- Giant multinational corporations
don't generally have the best of reputations.
And I want to stress that this is not an advert for McDonald's.
I approached them about filming this.
Because almost everyone who watches this video
will have eaten at McDonald's at some point in their lives.
I'm sure the few of you who've always turned down the opportunity
will be very vocal about it in the comments(!)
But for the majority of people who have eaten at the Golden Arches, well,
the experience will be roughly the same wherever you are.
That's the point of fast food chains.
Everything's standardised.
You get the same experience, the same food,
no matter where you are, right?
Well, when I heard that the world's only "float-through McDonald's"
was on little canal on the Elbe River in Germany,
I thought that was probably worth a visit.
Now, just to manage your expectations,
this is not a McDonald's with a moat around it
where there's a queue of kayaks
lining up for each window in turn.
That would be better.
But while there was an actual microphone and speaker here once,
a few years ago, these days the 21st century has arrived.
You have to order on the smartphone app.
- We've had the McBoat since 2015.
In the winter, we may close, yes. But in summer and in spring, we have 24/7.
People are so happy to see this
because they read this or saw this on Instagram
and they come especially for this.
We can see your order on the screen and we make your food ready.
And one person goes on, and brings the bag out
and wish them a good, "Enjoy your meal" and a happy "good day".
- One of the things I've learned over the years I've been making videos
is that people like a combination of familiarity and novelty.
If everything changes, people don't like it
and they move to other things.
But if nothing changes, people get bored
And in the same way, I think it's fascinating to find something
that's very close to what you already know
but that changes it in one or two interesting ways.
When something like McDonald's
has a reputation for being controlled and standardised
and you know exactly what to expect,
well, seeing small reinventions of that formula can be fascinating.
Plus, it gives them some publicity.
Oh, and one more thing.
I didn't mention exactly where in Germany we are.
Because it is quite apt
that the world's only float-through McDonald's...
...is in Hamburg.