[ImAHumanitarian human meat]], and the boss is a mobster who routinely rapes his female employees. |
| 148 | [[/folder]] |
| 149 | |
| 150 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 151 | * In one episode of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'', Dick quits his job at the university for a trivial reason and winds up working at a burger joint (Rusty's) because he has too much pride to apologize for his behavior. [[StatusQuoIsGod It all works itself out at the end, of course.]] |
| 152 | * ''Series/EightSimpleRules'' had Kerry working at a Davey Crockett themed restaurant which offers pie [[{{Pun}} Alamo'd]]. |
| 153 | * ''Series/AllThat'' has the iconic Good Burger, which was iconic enough to have [[Film/GoodBurger its own film]]. |
| 154 | * ''Series/AlmasNotNormal'' has [=SubNGo=], which the titular Alma works at when her escort job goes south. It's shown that she's only doing the job because she's unqualified and it comes with a bright yellow tacky uniform. |
| 155 | * On ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'', a fried-chicken variant was [[SassyBlackWoman Queenie]]'s job before she joined [[WizardingSchool Miss Robichaux's Academy]]. The way she was found out as a witch was when she used her human VoodooDoll powers to severely burn a rude customer. She considered the job so awful, when she temporarily visited an IronicHell, this was the form it took on. |
| 156 | * The Series/{{Arrowverse}} has Big Belly Burger and Jitters coffee shops (although the latter appears mostly on ''The Flash''). |
| 157 | * Trish from ''Series/AustinAndAlly'' is the personification of NewJobAsThePlotDemands, so naturally she's been a burger fool a couple times. For example, one episode sees her (and Dez) work at a pirate-themed restaurant that specializes in deep-fried food; Dez being [[CloudCuckoolander Dez]], he quickly starts seeing how much stuff he can deep fry. Eventually, when they need to get fired for plot reasons, they do so by ''deep-frying almost everything in the restaurant.'' |
| 158 | * ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' follows up the statement in ''Breaking Bad'' that Saul's best case scenario after going into hiding would be "managing a Cinnabon in Omaha", showing that is exactly what happened. And it absolutely sucks, as Saul's days are filled with monotony, mediocrity, loneliness, baking buns, and the constant fear that someone will recognize him, a far cry from his famed and wealthy criminal lawyer/conman days. He eventually can't stand it anymore, and at the first opportunity, goes back to his conman ways, which leads to [[spoiler:him being recognized, caught, and sent to supermax. He finds prison is actually better in comparison, as he's still baking goods, but he doesn't have to hide who he really is, he can get visits from his ex-wife, and his fellow prisoners [[VillainCred respect him]]]]. |
| 159 | * In ''Series/BlackBooks'', Bernard is locked out of his apartment for the night without any money and takes a job in a burger bar to get out of the rain. He doesn't even bother learning the name of the place, greeting guests with, "Welcome to... the thing. Whatever... ''this'' is." He resigns an hour later when it stops raining. |
| 160 | * ''Series/BreakingBad'' naturally twists this in the darkest way possible with Los Pollos Hermanos, a fast food chain in the Albuquerque metro area which serves Chilean-style fried and roast chicken. Except, its owner Gus Fring uses it as a front for his real source of income - his crystal meth distribution network - and he smuggles this meth around in buckets of fry batter. Gus even uses his legitimate business to advance his drug interests--he participates heavily in the community, donates to law enforcement charities, and even caters DEA events for extra irony. |
| 161 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 162 | ** Buffy Summers once held a job at "the [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E12DoublemeatPalace Double-Meat Palace]]", a fast-food chain specializing in combined beef and chicken sandwiches. Her uniform, absolutely ridiculous, is topped off by the hilarious half-cow/half-chicken ball cap. At one point a vampire refuses to fight her because she smells like the restaurant's food; she stakes him out of spite. The Double-Meat Palace also subverted the usual Buffy tradition of having evil forces being behind everything bad; it turns out that the "beef-chicken sandwiches" were actually made from [[spoiler:a cheap plant cellulose extract that's been artificially flavored to taste like real meat, rather than human flesh as Buffy thought it was]]. This was toned down in later episodes as several fast food chains threatened to withdraw advertisements from the show. |
| 163 | ** There's more. Snyder thinks this will be Buffy's future when he's being more than a {{Jerkass}}, and when she runs away from Sunnydale in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E1Anne Anne]]", she works as a waitress in a diner, a job she returns to in the comics. In the first instance she clearly doesn't like it, though truckers groping her wouldn't help. In the latter she struggles through a combination of guilt over her actions and being BroughtDownToNormal. |
| 164 | * Lauren takes this job in ''Series/TheCatherineTateShow'' and is forced to wear a squirrel mask. She gets ridiculed by her friends for working there, but naturally, she ain't bovvered. |
| 165 | * [=McDonald's=]/Wac Arnold's inspirational ad skit on ''Series/ChappellesShow''. |
| 166 | * ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' features the impossibly attractive female CIA agent working undercover at a Der Wienerschnitzel-type hot dog establishment in [[FanserviceWithASmile impossibly revealing Germanic attire]]. |
| 167 | * One episode of ''{{Series/CSI}}'' had Nick speaking to a teenage girl who was one of these. She identifies a murder suspect as the creepy middle-aged man who hit on her while she was working the drive-thru. She was doubly disgusted by the fact that he did it while his ten-year old son was sitting right next to him. |
| 168 | * ''Series/DesigningWomen'' used this to great effect when Mary Jo's husband, Ted, fell behind on child support. Mary Jo took a job at "Burger Guy," and eventually the whole crew had to come in and help her out. Julia, [[DeadpanSnarker naturally]], excelled at fast food customer service. |
| 169 | --> '''Customer:''' Is the fish fresh?\ |
| 170 | '''Julia:''' Well, let me see. You're in Burger Guy. The fish is square, compressed, breaded, and fried. It costs 89 cents. What do you think?\ |
| 171 | '''Customer:''' I don't know.\ |
| 172 | '''Julia:''' Yes, it's fresh. |
| 173 | * ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': |
| 174 | -->'''Lynette:''' Dave lost his job at the plant, and he is now handing out flyers at a chicken restaurant, and--prepare to wince--there is a chicken suit involved. |
| 175 | * In one episode of ''Series/DoogieHowserMD'', Doogie tries to prove to Vinnie that he can survive working in a "degrading, dead-end" fast food job ("Burger Baby"), [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent just like any “normal teenager” his own age.]] As a genius doctor, it should be undoubtedly easy for him, right?...Wrong! In fact, it’s a lot more difficult than he realizes. |
| 176 | * Ren of ''Series/EvenStevens'' worked at a toast store and successfully lobbied for better working conditions. |
| 177 | * Eddie on ''Series/FamilyMatters'' works at Mighty Weenie and he wears a hat that has a hot dog on top. |
| 178 | * ''Series/FreddysNightmares'' had an example in the first segment of the second episode, "It's a Miserable Life". The main character is a fry cook there and the son of the owner, and it's quite obvious that he would rather be anywhere than the restaurant, especially the art school he's applied to. |
| 179 | * ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', Ashley works at Dippity Doo Dog (based on Hot Dog On A Stick listed under Real Life, below) and wears a ridiculous red and yellow outfit complete with silly hat. |
| 180 | * The Canadian series ''Series/FriesWithThat?'' was set in a fast food restaurant. Only the assistant manager really enjoyed his job. |
| 181 | * PJ has his job at Kwikky Chikky in ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie''. |
| 182 | * ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'': Ash's employment at the Juicenet "coincides" with the Juicenet's employees suddenly requiring a uniform and a catchphrase. Emma, who had been working there for months, is unimpressed with both. Rikki, on the other hand, can't hold back her laughter. |
