McDonalds has dominated American fast food culture for nearly 86 years. It is perhaps one of the most iconic and recognizable symbols not just of American culture, but capitalism as a whole. It also happens to be one of the most repulsive, lowest common denominator sources of “food” on the planet. I’ve never liked McDonalds and I never will. So naturally me and three of my friends decided to see if we could each eat 50 Chicken McNuggets (for those of you non-math majors, that’s 200 chicken nuggets!). Now, 200 nuggets is only $80, or $20 per person for four people, which is admittedly a really good deal. But the experience is nowhere near worth the cost. After crunching some numbers (looking it up on google) we found that 50 Chicken McNuggets is around 2,700 calories and 185% of your daily sodium intake. Yikes! But that did not deter us. We were determined to see this self-imposed completely optional challenge through to the end.
On Wednesday, September 30, we prepared. While my compatriots fasted quite effectively I made the foolish mistake of eating a decent lunch. I thought that surely it wouldn’t make a difference but the closer it got to dinner time the more worried I became.
Soon, the hour of reckoning was upon us and we went to McDonalds to retrieve our order. We got back and loaded up our plates. They had given us 200 nuggets exactly, a rare show of precision from the underpaid employees whom we had no doubt made mortal enemies of. We began at a steady pace. I had finally gotten hungry again and so my confidence was high. It had been years since I had eaten a Chicken McNugget and I was quietly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. That feeling didn’t last long. Around the ten minute mark I began to slow down. Two of my compatriots had nearly finished while I still had at least 40 to go. The nuggets had been searing hot at the beginning which helped to mask their flavorless and cardboard like taste. But now that had cooled down significantly and I was finding it difficult to enjoy them anymore.
The clock was ticking, and though there was no time-limit, I still wished to be done as soon as possible so I could get on with my life. It was approaching 40 minutes and I had now reached 24 nuggets. Only me and my roommate were still eating and he only had around ten left to go. The problem wasn’t even that I was full, I just couldn’t stand to put another nugget in my mouth. The very thought of it made me ill.
Nearly an hour had passed. I knew I was never going to make it to 50, but was determined to at least end on a nice round 30. I called in support from some other friends to clean up my remaining 20 leaving me with just one singular nugget left before I was finally free. It was at least another hour before I finished. The nugget had become ice cold, but I didn’t care. I was finally done.
Even after it was over I was still affected by it. I woke up later that night in a cold sweat after a terrible nightmare where I was ravenously devouring chicken nuggets. I fear for the long term effects on my physical and mental health. If I had done this alone, it would have been a horrible experience, but because it was shared with my close friends I can safely give the 50 Chicken McNugget challenge an 8/10. I’m never doing it again.