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About This Quiz
Fast food was originally meant to help housewives cover for themselves when they couldn't get dinner on the table. However, soon after the inception of picking up some pre-made dinner, marketing companies caught hold of the craze and turned fast food into a beast that functions on its own. Soon, new menu items were launched, marketing campaigns for kids bombarded our televisions, and we became a fast food nation rather quickly. There is no doubt that fast food changed the landscape of America (and soon after, all other major countries). It enriched our culture before it became a health hazard, and after it became a health hazard, it changed the way we look at food completely. Not only that, fast food was a staple in nearly every American home, and soon children were begging their parents for menu items from large chains over mom's meatloaf. It was (and still is) a phenomenon that boggles the minds of those who watch these companies explode with success.Â
If you know a thing or two about fast food, you know that there are dozens of menu items, mascots and facts that are embedded into the very fibers of your memory. If you don't think that is possible, let's see if you can ace this tricky fast food quiz.
Ronald McDonald
Of course you got this one right! Studies done in the late 1990s showed that Ronald McDonald was more recognizable to children around the world than Santa Claus. Well, not everyone celebrates Christmas, but everyone surely knows all about that creepy clown.
Burger King
King Clown
Colonel Sanders
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Wendy's
While six strips of thin sliced bacon is probably equivalent to two strips of quality bacon, this heart-attack-waiting-to-happen is a whopping 950 calories for just the burger. However, it's worth a try, if you like living on the edge of your health.
McDonald's
Burger King
Jack in the Box
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America
Italy
Yes, Spinach and Parmesan Nuggets are real, and (if you're from America) you're probably wondering why they aren't available at every single McDonald's restaurant in the world. We'd also accept spinach artichoke nuggets here in the states.
China
Spain
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Dave Thomas
Jack Thomas
Martin McDonald
Richard McDonald
The McDonald brothers were basically the founders of the fast food industry, using the assembly line concept to sell burgers fast. However, everything went downhill when they decided to franchise the company, and they ended up getting taken advantage of by Ray Kroc.
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Rex Dave Thomas
The man in the commercials was the real founder and CEO of Wendy's fast food restaurants, and yes, he really named his restaurants after his daughter, Wendy. Sadly, he passed away before the launch of the Baconator.
Mike Thomas
Randy Thomas
Frank Dave Thomas
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Discrimination
Their fries were made from potatoes.
The fries had beef flavoring.
Where's the beef? It's in the fries, apparently. In 1990, McDonald's started adding beef flavoring to their fries to boost the flavor. They simply forgot to tell the veggies of the world. In 2002, vegetarians won a $10 million lawsuit against the fast food giant. While the chain still serves beef-flavored fries, they are more transparent about their menu.
They cooked the fries in the same oil as the fish.
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Papa Johns
Little Caesars
Domino's
Pizza Hut
In the mid-1990s, fast food was forced to make more interesting menu items in order to make more sales. When Pizza Hut introduced the Triple Decker Pizza, fans of cheese went nuts. It was such a popular menu item that there is currently a Facebook fan page for it.
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Sonic
McDonald's
KFC
This monstrosity was marketed to the people who didn't really care about their health. Had the chicken bun been grilled, it would have been gluten-free, but no, it was all about making a sandwich out of fried chicken.
Jack in the Box
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Eric Schlosser
Eric Schlosser changed the way we look at our food with this book. Well, as you read the first half, all you want to do is eat a Big Mac, but as you are filled with more information, you never want to look at one again.
Eric Larson
Leslie Church
Morgan Spurlock
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The Pizza Monster
The Noid
Avoid the Noid, and your pizza will be delivered hot, fresh and with the highest quality ingredients. Domino's Pizza always offered fresh delivery in 30 minutes or less, and the Noid represented all of the troubles that went into those fresh deliveries.
Pizza the Hut
Mr. Whipple
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Canada
Canada is a country of many great things, among those great things is a lobster roll offered at McDonald's restaurants in the country. Thank you for your amazing ways, Canada. Thank you.
Norway
Sweden
France
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The Mulligan
If you pull up to an In-N-Out burger, you may feel like you're stuck in the 1960s, as their menu only has burgers, fries and shakes. However, the entire secret menu changes everything you thought you knew about fast food.
The Scooby Snack
Cheesy Wiki
Mustard Fried
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Wendy's
Wendy's tried to jump on the health bandwagon with fresh summer salads and deli-style sandwiches. It worked a little bit, but when it came to competition, Subway's $5 footlongs stole the show.
McDonald's
Sonic
Carl's Jr.
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Over 300,000
If you drive down any main strip of any town that has over 50,000 people in it, you will see at least one fast food restaurant. Some have McDonald's restaurants across the street from each other, just in case you don't want to make a left turn.
Around 20,000
Exactly 154,352
Under 20,000
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Pizza Hut
Taco Bell
McDonald's
While one in eight American workers will have spent at least some time working in fast food, Brazil's economy is built on it. McDonald's really is Brazil's number one employer.
Wendy's
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Mike Rowe
Charlie Bowner
Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Suprlock wanted to see if McDonald's was really dangerous, and he learned the hard way that if you eat McDonald's every day for a month, you get pretty close to death. Doctors even told him he should stop the experiment.
William Penn
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Nothing, they loved having people there.