| 183 | * ''Series/HanginWithMrCooper'' had an episode where one of Mark's students drops out of school to get a job working at a place called Clown Burger. Mark convinces him to come back to school by being as obnoxious a customer as he could be and remain the protagonist on a family-friendly sitcom (then pointing out that the kid will be stuck dealing with obnoxious customers for the rest of his life if he stays in his job). |
| 184 | * ''Series/HangTime'' features Julie and Mary-Beth selling corn dogs in outfits that are surprisingly much more FanService-y than dorky. They look more like [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders cheerleader costumes]] than your typical fast food outfit depicted on a sitcom might. However, Mary Beth [[WrongGenreSavvy lampshaded this trope by threatening to beat up anyone who laughed at her outfit (not that they would have anyway)]]. |
| 185 | * In season 2 of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Lily takes a job as a waitress in a Hawaïan restaurant; she has to wear a local costume and welcome customers (among whom are her friends) with "Aloha". |
| 186 | * ''Series/ICarly'': |
| 187 | ** Sam gets a job at Chilly My Bowl, to pay $500 back to Carly and Freddie. |
| 188 | ** Carly gets a job at the Groovy Smoothie in another episode. |
| 189 | * While one isn't expressly shown in ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', the Ju Ju Burger Gashat is designed to invoke this kind of appearance on its user. When Emu uses it, it grants a pair of rollerskates and a helmet, armor that's designed to look like a burger and a set of ''ketchup and mustard guns on the wrists''. The game itself is about collecting burger ingredients to feed a monster, and as a result, [[LethalJokeWeapon it proves crucial for pacifying the]] MonsterOfTheWeek. |
| 190 | * Alternately PlayedForLaughs and PlayedForDrama in the episode of ''Series/KnightRider'' which introduced KITT's PsychoPrototype KARR: At one point KARR has to go through the drive-thru of a circus-themed joint, complete with a cartoonishly bulbous ringmaster's head for an order box and a lengthy welcoming script the poor shlub at the cash register has to recite. This part is played for laughs; but KARR, who has no idea what any of this is, freaks out and crashes through the menu/order box, which is played for drama when Michael shows up to investigate and is arrested for vandalism. |
| 191 | * ''The entire premise'' of the short-lived comedy ''Series/LifeOnAStick''. (Okay, more like the ''framing'', but still...) |
| 192 | * In an episode of ''Series/LivingSingle'', Synclaire quits Flavor after a fight with Khadijah, and winds up at the Turkey Burger Hut, in a uniform complete with winged, turkey-shaped hat. The job is short-lived. |
| 193 | -->'''Synclaire''': When I found out the turkey nuggets were all nugget, no turkey, I couldn't keep silent! |
| 194 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'': before Hurley won the lottery, he worked at Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack. He was notably incompetent as well. |
| 195 | * ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' had an episode where Reese gets his first job at such an establishment, in which there's a system whereby employees routinely pocket small amounts of money, and Reese is falsely accused of abusing this system. |
| 196 | * ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': |
| 197 | ** As if his ''first'' job wasn't humiliating enough, Al Bundy (then Peg, after Al finds out that Peg's make-up selling job is costing her more money than she's making) was forced to take a second job as a cook at Burger Trek in one episode. The burgers are made out of kangaroo, the special sauce is mixed in a plastic trash can from a noxious powder made from something that washes out the color on tomatoes, and Al is constantly berated by an obnoxious manager half his age (played by Pauly Shore) for forgetting to say "Whoosh" when he drops the burger down the chute. |
| 198 | ** Al's daughter Kelly gets a couple of these jobs as well. One involves her working as a roller-skating waitress at "Bill's Hilltop Drive-In", where she's fired out of a chute and ends up flying down the expressway before crashing into the front door of the Bundy house. Another one has her working as a waitress at a more generic diner. She ends up adopting some of her father's mannerisms, including crying "[[BigNo Oh God!]]" at how crappy her job is, or putting her hand down her skirt when she gets home after a hard day. |
| 199 | * In Season 3 of ''Series/{{Martin}}'', after Martin loses his radio job, the unemployment office places him at the “Hoochie Burger” drive-thru window. He quits almost immediately. |
| 200 | --> '''Martin:''' Welcome to Hoochie Burger, May I take your order please? \ |
| 201 | ''' Customer:''' ''[Unintelligible]'' \ |
| 202 | ''' Martin:''' I’m sorry ma’am, but I can’t hear you, you’re gonna have to speak directly into the hoochie. |
| 203 | * Nickelodeon's puppet-sitcom ''Series/MrMeaty'' revolves around the hijinks of two teenaged employees of the eponymous fast-food franchise. |
| 204 | * In an episode of ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', the title character works at a local fast food restaurant where the boss is a huge jerk and treats his employees like crap, as well as cheating on his wife and stealing from work [[spoiler: until Earl punches him in the face, where he ends up in hospital, gets kicked out by his wife and ends up in jail.]]. |
| 205 | * On ''Series/NewsRadio'' Lisa once went undercover at a burger joint to expose health violations. She ends up becoming manager and seriously considered quitting journalism, only to lose the job when she is accused of the very thing she was trying to uncover in the first place. |
| 206 | * The Chicken Coop where Saskia works in ''Series/NoahAndSaskia''. Theresa, the manager, treats selling fried chicken at the mall as some sort of sacred calling. |
| 207 | * Vivian in Series/ParadiseCity (the follow up to Film/AmericanSatan) works in a Subway-style restaurant, to help support herself, her mother, and her baby. She [[ScrewThisImOuttaHear quits]] in spectacular fasion. |
| 208 | * One forgettable (well, [[NeverLiveItDown they would like to forget it]]) episode of ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' had [[BigBad Divatox]] getting amnesia in an accident, getting lost, and working in a pizza place called Mad Mike's Pizzeria. (Still, as embarrassing as it was for her, what the heroes had to go through after that was even worse, and I'm sure most fans of the franchise would speak for all five of them by saying, LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain.) |
| 209 | * Dave Lister of ''Series/RedDwarf'' dreams of starting his own fast food restaurant, even going so far as to design the silly hat. The dream falls by the wayside long before there's the remotest chance of the restaurant itself becoming a reality, but not before an episode in which a race of super-evolved housecats [[CargoCult build their religion]] around it. |
| 210 | * Series/{{Roseanne}} does a stint at a chicken joint as one of her many odd jobs over the series to keep her family afloat. It's not too bad, but her barely legal boss has a superiority complex and can't understand how her family comes before her responsibility to ''him''. The family actually makes more fun of her when she gets a job sweeping hair at a salon. Notable in that the episode, "Chicken Delight" was written by Creator/JossWhedon. |
| 211 | * In the ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' episode "Sabrina the Sandman", Sabrina takes a job at Pork on a Pole, where she not only has to wear an embarrassing uniform, but she also has to buy it. |
| 212 | * ''Series/Scoundrels2010'': After he mother forbids any of the rest to continue their criminal activities, Heather is forced to work as a waitress for a burger joint, much to her humiliation. Her GirlPosse is quick to mock her for it too. |
| 213 | * In the second season of ''Series/SisterSister'', Tia and Tamera are dissatisfied with working for Tamera's dad Ray at his limo washing business, so they both get jobs at Rocket Burger. |
| 214 | * One of the most memorable sketches from ''Series/TheState'', "Service with a Smile", took place at the insanely-hostile Burger Hut, where a potential customer is scared off by the cashier's ''screaming'' of orders to Carl, the ButtMonkey cook ("'''[[NoIndoorVoice CHICKEN SANDWICH, CARL!]]'''"). He asks to see the manager, who threatens physical violence against the cashier for his actions, before the ''owner'' breaks down the door and trashes the entire staff. |
