- I tell him we're closed. - We're closed. - But he looks so cute. Hang on. Hang on. What would you like, Son? - Can I buy a bag of burgers from you? - Three? - Yes, please. And I feel bad, so I fire up the grill and I make him a batch. There you are.
The Founder
10.3s
Total disaster. Now it is towel time. The next day, Dick and I meet up to discuss going back to the old format. And as we're talking there's a knock at the service window.
The Founder
1m15s
Well, we were young and hungry. There wasn't a job to be had in all of New Hampshire. So we decided to pack our bags and head west. To Hollywood. I wanted to be in the movie business. And Dick, well, he wanted to be... - Employed. - So we landed jobs at Columbia Pictures driving trucks. - Huh. And after a few years, we had enough saved to buy our own little piece of showbiz. A beautiful little movie theater in Glendora. Which would have been swell. Except for the timing. It was September of '29. One minute we're screening the Gold Diggers of Broadway, and next it's, "Brother can you spare a dime?" - I couldn't. - Nobody in town was making any money, except for one fella, Wylie Reid. Had a hot dog and root beer stand. Hey people still gotta eat, right? So we decide to open up our own little stand, hot dogs and orange juice, in Arcadia. And it went okay. I mean we weren't going gang-busters. There just weren't enough people in Arcadia. Meanwhile, one town over is San Bernardino and we want to relocate, but we got no money for a new stand. And that's when my brother here comes up with one of his brilliant ideas. Tell him, Dick. - Well... - He says, why don't we move the stand we've got. Put it on a truck. Genius, right. Only there's one little problem. On the road between the two towns, there's an overpass. And the building won't clear. Now I figure that's it, we're done for. But then Dick says, "Why don't we saw the building in half?" - Saw it in half...
The Founder
10.3s
- Unique. Original. Totally innovative. There's nothing like this. Nothing in the entire food service sector. - Nice brochure, professionally done.
The Founder
27.1s
- Let me see. Oh, those. Yeah. That's just my little way of separating us from the rest of the pack. You like 'em? I call them the Golden Arches. - You look familiar. Have we met before? - I don't think so. I think I would have remembered that. Peruse the inside here if you don't mind. - Take a look at the, read that. - Yeah. - The Fold-a-Nook. It's like a Murphy Bed, for your kitchen. Huh?
The Founder
6.4s
Are you familiar with the concept of the chicken and the egg, Mr. Johnson? Because I think that's applicable here.
The Founder
1.6s
- Come on.
The Founder
1m9s
You know I've drove through a lot of towns. A lot of small towns. And they all had two things in common. They had a courthouse and they had a church. On top of the church you got a cross, and on top of the courthouse, they'd have a flag. Flags, crosses. Crosses, flags. Driving around, I just cannot stop thinking about this tremendous restaurant. Now at the risk of sounding blasphemous, forgive me, those arches have a lot in common with those buildings. A building with a cross on top of it. What is that? It's a gathering place where decent wholesome people come together and they share values protected by that American flag. It could be said that beautiful building flanked by those arches signifies more or less the same thing. It doesn't just say delicious hamburgers inside. They signify family. It signifies community. It's a place where American's come together to break bread. I am telling you, McDonald's can be the new American church.
The Founder
33s
- I don't know. - This is your dream, it's bigger than your dream. Arches. Your arches. Coast to coast. - I can't put you through that again. - I know how bad you want this. And you should have it. - Your diabetes. Last time... - We'll do things differently. Learn from our mistakes. - How so? - Keep a tighter leash on everything. Complete oversight. Every change goes through us. - Who says he's going to listen? - We'll make him listen. We'll draw up a contact. Clear as day, black and white.
The Founder
8.4s
Feeding bodies and feeding souls and it ain't just open on Sundays, boys. It's open seven-days a week.
The Founder
4.8s
- If you boys don't want to franchise for yourselves, that's fine. Do it for your country.
The Founder
6s
Crosses. Flags. Arches.
The Founder
18.3s
- Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.
The Founder
2.4s
Do it for America.
The Founder
50.7s
- Where's the... Where's the front of the apron? - Show me. - All right. Just make sure the windows are big enough so the customers can look into the restaurant. All the way to the kitchen. Doesn't look right. Let me see this. - Ray. - What? - We got a letter from San Bernardino. - Read it to me. - Dear Ray. Thank you for your letter sharing your idea to strike a deal with Coca-Cola to sponsor menu boards at the new Des Plaines location. An intriguing notion, indeed. As you rightly point out, such an arrangement would provide a steady source of revenue to the store at no additional labor cost. - However... - However? However, what? - However, this is a concept that goes beyond our core beliefs. McDonald's was founded with the idea of families and not strict commerce. - Sons of bitches, they don't know what the hell... - And so on and so on...