McDonald’s Fans Can Now Check If the Soft-Serve Machine Works With This New Map | Eater

"The chain's soft-serve ice-cream machines are notoriously often listed as inoperable, a problem that has generated memes, countless Reddit and Quora complaints, and a pledge from the franchisees' association to improve machine reliability so the brand stops being mocked online. That recurring failure inspired McBroken, a site created by software engineer Rashiq Zahid that queries the chain's internal API and maps which locations have working machines; Zahid’s bot tries to add a McSundae to the mobile app cart every 30 minutes to determine status, which also captures machines unavailable due to cleaning. McBroken builds on earlier, crowdsourced efforts from 2017 and—assuming stores accurately update statuses—offers a relatively precise way for fans to find cones and sundaes. Researchers have already begun using the dataset to check for equity concerns, such as whether inoperable machines are more common in Black and low-income neighborhoods, while critics and fans alike continue to debate the soft-serve itself (noted for ingredients like cellulose gum, guar gum, and carrageenan)." - Jenny G. Zhang