| 215 | * Season three of ''Series/StrangerThings'' had Steve working at an ice cream shop in the new [[TheMall Starcourt Mall]] called Scoops Ahoy. While it's technically not fast food, it still otherwise meets every element of this trope, right down to Steve's ridiculous sailor uniform. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXyju7zFwyE an ad]] teasing the Starcourt Mall, he and his co-worker Robin look distinctly unenthused about doing the ad. |
| 216 | * On ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', Maddy works at a fast food restaurant to supplement her income from the Tipton candy counter in one episode. London briefly joins her as an employee, then buys the chain in order to get back at the overbearing manager. |
| 217 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}: In Season 5, a teenager with a degrading fast food job utilizes witchcraft to switch bodies with Sam Winchester, who is not at all pleased to be in the body of an awkward, gluten-intolerant virgin who is controlled by his parents. The teenager, however, enjoys looking like Sam Winchester, driving the Impala, Dean's classic rock and the ghost hunt he goes on before Dean realizes that this isn't his brother. |
| 218 | * ''Series/That70sShow'' : |
| 219 | ** Fatso Burger, Eric's temporary job in season 1, is mediocre, he has a silly outfit, and his boss is embarrassing. He's afraid to quit because his hardass father Red wants him to learn responsibility and all that stuff, even though his girlfriend and mother both try hard to get him to quit. Eventually he does quit, and Red doesn't mind. |
| 220 | ** Jackie subverts this trope when she's forced to get a job at a cheese shop. The job doesn't seem all that bad, but as a SpoiledBrat Jackie is upset at having to work in the first place. Being teased by Hyde doesn't help her attitude out either. She does cheer up quite a bit, however, when she gets her first paycheck. |
| 221 | * ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'': |
| 222 | ** Averted with The Chill Grill, Victor Baxter's restaurant. It's a popular teen hangout, and Raven and Chelsea even get jobs there, but the food is delicious and the uniforms are stylish (though that has something to do with Raven, an aspiring fashion designer, having a hand in making them). |
| 223 | ** Played straight in "Food for Thought", but rather oddly, in that the greasy, sugary fast food isn't in a restaurant, but a school cafeteria. Specifically, a company called Trans-Infinity Farms becomes the local high school's new food supplier, and offers the teens disgustingly huge portions of unhealthy food (including a yard-long hot dog, a stack of pancakes drowning in chocolate syrup, and deep-fried lettuce as a "healthy" option). In an aversion of the usual treatment of this trope, nearly everyone at the school (with the exception of Chelsea) initially loves the new menu--that is, until Raven has a vision of a BigFatFuture in which every student develops a gigantic ass from eating nothing but junk. |
| 224 | * ''Series/TheWorstYearOfMyLifeAgain'' has The Burger Palace, where Alex's parents take him every year for his birthday treat. [[BadJobWorseUniform All of the staff dress in faux medieval costume]] (and Howe works there part-time). In this case, it is more that Alex is embarrassed to be seen dining there. The staff actually seem quite enthusiastic. |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
| 226 | |
| 227 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 228 | * The music video for Music/BarenakedLadies "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3NE6UuaLiY Pinch Me]]" features one of these. |
| 229 | * The Music/FooFighters "Walk" video (itself an AffectionateParody of the instant Michael Douglas classic ''Film/FallingDown'') features bassist Nate Mendel working a fast food counter, complete with sullen expression and a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PkcfQtibmU&t=2m40s hat shaped like a box of french fries]]. |
| 230 | * The video for [[Music/LadyGaga Lady Gaga's]] "Telephone" includes a brief scene at a roadside diner. There's even a [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment bizarre segue]] where Gaga teaches everyone watching how to make a sandwich. |
| 231 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxUGn_ziOSE&list=FLM2CFpnQLwo2DUJ6zebbNmA&index=5 Minimum Rage]]" by Psychostick |
| 232 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiwp5rQ2c-c Satisfaction Guaranteed]]" by Alyssa Reid. |
| 233 | * "Minimum Wage" by Music/BobRivers, parody of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by Music/TheSmashingPumpkins. |
| 234 | [[/folder]] |
| 235 | |
| 236 | [[folder:Pinballs]] |
| 237 | * One of the targets for the rampaging [[DemBones skeleton army]] in ''Pinball/BoneBusters'' is a fast-food hamburger restaurant, complete with clown-headed drive-thru. |
| 238 | [[/folder]] |
| 239 | |
| 240 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 241 | * Given a dose of BlackComedy in ''Podcast/BrimstoneValleyMall''. Working at Weiner World is about as bad as it gets for a first job. Alongside the terrible pay, the boss refuses to learn their new employee's name, forces her to wear [[BadJobWorseUniform a uniform with a weiner-shaped hat]], refuses to give her proper training and then blames her for things going wrong, is a ''[[NotHyperbole literal]]'' [[BreadEggsMilkSquick demon from Hell]], [[BlackComedyCannibalism uses human remains for ingredients]]... |
| 242 | * PlayedForDrama in the ''Podcast/{{Pseudopod}}'' story "[[http://pseudopod.org/2008/03/14/pseudopod-81-its-easy-to-make-a-sandwich/ It's Easy to Make a Sandwich]]." The protagonist's repetitive and depersonalizing job slowly drives him insane. |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 246 | * After failing to win the WWE Championship back from Wrestling/RandyOrton and being harassed by Orton's hand-picked goons Wrestling/CodyRhodes and Wrestling/{{Ted DiBiase|Jr}} in the summer of 2009, Wrestling/TripleH decided to get D-Generation X back together. He journeyed to Texas to find Wrestling/ShawnMichaels (who was in the middle of a TenMinuteRetirement from WWE at this point) only to find the "Heartbreak Kid" working as a chef in a corporate cafeteria. Michaels at first claims that he's happy with his new job and doesn't want to return to WWE, even though [[BadBoss his boss is a sadistic martinet]] and the boss's [[BrattyHalfPint bratty prepubescent daughter]] takes advantage of her position as DaddysLittleVillain to constantly annoy and even abuse the employees. HBK finally decides to rejoin DX after realizing that he isn't any good at being a chef, burning his white chef's hat and [[TalkToTheFist kicking his boss in the face mid-tirade]]. |
| 247 | [[/folder]] |
| 248 | |
| 249 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 250 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'', there's mention of Federated Fast Food restaurants in sourcebooks. They offer mystery meat burgers throughout the Federated Suns, with varying toppings. It makes an appearance in the Harebrained Schemes game as a random event. |
| 251 | * In the ''d20 Urban Arcana'' setting, one of the organizations is a children's fast food restaurant called the Prancing Pony (the same name as a tavern located in Shadowdale in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting, for some unexplained reason) which notes that [[GameMaster GMs]] should not have its players join it (as it would offer a [=McJob=] and nothing more). |
| 252 | * Deconstructed in ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies,'' where the co-conspirators of Mak Attax (who to a one work at "The Scotsman") are actually [[spoiler:part of an organization dedicated to bringing about a "magical renaissance" by unleashing small doses of magickal energy into people's food, then watching the results (and occasionally helping the victims if the results go bad).]] They're probably the largest, probably the least competent, and probably the most benign secret conspiracy within the setting. Despite this seeming aversion of the dullness of Burger Fool work, the game is pretty clear that not only do you still have to contend with that soul-crushing banality (which costs them conspirators) but also that the conspiracy stuff itself isn't as much fun as it sounds. |
