It's midnight and all you want is a McFlurry from McDonald's. Maybe you had a stressful day at work and can't sleep? Maybe you're coming home from a networking event that went a little late and you're exhausted? But all you want is a McFlurry.
Yet, when you show up to McDonald's, the cashier says the machine is down. Loyal McDonald's customers know that feeling all too well.
For D.C. resident Raina McLeod, it's happened so many times that she knew she needed to do something about it. "It’s so small, and it can be so irritating," McLeod told DC Inno.
So irritating, in fact, that McLeod, a writer by trade, decided to make a joke video about an app that would solve this problem. The video jokes about a world where you can open an app on your phone and check your local McDonald's location to see McFlurry status—Is the machine working? Are they out of McFlurry mixes? What's happening?
"People responded and thought it would actually be a good idea," McLeod said. So she figured, why not make the app? By trade, McLeod is a former relationship columnist and author of the novel "Death by Misadventure," so this is her first foray into tech and app development.
That's where Ice Check comes in. Launching early next week, the app asks users to update the McFlurry situation whenever they visit a McDonald's—that way other users can check for updates and know which locations to avoid and which to visit. The app also gives franchise owners the option to claim their location so they can update the location themselves.
Why should this big company not give us what we want when we want it? They’re McDonald’s
"Why should this big company not give us what we want when we want it? They’re McDonald’s," McLeod said. "We want them to change (the information), I don't want us to have to work, but they're not telling us."
When it launches, Ice Check will include McDonald's locations in the D.C. metro area, Miami, New York City, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco and more. McLeod adds new locations all the time by user request.
For now, Ice Check will only help McDonald's patrons learn more about McFlurries only (Sorry Wendy's Frosty fans). "With that particular thing, it’s a specific craving," McLeod said. "Everybody likes it—You want to dip the McDonald’s fries in the McFlurry."
McLeod hopes to have all 14,000 McDonald's locations up on the app by this summer.
"I feel like an activist—and that’s a weird thing to say," McLeod said. "I really do think that people should have what they want.”
Image used via CC BY-SA 3.0 —credit Anthony92931
