At first glimpse, this management training video appears to be a “very special” episode of some sitcom that never made it out of pilot season. Only the lack of a laugh track proves that it is a legit McDonald’s training video that resurfaced thanks to TikTok.
The video went viral on TikTok two days ago when it was posted by Actual Factual (@peachmention), an account on the platform that specializes in “Funny Retro Vids, Training Vids, and more.” It has since garnered 325,600 thousand views and counting.
@peachmention Fast Food Management Training Video #mcdonalds #fastfood #managersbelike #employeetraining #fastfoodlife #fastfoodworkers #fypシ #fyp #badmanger #mcdonaldsmanager ♬ original sound – Actual factual
The video appears to be from the late ’90s or early 2000s and shows fictional McDonald’s managers behaving every way you shouldn’t. That includes “Billy” who loudly announces to his team that he’s late due to “partying” the night before.
We also meet “Layla,” who is so wrapped up in paperwork that she practically ignores an employee’s vital time off request. The video then returns to Billy, who berates an employee for tardiness even after his own lateness caused the same employee to be stuck at the fry station rather than moving up to the drive-thru.
While some viewers enjoyed the video just based on its retro production values many former and current McDonald’s employees left comments about the managers’ behaviors—with many saying they had experienced similar situations in real life.
“The manager is almost every manager I’ve ever had,” wrote Kate Kinder (@wtxsweetheart).
“The managers saw this and thought this was the section on how to act,” wrote another viewer.
Another added, “I would go nuts if they didn’t follow through with the drive-through promise. I would spiral into questioning my career choice.”
For those curious about how the video ends, Actual Factual has posted a part 2 and part 3 of the video. We have reached out to the account via TikTok for further comment.
The Daily Dot has reached out to McDonald’s via email for a statement on when the original training film was produced.