| 253 | ** On the other hand, despite the monotony and the skepticism they get from the rest of the Occult Underground, [[spoiler:they managed to use "the Scotsman" to pull off one of the most successful magical rituals of recent memory by aligning the "chakra points" of the American consciousness]]. |
| 254 | * TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness RPG ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' has the burger chain O'Tolley's as a subsidiary to [[EvilInc Pentex]]. While many of its restaurants are relatively normal, there are also some which slip evil spirits or [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies the other white meat]] in the burgers, and transform their employees into spiritually possessed freaks. All of them, however, conform to the standards laid out by this page. As the splatbooks say: In most part-time jobs, teenagers learn vital business skills, decision making and other abilities that will help them in life. While working for O'Tolley's, they learn to make burgers. Period. |
| 255 | [[/folder]] |
| 256 | |
| 257 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 258 | * ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': At Skopp City, there's Martho's Mega Burger Joint, which is mentioned to be in bankruptcy after the owner went mad and ate all the burgers. The inside of the shop has it riddled with trash and its only employee is a robot passing the time by stacking up cans. |
| 259 | * ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' has two snack food stands in Witchy World. Both proprietors are unhygienic as hell, coughing and sneezing over the food. Fortunately the bear and bird don't have to eat it, they give it to some kids and some cavemen. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/BillyVsSnakeman'' has Burgerninja (not actually staffed by ninja, originally; the player sort of gets in by accident), where the food is disgusting and the customers are horrible. The biggest challenge when you run the till is to keep yourself from killing the customers in a fit of rage. Eventually you end up burning the place down with a giant robot and taking your coworkers to start a pizza shop instead, which works so much better. (The food is better and your manager allows you to stab problem customers.) |
| 261 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'', Jimmy gets a job at a place like this where he has to dress up in [[BadJobWorseUniform an awful yellow and red uniform with a hat shaped like a box of fries]] and deliver burgers. |
| 262 | * The main character in ''Chickens of Distinction'' has a job standing outside the Chunky Chicken Poultry Palace in a chicken suit and making comments like "Thank you for choosing Chunky Chicken. We hope you gave it five clucks out of five." Typing "examine self" gives you the description "You're wearing a damn chicken suit. You look like an idiot." |
| 263 | * ''VideoGame/ChoChabudaiGaeshi'': One of the stages in the game takes place at a fast-food restaurant, where you play a put-upon employee driven to [[FlippingTheTable table-flipping rage]] by your rude, pushy customers. |
| 264 | * ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'' managed a reference to both Burger King and [=McDonald's=] by having a fast-food restaurant called "[=McBurger=] Kong". With a giant ape on the roof, and bananas forming a shape reminiscent of the [=McDonald's=] M. Hilariously, if you [[GarrisonableStructures occupy it]], the ape gets a bandana and when the building is sufficiently damaged, it cowers in fear with its hands protecting its face. |
| 265 | * ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'': |
| 266 | ** ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing'' gave Nina a "Part-Timer" costume, which fits this trope to a T. |
| 267 | ** ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled'' has Toxic Burger and Nuclear Pizza, both of which were introduced in the Gasmoxia Grand Prix. Apparently they're both pretty crap places to work at if this line from Drive-Thru Danger is any indication. |
| 268 | --->(in a bored, deadpan tone) ''"Welcome to Toxic Burger, can I take your order?"'' |
| 269 | * The "Mmm, Bison!" restaurant chain in ''VideoGame/DeadState'' was presumably one of these before the ZombieApocalypse. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/GhostTrickPhantomDetective'': The Chicken Kitchen. The uniforms are camp, yet the restaurant seems unusually expensive. |
| 271 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has multiple ridiculous fast food restaurants. Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell in particular both equip their employees with ridiculous headgear (at least those in Well-Stacked Pizza, another major fastfood chain, have regular caps); this seems to have had a particularly harrowing effect on Cluckin' Bell's employees. OG Loc, a friend of CJ, is assigned to Burger Shot by his parole agreement as a "hygiene technician" (aka janitor), and one early mission involves getting caught in a drive-by at a local Cluckin' Bell drive-thru (a drive-by in which Big Smoke refuses to participate, because he's too busy eating[[note]]that, [[spoiler:and the fact that he's also secretly in cahoots with the Ballas, but that's another story]][[/note]]). |
| 272 | -->'''Cluckin' Bell Employee:''' Cluckety fuck. Place your order.\ |
| 273 | '''Cluckin' Bell Employee:''' I hope you choke-a-doodle-doo!\ |
| 274 | '''Cluckin' Bell Employee:''' If you come back, you're a moron. |
| 275 | * In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', we learn that Cluckin' Bell's chicken-suited mascot has a name: [[Creator/ChuckNorris Cluck Norris!]] Apparently, he's also a martial-arts master... |
| 276 | %% Needs context * ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'': "[[MemeticMutation RAMIREZ!]] Secure the Burger Town!" |
| 277 | * ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'': |
| 278 | ** ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'': Several [=NPC=]s throughout the game work a fast-food shops, and Frank Fly gets a job doing this in the ending. |
| 279 | ** ''VideoGame/Mother3'': New Pork City's burger joint is handled by malfunctioning robot waitresses. |
| 280 | * In ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', there's a fast food joint just outside of Travis' hotel named "Burger Suplex", which also keeps the flow of naming many landmarks after pro wrestling moves. It's engaged in a shadow war with the incroaching "Pizza Butt" franchise, and there are three assassination jobs where you pick off Pizza Butt executives at their request. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a major plot point in the sequel: Jasper Butt Jr. is the BigBad, and the men you assassinated were his father and two brothers.]] |
| 281 | * ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' has Freckle Bitch's, featuring radio commercials with a chain-smoking, raspy-voiced, middle-aged broad hawking its greasy wares. The special [[OfferVoidInNebraska New Zealand/Australia only]] collectors edition of ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' is a large white box with Freckle Bitch herself in a suggestive position on the top. Oh yeah, just ''try'' and carry that out of the video game shop without getting noticed. |
| 282 | * Snuckey's in ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad'' is a Burger Fool whose employment policies cater to the sort of poor slob who actually aspires to Burger Fooldom. In each of the three locations you can visit is a curiously [[IdenticalGrandfather identical relative]] of [[VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle Bernard Bernoulli]] who will have the same conversation with you. He's a graduate of the bachelor program at Snuckey University and is thus qualified to jerk soda, cook burgers, and open difficult jars, but if he wants to make manager he'll have to enroll in their postgraduate program. |
| 283 | * ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' has the Culinary career, which starts you off in one of these and has you work your way up the ladder to Celebrity Chef status. |
| 284 | ** The University expansion has the Philosophy major's final semester. "Senior Thesis: Preparing for the Fast-Food Industry". Amusingly, Philosophy is the major indicated to be best for the aforementioned Culinary career. |
| 285 | * ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' gives us various appearances of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Monolith Burger]], sporting a big yellow M to boot. In the third game you visit a franchise that has its own small space station. The fourth game has you assembling burgers via mini-game in a different franchise to acquire much-needed credits. You are guaranteed to be fired from the restaurant, being literally thrown out by the manager, once the burgers move too fast to properly assemble. |