Refused newspaper stands, telephones and other machines
These days, McDonald's restaurants have play areas for kids, free WiFi, and some even have televisions so you sit around and continue eating their food. It doesn't bother them anymore, but in the early days, McDonald's had to have a fast turnaround and get people moving.
Pushed people out the door
Told people to go away
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1,025
923
That's one burger that hits the spot, but doesn't necessarily fill you up. If you add fries and a drink, your one meal can reach over 1,500 calories, but it's delicious, so who cares, right?
1,205
1,478
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Enchirito
If you really think about it, this was a pretty easy one. Only Taco Bell can marry two menu items and call them some weird doublespeak name like Enchirito. That's why Taco Bell is so awesome, of course.
Egg Rolls
Tacos
Chicken Club Salad
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1,252
732
631
Arby's Curly Fries are one of the most unhealthy fast food fries available to the public. However, they are surpassed (surprisingly) by Dairy Queen's regular fries, which boast a whopping 730 calories.
157
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Happy Meals
Synergy
Selling French Fries
Collecting rent
If you think about it, McDonald's needs a lot of land to build all of those restaurants. The franchise model makes the corporation the owner of the land while the franchisee pays rent just to sell the burgers.
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Quesarito
Nacho Bell Grande
Double Decker Supreme
The Hot to Tot
No, Taco Bell doesn't have tots, but they do have hash browns. While they have had a lot of very creative menu items over the years, their potato-oriented ones involved their fiesta potatoes, which were never known as tots.
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Japan
The McChoco Potato is a menu item that is basically french fries with chocolate syrup. It's probably not the most healthy way to eat fries, but it definitely looks interesting enough.
It doesn't exist.
France
America
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Arby's
A&W
KFC
Kentucky Fried Chicken made it OK to eat with your hands and lick the juices off of your fingers with their slogan "finger lickin' good." Of course, most people wanted to lick their fingers, because they were burning hot from the grease.
White Castle
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A taco burger
Believe it or not, this menu item lasted nearly 20 years, and was a great way to compete with burger companies. It was basically marketed as Taco Bell's sloppy joe sandwich and it even came on a bun.
A taco salad
A bowl of taco beef
A beef and rice taco
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Del Taco
Jack in the Box
Taco Bell
The Black Jack Taco was a Halloween taco that had a little kick. Its signature black shell had beef, Baja sauce and the three-cheese blend. The most memorable thing about this taco was the fact that the dye was able to change the color of bowel movements ... or so the story goes.
Sonic
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1,010
958
1,230
That's right, this whopper of a Whopper has more than half of your daily recommended calorie intake, but it is nothing next to the Carl's Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger that boasts 1,520 calories and 111 grams of fat.
941
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1954
1965
Two college students founded Subway in Connecticut. Fred De Luca and Dr. Peter Buck originally named the restaurant Pete's Super Submarines, which wasn't very marketable in the franchise world.
1952
1975
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Carl Krep
Carl Karcher
Carl Karcher lived in Anaheim, Calif. In 1956, he opened a chain of fast food restaurants. He called his fast food restaurant "Carl's Jr." because they were basically junior versions of his first restaurant.
Carl Angler
Carl Juniper
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Almost $200 billion
Many believe that by the year 2020, Americans will be spending around $233 billion per year on fast food alone. It could be inflation, but it could also be the fact that fast food is cheaper than buying any other food for your family.
About $100 billion
$750 million
Over $700 billion
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Japan
France
Poland
This fusion burger has bacon, Swiss, chicken, and a beef patty. It's a little bit of everything, and based on the fusion aspects of it, it's very possible a pregnant woman invented it.
Mexico
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Taco Bell
Taco Bell doesn't claim that it serves Mexican food at all. All of their food is "Mexican Inspired," which is why they are able to play around with their menu items so much. When you dismiss authenticity, you can put nacho cheese on everything.
Del Taco
Jack in the Box
Sonic
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To make themselves look more unique
To catch the attention of drivers
With cars and vehicles becoming more popular in the 1960s, fast food restaurants had to send up flags to their potential patrons. By making their restaurants look flashier, they were able to attract more drivers.
To give themselves distinction
They had too much money.
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San Bernardino, Calif., 1959
Bakersfield, Calif., 1954
San Bernardino, Calif., 1949
Two brothers opened the first McDonald's in 1949. It was then known as "the McDonald Brothers Burger Bar Drive-In." No wonder the name was shortened! Could you imagine how much ad space that name would have taken up?
Bakersfield, Calif., 1944
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Arby's
The Raffel Brothers specialized in roast beef sandwiches, and decided to open their restaurant in 1949. Instead of calling it Raffel Brothers, they simply spelled out those initials, and we were blessed with Arby's restaurant.
Burger King
KFC
Subway
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They're fire grilled.
They are yellow.
They're steamed.
If you ever wondered why White Castle sliders have holes in them, it's so they can cook faster with the steam of the pressed grill. These little burgers were revolutionary for their time, and these days even high-end restaurants have sliders on their menus.
They're made of tofu.
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Stew
Mince meat pie
Sheppard's pie
Steak and potatoes
Steak and potatoes is the classic American dish, because it delivers two of the most common foods that are produced on American soil. The steak and potatoes mentality has been bred into our blood for generations.
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Wendy's
McDonald's
If you're wondering, "Where's the beef?" you need only look to McDonald's restaurants. McDonald's is also the world's largest purchaser of potatoes, buying up over 7% of the potato crops grown in America.
A&W
Arby's
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