The Payoff.

It’s true, there are, you know, selfish reasons that I became a McMom. I wasn’t a McDonald’s consumer, really, before, unless you count the occasional drive-thru diet coke stop (and you probably don’t). But good god, I really wanted to be one. I mean, who wouldn’t want to feel good about taking the kids for a delicious, quick, and inexpensive meal where they can PLAY?? So, I wanted to find out THE TRUTH for myself.

But, at the end of the day, I really signed up for this to find out THE TRUTH for other people; for other moms. I wanted to be a liaison of sorts between the corporation and the consumer. I knew, just from talking to other moms like me, that there were questions, skepticisms, doubts.

And then I had a friend come to me and ask me something that was really important to her. You see, this friend has son with autism. And while his autism affects her life every single day, she, like all moms, wants to be able to take her kids for the same delicious, quick and inexpensive meals that I want to. But, you see, because her son is autistic, she is trying to keep him on a gluten-free diet.

So, her question was not just a curious one, like ‘what is the calorie content of a cheeseburger’ or a shoot-down-the-urban-legend-one, like ‘is it true that the company that makes the beef is called 100% Beef?’ or a silly one, like ‘what exactly IS Grimace?’No, her question was important.

Do McDonald’s French fries have gluten in them?

And while, yes, this was something she could find out from the McDonald’s website, she remained a bit skeptical. She was going to trust another mom more than she was going to trust a website.

So, the first night in Toronto, at a dinner with many important McDonald’s people, I sat myself down at the dinner table right beside John Betts, the president of McDonald’s Canada and the very first thing I asked him was

Do McDonald’s French fries have gluten in them?

His answer?

NO. Potatoes. Salt. Vegetable oil. That’s it.

And I felt comfortable going back to my friend with this answer, straight from the horse’s mouth, if you will. And I will be even more comfortable after we visit New Brunswick and see the fries process firsthand.

And THAT, friends, is what this whole program is about. PAYOFF.