| 286 | ** In one fan remake it's possible to find a Monolith Burger behind a machine in the restaurant. Sitting at the empty booth and eating the burger [[ArtisticLicenseBiology will cause Roger to die by vomiting his skeleton]]. |
| 287 | * ''VideoGame/SplatterMaster'' has its second boss be a giant animated burger joint robot, dressed in the stereotypical burger fool outfit (complete with a hat and logo) who attacks by flinging ''exploding'' burgers on your character. Said fight takes place near a burger joint, and from inside the bulding occasionally some imp flunkies will show up to assist the boss. |
| 288 | * Rather amusingly, the ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' mod ''VideoGame/FrackinUniverse'' has a fast food chain that's literally called "Burger Fool". The tooltip for its crafting station pretty much says it as it is. |
| 289 | -->''"Overpriced, crappy burgers, fries and expired milk with bees."'' |
| 290 | * In ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'', when Nate ponders what it'd be like to work for a "paranoid psychopath" like Henry Avery, Elena jokes that it sounds like her first boss. Nate assumes that her first boss was a TV producer, but much to his amusement, Elena reveals that it was her manager at a place called Macho Nacho. |
| 291 | * ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium in Hotlands, owned and operated by showbiz-crazed robot Mettaton. The food served includes "glamburgers", hamburgers made with sequins and glitter, and a steak cut in the shape of Mettaton's face. The cashier is a cynical, neurotic wannabe actor known as Burgerpants (named so after an incident where he smuggled some burgers in his pants and attempted to bring them to another vendor) who is clearly tired of the forced cheeriness that comes with his position. His job had ground him down so badly [[spoiler: he hardly reacts if you threaten him during a No Mercy run, dryly remarking "I can't go to hell. I'm all out of vacation days."]] |
| 292 | ** In ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', Burgerpants now works at a SuckECheeses, and he is still just as upset about his job as ever. |
| 293 | * In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', Slater is thoroughly uninterested in his job at a 24-hour convenience store. If you order your [[BlandNameProduct Grapple juice]] with a side of sidearm, he's your FriendInTheBlackMarket, out of boredom as much as anything else. |
| 294 | -->''"'Sup. Oh, and welcome to the Red Spot, home of the [[GiganticGulp Monstro Chug]], 72 ounces of your favorite beverage for 89 cents, blah blah."'' |
| 295 | [[/folder]] |
| 296 | |
| 297 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 298 | * On ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', the fast-food restaurant "Blubb-O's", which may just consist of a non-sequitur-spouting drive-thru speaker box ("Sever your leg, please, it's the greatest day.") in the middle of nowhere. Coach Z wears a whale costume at one point, and mangles the speaker box's creepy catch phrase to make it ''creepier'' ("I'll chop off your legs!") The chain is evidently endorsed by a hip-hop artist who promotes their "Thick n' Nasty" burger. (EEEEEEEEUNGH!) Strong Bad also wears a hot-dog-shaped "sad clown" mascot costume (the "Crying Clown-Dog") at one point to advertise Bubs' Concession Stand. |
| 299 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Okay, then I quit.\ |
| 300 | '''Bubs''': Fine! But don't even think about swiping that costume!\ |
| 301 | '''Strong Bad:''' Uh, you made ''me'' buy this costume.\ |
| 302 | '''Bubs:''' Oh! Pleasure doing business with you, then. |
| 303 | * James, a.k.a. WebAnimation/TheOdd1sOut, worked at Subway (or as he called it, [[InsistentTerminology Sooubway]]) for about a year, and has managed to squeeze a lot of comedy out of the misery he endured there. He believes that everyone should hold either a fast food or retail job for at least six months at least once in their lifetime, so they can understand what sort of crap minimum wage workers have to put up with. Incidentally, James states that he made more money talking about his experiences at Subway than he did ''actually working at Subway''. |
| 304 | * Creator/SamAndMickey have Skipper get a job at [=McBurgers=], a fast food restaurant with a manager who doesn't really seem to care about customers' health (French fries come in three portion sizes: Large, Extra Large, and Jumbo. The lattermost comes with 17x as many fries as an Extra Large portion, and a diabetes pamphlet of unspecified usefulness.) or work ethics (at the end, [[spoiler:Skipper bribes the manager into letting her stay, even after her parents/"big sister and her ex" Barbie and Ken cause a scene.]]). |
| 305 | * ''WebAnimation/SonicForHire'': Franchise/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}} gets a job working at VideoGame/BurgerTime alongside Knuckles. The first time, he soils Eggman's food before quitting. The second time, he burns the place down after getting high on crack. |
| 306 | * ''WebAnimation/SubloAndTangyMustard'' is about two guys working as costumed fast-food mascots at a sandwich shop [[BlandNameProduct Subpar]]. |
| 307 | [[/folder]] |
| 308 | |
| 309 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 310 | * An early comic in ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' ([[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000605c a hand-drawn one]]) had George working at [=McBoogers=]. The author actually stated that everyone should work in fast food at least once to see things from the other side of the counter. |
| 311 | * ''Webcomic/BrunoTheBandit'' has a chain called Archio's which is owned by a chaos god. Bruno once managed to successfully hold up one of their franchises by threatening to have Fiona, who worked at one briefly reveal what was in the secret sauce. |
| 312 | * Alex Williams, the titular ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'' works at the local sub shop. |
| 313 | * ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' has the Cricket Burger. Since terraforming is still in its early stages for Planet Jean, they have to use insect meat for the foreseeable future, as reflected in the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin name]] and [[LetsMeetTheMeat motif]] of the chain. Mr. Kornada, as a punishment for a particularly brutish stunt he tried to pull, is sentenced to a thousand days of working there. However, he's to receive a work grade above "Average" for it to count... |
| 314 | * ''Webcomic/FurryExperience'': Ronnie works at a place called Gulp-N-Go, where they put the cooking grease into the coffee for that extra kick, and have everything on the menu from instant weight-gain to heart attacks. Ronnie's a fitness major, by the way. |
| 315 | * Thea's job as a wiener snack seller in ''Webcomic/GirlsWithSlingshots''. |
| 316 | * In ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' Lindesfarne spent a summer working at herbivore franchise [=McRoughage=] back when she still [[{{ItMakesSenseInContext}} thought she was a porcupine]]. The worst part of the job was when ruminant customers reclaimed the cud they'd deposited earlier in the day. |
| 317 | * ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'' has Keith get a job when the league is forced to find additional sources of income besides Lazer Pony's disability cheque. After insisting his college degree will make the job search easy, he ends up working at a burger joint. He then wonders if this is his StartOfDarkness. |
| 318 | * Blob Boy in ''Webcomic/MarcoandMarty''. It literally serves blobs. If the cashier doesn't hand them off immediately, it fuses to their hands. |
| 319 | * Half of the strip ''Webcomic/PhilLikesTacos'' is about gaming and the way people treat gamers. The other half is about this trope, though the emphasis on the hell that is customers, coworkers, and the clueless decisions of corporate management makes it pretty clear that the author has actually 'been there' instead of just working off stereotypes seen on TV. |
| 320 | * In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', Pizza Girl's outfit may be a part of this, or [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin she may just be a]] SuperHero [[MundaneUtility who delivers pizzas]]. |
| 321 | * In ''Webcomic/ShotgunShuffle'' Ellie's first day at O'Jacks leaves her crying in the bathroom(and watched by a lurker employee in an adjoining stall.) |
