McDonalds sign; McDonald's employees looking a digital screens
At the end of a long year of work, a gesture of appreciation from an employer can make a huge difference in morale. But for one employee at a McDonald's, the company's attempt at a "bonus" was so underwhelming it went viral, sparking a wave of online frustration and secondhand embarrassment.
In a post on Reddit, user u/MMS37 shared a photo of the gift they received from the fast-food giant.
"I work for one of the biggest companies in the world. This was my bonus," they wrote.
A McDonald's employee at the grillCanva
A 'Bonus' That Sparked Outrage
So what was in this now-infamous appreciation package? The photo revealed the so-called bonus package included a flimsy cardboard bag that would allegedly "disintegrate" if wet, a single movie ticket to a cinema in another city, and a few pin-up badges.
The post immediately took off, with commenters—including other McDonald's employees—slamming the gift as a tone-deaf and disrespectful gesture.
‘More Dignified Than This Insulting Stuff’
The consensus in the comments was that the "bonus" was worse than receiving nothing at all. As user u/ShiftWorth5734 explained, "I actually appreciated when my company just stopped doing bonuses altogether. It’s actually more dignified than this insulting stuff."
Gif of someone giving Ronald McDonald a shoe shine via Giphy
The bizarre cardboard bag drew particular scorn. "What’s with this cardboard backpack thing?" asked u/godefroy15. "Unpractical as hell. Wore it a few times, and it’s all crumpled."
But many users argued that the gift wasn't just cheap; it was a cynical marketing ploy. "Even calling it branded company merchandise feels generous," wrote u/CategoryKiwi. "They’re trying to make their employees into living advertisements. They should be (separately/additively) paying people to use that garbage."
A Far Cry From a Thanksgiving Turkey
The post also prompted a bit of nostalgia for a time when things were apparently different. User u/rustys_shackled_ford recalled, "In the '80s, McDonald's used to give every single employee a turkey for Thanksgiving and a ham for Christmas."
View of a McDonald's through a car windshieldCanva
The overwhelming response on Reddit made it clear: the so-called bonus was seen not just as cheap, but as a fundamental sign of disrespect from a multi-billion dollar corporation to its frontline workers.
This article originally appeared last year.