| 322 | * In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Gwynn had to work at Burger Meister before getting her job at the zombie themed restaurant, and the [[ServiceSectorStereotypes snooty waiter]] also had to work there when the expensive restaurant burned down. Despite the low pay and ridiculous uniform, he's still as unbelievably insulting to the customers as ever. |
| 323 | * After losing his job at the comic shop and being denied unemployment insurance, Mike of ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' picks up a job at a local frog-themed burger chain. The usual problems of stupid customers and paradoxical corporate bureaucracy ("the bathrooms must be sparkling clean, but we'll charge you for using cleaning supplies more than once a month") set in quickly. The fact that he accepts this fate stoically and almost cheerfully indicates some very impressive character development, though. |
| 324 | ** Mike later finds employment at a different fast-food joint, and is surprised (and a little disturbed) to find that it's an ''aversion'' of this. The manager specifically tells Mike that being an employee there doesn't mean he has to take crap from anyone, customer or not. |
| 325 | * The eponymous restaurant of ''Webcomic/WonderWeenies'' has the themed shirts (which come in two sizes, "regular" and "irregular"), paper hats (which only Murrey wears), and general ridicule. |
| 326 | [[/folder]] |
| 327 | |
| 328 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 329 | * Website/{{Cracked}} once noted (in a list of worst jobs to have) that working in the fast food industry, ''at all'', means no one will ever respect you. You could ''physically own the building'' and people will still assume your job involves the phrase, "Do you want fries with that?" |
| 330 | * Website/NotAlwaysRight features a lot of these. The working conditions aren't often looked down on, but they're ''nothing'' compared to the customers, who all seem to believe working in a fast food place makes you a plebeian there to take your abuse. |
| 331 | * ''Website/TheOnion'': [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/developmentally-disabled-burger-king-employee-only,462/ Developmentally Disabled Burger King Employee Only Competent Worker]], [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/everyone-involved-in-pizzas-preparation-delivery-p,504/ Everyone Involved In Pizza's Preparation, Delivery, Purchase Extremely High]]. |
| 332 | [[/folder]] |
| 333 | |
| 334 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 335 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'': Burger [=McFlipster's=], The restaurant itself appears to be a combination parody of [=McDonald's=] and Burger King. |
| 336 | * One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has Hayley become an assistant manager at a Subway-esque sandwich shop. She finds the job too demanding and monotonous, not helped by how Stan tells her in no uncertain terms that [she will spend the rest of her life trapped in that demeaning, mind-numbingly repetitive dead-end job with no prospects for a life beyond her employment -- except Stan thinks that's ''a good thing'' because he's spent his whole life obsessively conforming to outdated societal norms, thus his unsophisticated belief that [[HardWorkFallacy a stable job is all you need for a happy, successful life]]. The grueling nature of Hayley's employment is cemented when Hayley's boss cheerfully tells her to put away her phone because she's not allowed to think about the outside world. |
| 337 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' revolved around Frylock and Shake getting a job at "Slurp-a-Lunch", a restaurant which serves smoothies made from ''pureed meat''. |
| 338 | ** The characters themselves originated in the ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' episode ''Baffler Meal'', where they were the mascots of a restaurant called Burger Trench which (according to Moltar and Zorak) didn't have very good food. ScheduleSlip and ExecutiveMeddling over the supposed SpotlightStealingSquad nature of the Aqua Teens in the episode made it air after ATHF debuted, however. Remnants of the original script ended up evolving into ''Kentucky Nightmare''. |
| 339 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}''; during ''Race to the Moon'', the Handyman suggests they tear the playhouse down and turn it into a bistro entitled [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds McBabar's]][[note]]A resturaunt fit for a king[[/note]], much to Babar's dismay. |
| 340 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' work at Burger World, which is a fairly realistic amalgamation of the [=McDonald=]'s and Burger King fast food franchises. The usual humiliation aspect is absent, as the store is just another place for the boys to take their roughhousing and ToiletHumor such as frying up worms and throwing meat patties around. The job is still horrible, but they're just too stupid to notice. Their Manager is treated as sympathetic in that he only yells at them because they ''deserve'' it. Oddly, [[UltimateJobSecurity he doesn't ever fire them]], even when their pranks once caused the health inspectors to close the store. |
| 341 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'': Jessi's teen bully Lulu works at Hot Stone Beefery, a cruddy mall kiosk that sells beef. She has to wear [[BadJobWorseUniform a yonic meat hat]] and sing a song every time she gets a tip, thanking the customer for letting them "handle their meat." This actually makes Jessi sympathize with her. According to Connie, it's an even worse job than "the lady who gives birth to the Dippin' Dots." |
| 342 | * ''WesternAnimation/ButtUglyMartians'' featured a recurring character named Ronald, who was a total dweeb working at a fast food restaurant called the Quantum Burger. About the only highlight in his life is that [[HeroWorshipper he gets to heap praise on his hero Stoat Muldoon]] due to Stoat being one of the establishment's regular customers. |
| 343 | * ''WesternAnimation/CarlSquared'' had the pirate-themed Buccaneer Burger, complete with humiliating costumes. Unsurprisingly, C2 thought it was great place to work. |
| 344 | * ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' had Nasty Burger which is frequently referenced, including a special where a ghost was threatening to kill all of Danny's loved ones by overheating the special nasty sauce (no, "overheating the special nasty sauce" is not an UnusualEuphemism) to kill them. The main character doesn't take a job there to learn any form of AnAesop or some such. Nope, it's just his LocalHangout. |
| 345 | -->"Nasty Burger, it's just one letter away from tasty!" |
| 346 | ** There is one character who takes a job there, but it's done to show how bad off her family is financially. |
| 347 | * In ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' Burgerphile, we learn that about 70% of Dan's diet consists of Burgerphile food. Despite the title, Dan's grudge is only limited to the MarriedToTheJob manager who refuses to admit that he got Dan's order wrong. Notably, Dan actually ''likes'' Hortense the register girl who ''likes him back''. |
| 348 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', in the episode "It Happened One Nut", had to work at "It's a Nutty, Nutty World", and announce her enthusiasm about nuts to every customer. Squirrels started to attack her because she smelled like nuts as well. |
| 349 | ** In the episode "Mart of Darkness", where several characters find themselves in a Sam's Club-style superstore one weekend afternoon, Daria and Jane find the uber-{{goth}}, Andrea, working in a wholesale club in full uniform. She's deathly afraid they will mock her for having that kind of job, as she is aware that Daria and Jane are the school's queens of snark. However, she is pleasantly surprised when the girls reassure her that they understand her position and promise not to tell anyone. |
| 350 | * Averted on ''WesternAnimation/{{DC Super Hero Girls|2019}}'', where [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon]] genuinely enjoys working at Burrito Bucket, as does [[Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen]] at Sweet Justice. |
| 351 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' had the Honker Burger, which was a hangout but also managed to have a small bit of satire here and there. In one episode, Doug learns that the giant burger mascot everyone torments is his neighbor Mr. Dink. He spends some time [[InAnotherMansShoes in the suit]], seeing how cruel the teasing can be, and ultimately wins peoples' respect by using the suit's buoyancy to save somebody from drowning. |
| 352 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has a [=McDonald's=] Expy called [=McBurgertown=], though the episode focuses more on the restaurant's inhumane methods of slaughtering animals. |
| 353 | * In a flashback sequence in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'', we learn that Duke briefly worked the drive-through of a fast food joint between high-school and the Army. Flint rubs it in when he isn't bragging about the tackle he'd landed on Duke at a football game that won his school a state championship. Subverted at the end of the scene when Flint sees Duke leaving for home on crutches; knowing the injury is his fault, he realizes he's being cruel and offers Duke a ride. |
| 354 | * Despite the kids being too young to get a job at local place Slausen's on ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', it doesn't mean that the joint is free of squeaky-voiced teens (voiced by ''Creator/DanCastellaneta'', of course). |
| 355 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' gets put in a fast-food restaurant thrice. Each of which portray fast food chains as horrible and disgusting to an absurd, terrifying degree: |
| 356 | ** In "Career Day", he winds up at [=McMeaties=], and thinks that he'll eventually be promoted to ruler of Earth. |
| 357 | ** In "The Frycook What Came From All That Space", he is kidnapped and sent to the dreaded Foodcourtia, a PlanetOfHats that serves the sole function of feeding aliens from elsewhere. He has to escape before the dreaded "Foodening", when a flood of customers makes it impossible to leave for twenty years due to the gravity pull (a time warp thing is involved too or something). |
| 358 | ** In "Germs", Zim's germophobic antics lead him to [=McMeaties=] again, where he discovers that the meat is germ-free. After asking an employee he discovers that the meat was NASA-developed [[PowerEchoes SPAAAAAAACE MEEEEEEAT!]] But since they couldn't actually afford [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace SPAAAAAAACE MEEEEEEAT]], they made them out of [[PowerEchoes NAPKINS]]. |
| 359 | ** In "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain", GIR goes on a rampage to order food at Crazy Taco. |
| 360 | ** To make it worse, one of Zim's various {{Weaksauce Weakness}}es is a [[BodyHorror horrific allergy to meat.]] |
| 361 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Invincible|2021}}'': Mark initially worked at [=BurgerMart=] before his superhero duties happily made him decide to quit. |
| 362 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', Jimmy, with his friends, Sheen, and Carl start working at [=McSpanky's=]. Ironically, [[HaveAGayOldTime Skeet]], the Employee of the Month, considers Jimmy to be the idiot of the group, and forces him to stand outside the restaurant wearing a hamburger suit, repeating the phrase: "If you want cheap food with taste, put [=McSpanky's=] in your face." |
| 363 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Episode 64 has Mr. Cat start a UsefulNotes/McDonalds parody called [=McDaube=][[note]]The series is French and this name is French for "[=McCrap=][[/note]] and rope Stumpy into working there; throughout the episode, Stumpy is horribly abused in various ways. |
| 364 | * On ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', the pseudo-Mexican eatery "Bueno Nacho" figures heavily in the series, but the second episode has Kim and Ron move behind the counter. Kim, usually the best at everything, fails, while Ron invents a hybrid foodstuff called the "Naco" (nacho + taco) that becomes a running gag in the series, and earns a promotion to manager. The Naco sets up another episode plot, when the BN Inc. management send Ron a royalty check for $99 million. Which was doubly hilarious in Mexico, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naco_%28slang%29 considering what Naco means there]]... |
| 365 | ** The episode "Grande Size Me", has Ron insist that Bueno Nacho's food is "healthy" and [[Film/SuperSizeMe decide to eat only their meals for a month]] in an attempt to prove himself right. This attempt fails spectacularly as Ron ends up not only becoming fat and unhealthy, but turning into a 15 foot tall hulk-like creature with an enormous appetite, due to Dr. Drakken's latest EvilPlan requiring someone with the body chemistry of [[ContrivedCoincidence someone who's eaten nothing but Bueno Nacho food for an extended period of time]]. Humorously, this was the show creators' way of [[WriterRevolt getting back]] at Disney, who forced them to do a [[AWeightyAesop "healthy eating"]] episode. |
| 366 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' played this to the hilt with Bobby's first job, selling food at racing events. Too bad his boss is a brain-damaged psychopath who demands Bobby refund him when his bad math shows an impossibly large loss, tries to force Bobby to run across an ''active racetrack'' to bring him a soda, and can't even [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking remember the kid's name]]. When Bobby complained to his Dad, Hank assumes Bobby just wants to quit and was told to suck it up and enjoy it for the sake of building character. It's only later Hank realizes everything Bobby [[CassandraTruth said was true]], and gives the Boss [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown a beat-down.]] |
| 367 | * On ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'', Nathan has a nightmare that his bandmates are all killed during a show, and he ends up working at a burger joint (Dimmu Burger, named after ''Music/DimmuBorgir'') due to his never finishing high school - and he's bad at that job. |
| 368 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MonaTheVampire'' sees Mona and her friends doing work experience at their local branch of Bim-Burger, where Mona suspects it's a front for an alien invasion and their secret sauce is a mind-control formula. |
| 369 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Stranger Than Fan Fiction", a background pony running a juice bar is seen, sporting a silly hat and an expression that can cut glass. She only cracks a smile when it's evident someone's having a worse day than she is. |
| 370 | * Jeremy from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' works at Slushy Dawg, where their motto is "Slushy Dawg will never get any better", unless he's working at Slushy Burger, whose motto is "Pickles so green and meat so brown, Lunchtime's fun with Slushy the Clown!" Despite all this, they're both pretty nice places and Jeremy seems happy working there. |
| 371 | * In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Not So Awesome Blossom", Blossom starts working at a rather low-grade hot-dog place after suffering a HeroicBSOD. When Mojo calls to [[IHaveYourWife make his demands]], he actually rubs her nose in it by [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown telling her to bring him two hot dogs.]] ("And don't forget the ketchup!" he adds.) |
| 372 | * ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' had a restaurant called [[{{Demographically Inappropriate Humour}} Chokey Chicken]] (later {{Retcon}}ned to "Chewy Chicken" due to the censors finally noticing), which specifically parodied the omnipresent nature of places like [=McDonald's=]. One great example is the episode where Rocko brings Heffer to France and tries to get him to try some new cuisine. They just end up eating at a Chokey Chicken that has been built into the Eiffel Tower. |
| 373 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode, "[[Recap/RugratsS9E10BestestOfShowHoldThePickles Hold the Pickles]]", Taffy takes the babies to Boingo Burger, a fast-food restaurant where her friend Britannica works as a cashier, for lunch. Although Britannica seems to enjoy her job there, her manager does not, and sees her as a slacker despite all the hard work and friendly service she does. |
| 374 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 375 | ** Krusty Burger is the biggest example, complete with pimple-faced geeky teens working there (and, in one case, an elderly man [Grampa Simpson]). [[{{Squick}} The "secret sauce" is actually mayonnaise that's been left out in the sun all day.]] And as UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush points out in "Two Bad Neighbors", the name "Krusty Burger" itself isn't all that appetizing. Krusty himself is disgusted by the product; when he has to take a bite out of one while filming a commercial, he spits it out after the director yells "Cut!" then takes a swig of whiskey, then spits out the whiskey, saying through a sickened expression, "gonna be tasting that for weeks!" The boondocks outside Springfield are apparently home to even less savory chains, with names like "Burger Place", "Skobo's", and "Dimwillie's". |
| 376 | ** In the {{Flashback}} episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E12IMarriedMarge I Married Marge]]", Homer worked at a place called "Gulp N Blow" which was just as bad. (They wouldn't even tell him what was in ''their'' secret sauce.) |
| 377 | ** The "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E15FutureDrama Future-Drama]]" episode has Lisa starting Hot Dog on a Stick management camp after her college scholarship was revoked (thanks to Bart). |
| 378 | * Dave the Intern from ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' works at one of these, implied to be the only one on the island. Despite the fact we never see his boss, Dave never seems to get a break (figuratively and literally). Dave's years of working a minimum wage fast food job have turned him into a BigBadWannabe, though [[PokeThePoodle his complete ineptitude at it]] makes him a HarmlessVillain, aside from maybe [[EvilIsPetty intentionally screwing up his customers' orders]]. |
| 379 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' is probably the best-known series to not use this as a one- or two-time thing, but as a regular plot-driver and setting for roughly half the main cast; indeed, one common complaint about the later seasons is that the Krusty Krab gets too ''[[SpotlightStealingSquad much]]'' focus. How sucky the place is (on either side of the counter) varies; [=SpongeBob=] consistently [[HappinessInMinimumWage loves the job]], Squidward hates it with a passion, and Mr. Krabs flip-flops between JerkWithAHeartOfGold TeamDad to JerkWithAHeartOfJerk PointyHairedBoss depending on what the plot needs at the moment (he once ''refused to light half the restaurant'' to save on electricity). |
| 380 | * The TropeNamer is from ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', and is a thin parody of "Burger King". The uniform includes a motley hat with bells. Virgil Hawkins is forced to work there by his father, who is "[[SecretSecretKeeper unaware]]" of the significant commitment Virgil has to his "[[SuperHero charity work]]". |
| 381 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': |
| 382 | ** Played with and ultimately subverted concerning Peedee's job at Beach Citywalk Fries: It's a FamilyBusiness (he'd be too young to work there otherwise), so he's really doing it because he's TheDutifulSon. Though he's introduced being miserable with his work in "Frybo", it's really just because the job he's given is [[BadJobWorseUniform to promote the store wearing a mascot costume]]. After he gets a counter position (and the Frybo costume is destroyed), Peedee ''loves'' his job [[{{Workaholic}} almost too much]]. |
| 383 | ** Lars and Sadie work at the Big Donut, the food place Steven visits the most. Though it doesn't seem a terrible place to work, they're implied to have kept working there for years only because, [[BelligerentSexualTension despite appearances, they enjoy each other's company]]. Once Lars is out of town [[spoiler:and off-planet]], Sadie has to run the store herself. The [[CriticalStaffingShortage workload]] and [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loneliness]] really get to her, and she calls it a dull waste of her youth. Despite this, Sadie keeps at it purely to maintain a sense of normalcy [[spoiler:before quitting entirely]]. |
| 384 | *** One notable thing about the Big Donut is that there seems to be no manager, just Lars and Sadie following corporate edicts and no other employees. Once [[spoiler:both of them stop working there,]] the place is just closed until [[spoiler: ex-Mayor Dewey]] starts working there. |
| 385 | * The waitresses in the resort restaurant in ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}!'' have to dress in pirate wench costumes, and put up with some extremely entitled customers. |
| 386 | * ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld1991'' had King Koopa open a fast-food joint, Scoopa Koopa's. While working there wasn't too terrible, the food itself was addictive, calorie-filled, and had nasty side-effects that turned customers into chickadactyls. Koopa's ultimate plan was to turn everyone into chickens and open a second restaurant to sell them as fried chicken. |
| 387 | * ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'': Taz takes a job at the Burger Thing after he quits the show in "But Is It Taz?". It includes a geriatric employee who has taken more that 20 years to make 'Employee of the Month'. |
| 388 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', "Employee of the Month": Beast Boy goes to work at "Mega Meaty Meat", a restaurant wherein everything from shakes to fries is apparently made of meat. A staunch vegetarian ("I've ''been'' most of those animals!"), Beast Boy sticks with it (in the hopes of winning the moped being offered as prize for "Employee of the Month"), and discovers that the eatery is actually a front for a sentient tofu monster from space. No, really! Suffice to say, it just gets weirder from there. [[WordOfGod Even the creators have no idea what was going on in that episode.]] |
| 389 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had Buster and Babs working at Weenie Burger (the series' fast food parody), complete with the overbearing boss and Montana Max deciding to be the customer from Hell. |
| 390 | -->"Weenie Burgers are so much fun to eat! If you look real hard you might even find the meat!" |
| 391 | * The ''Franchise/ToyStory'' short [[WesternAnimation/ToyStoryToons "Small Fry"]] takes place inside a fast food restaurant called Poultry Palace, which features ''[[ShowWithinaShow Buzz Lightyear]] [[WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearofStarCommand of Star Command]]'' Fun Meal toys (including a mini Buzz Lightyear toy whose act of trying to replace the Buzz we all know and love was the main focus of the short and [[EvilOverlord a mini Zurg]] toy), as well as several discarded Fun Meal toys who secretly form an organization (who "accept" the ''real'' Buzz as one of their members) inside the restaurant's storage room. |
| 392 | [[/folder]] |
| 393 | |
| 394 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 395 | * Comedian Dane Cook has a stand-up routine about the horrors of working the drive-thru at Burger King. |
| 396 | * One of Creator/BradPitt's first jobs was wearing a [[BadJobWorseUniform chicken outfit]] outside an El Pollo Loco. This might be referenced in ''Film/FightClub'': "Sticking feathers up your butt won't make you a chicken." |
| 397 | * The [[http://www.hotdogonastick.com/ Hot Dog On a Stick]] franchise, seen in many malls, has long had a [[http://i.dlisted.com/files/hotdogonastickhat.jpg pretty cheesy uniform]] for its employees (notice the girls get stuck with the dorkier hat). Even stranger, Hot Dog on a Stick is an employee-owned company, meaning that the employee-owners have collectively ''agreed'' to wear this garb. |
| 398 | * Creator/JohnnyYongBosch has cited in panels one of the worst jobs he had was working at a Taco Bell before he broke into acting. |
| 399 | * Following the announcement of his and his wife Meghan's plans to step back from royal life, [[https://www.eastbaytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Prince-Harry-by-Bob-Englehart-Middletown-CT-1-1-1.jpg?w=1860 a political cartoon]] depicted [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Harry]] as one of these. |
| 400 | * In 2003, "[=McJob=]" was formally added to [[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/McJob Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]], defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement" (the word having been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob used as slang for such since roughly 1986]]). Shortly thereafter, then-CEO Jim Cantalupo tried to claim that UsefulNotes/McDonalds is a better career choice than most people assume by claiming that over 1,000 franchise owners had started out in the kitchen. Given that [=McDonald's=] and its franchises had over 400,000 total employees at the time, that [[NotHelpingYourCase doesn't exactly prove much of anything]] if you do the math. |
| 401 | [[/folder]] |
| 402 | ---- |
| 403 | -> [[MemeticMutation Ding, fries are done, ding, fries are done...]] |
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