History Main / BurgerFool

** Krusty Burger is the biggest example, complete with pimple-faced geeky teens working there (and, in one case, an elderly man [Grampa Simpson]). [[{{Squick}} The "secret sauce" is actually mayonnaise that's been left out in the sun all day.]] And as one character points out, the name "Krusty Burger" itself isn't all that appetizing. Krusty himself is disgusted by the product; when he has to take a bite out of one while filming a commercial, he spits it out after the director yells "Cut!" then takes a swig of whiskey, then spits out the whiskey, saying through a sickened expression, "gonna be tasting that for weeks!"[[note]]although that might also be due to him being a Jew, who aren't allowed to eat meat products, namely pork[[/note]]. The boondocks outside Springfield are apparently home to even less savory chains, with names like "Burger Place", "Skobo's", and "Dimwillie's".

* Following the announcement of his and his wife Meghan's plans to step back from royal life, a political cartoon depicted [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Harry]] as one of these.

Similar workers can be found at SuckECheeses. For the non-restaurant alternative, see SoulSuckingRetailJob. Compare to ApatheticClerk. On the other hand, some find HappinessInMinimumWage. The next step up the "ladder" is working at a KitschyThemedRestaurant.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}''; during ''Race to the Moon'', the Handyman suggests they tear the playhouse down and turn it into a bistro entitled UsefulNotes/McDonalds|McBabars[[note]]A resturaunt fit for a king[[/note]], much to Babar's dismay.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}''; during ''Race to the Moon'', the Handyman suggests they tear the playhouse down and turn it into a bistro entitled UsefulNotes/McDonald's McBabar's[[note]]A resturaunt fit for a king[[/note]], much to Babar's dismay.

* ''WesternAnimation/Babar''; during ''Race to the Moon'', the Handyman suggests they tear the playhouse down and turn it into a bistro entitled McBabar's[[note]]A resturaunt fit for a king[[/note]], much to Babar's dismay.

* ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'': The story's entire premise is that an EvilOverlord accidentally strands himself and his top demon general on Earth while pulling a VillainExitStageLeft. While the general tries to find a way back home, the Demon King (Maoh) gets a job at the local [[UsefulNotes/{{McDonalds}} MgRonalds]] to support them. However, the job isn't depicted as hellish at all, and Maoh ends up on the management fast-track because of his empathy for the customers, level-headed mentoring of his co-workers, and ability to stay cool under pressure. Much of the show's humor is derived from the juxtaposition of the two worlds, such as Maoh giving a "[[TodayXTomorrowTheWorld Today the night-shift manager, tomorrow the world!]]" speech with a completely straight face.

* A surprisingly sympathetic example occurs in ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'', where Pacifica and crew stop at an inn and have to sell "Soopy Buns" to earn their tab. Part of the job entails dressing up as a green [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney]]-like mascot named "Soopy-kun" and peddling the innkeeper's wares to customers. The innkeeper is actually nice to them, and Raquel enjoys doing the work, while Pacifica tries donning the costume and winds up scaring a little boy away when the jaw of the costume falls off. Leo takes the "Soopy-kun" job for a while when Pacifica leaves, but he gets to keep it with him when he returns to the city with Winia in a later episode.

Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} refers to these as "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob McJobs]]". In reality, these jobs can be TruthInTelevision, but there's an equal chance of them being better or ''even worse'' than depicted, because it depends on an individual restaurant's quality of management and workers. The median age of fast food workers is [[https://groundswell.org/fast-food-misconceptions/ 29]], which is quite a bit older than high school or college age. [[BadJobWorseUniform The ridiculous headgear]], fortunately, is universally less common than it is in fiction as [[BoringButPractical a simple baseball cap, visor, or hairnet]] is more common to comply with hygienic regulations.

* In ''Film/Loverboy1989'', the protagonist tried to make money working in a place called Señor Pizza (which sold both pizza and Mexican food), where the worst part of the job was [[BadJobWorseUniform having to wear a fake moustache.]] (Which would probably have [[NoOSHACompliance been a health code violation]] in RealLife.) During most of the movie, however, he ended up using the place as a front to make ''real'' money as a male escort, and a few of his friends at the place helped.

* ''Film/WerewolfFever'', another slasher set at a fast food joint.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' fic ''Fanfic/FirstAidKitsAndDeepSecrets'', Lacey craves ice cream in winter so she takes her girlfriend out for ice cream. The waiter is a bored Inkling who is annoyed that the two "[came] into an ice cream shop in winter and [they] [didn't] even buy straight ice cream".

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': Kobeni quit her previous job and switched to a fast food worker, which seemed to go well for her... until it’s revealed she was being [[BadBoss abused by her boss]] and fellow employees for petty reasons, which ended when Chainsaw Man (under Pochita's control) entered the restaurant. After he killed a great deal of the staff in BlackComedy sequence, he forced her to go on a date.

* In the first volume of the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, Yugi and Jounouchi want to go out for lunch at Burger World, (Burger Palooza in the English dub) but Anzu tries to steer them away from it, saying that it's a terrible place to eat. Why? She works there, and doesn't want Jounouchi to blab about it to the school, because kids at Domino High School (like at [[TruthInTelevision some real-life Japanese high schools]]) aren't allowed to hold jobs. (Note: In the English dub of the anime, the reason for her not wanting them to talk was changed from "High school students can't hold jobs" to "I'm not old enough to work here.") Still, it was a better job than what they were ''afraid'' she was doing to make money, [[CompensatedDating working as a paid escort for rich businessmen]], something that, it was rumored, the other female students were doing to make money. (And yes, as far as Japan goes, this is ''also'' TruthInTelevision, unfortunately.)

* This type of restaurant is parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'', where the Prince and Fairy Godmother go through the fly-though of the Fryar's Fat Boys, a place with a menu that includes Renaissance Wraps, Sourdough Soft Tacos, and the Medieval Meal (comes with regular or curly fries and a toy - namely a battle axe). Not a completely straight example of the Trope, however, as more of the humor focuses on the customers, rather than the employee, although she ''is'' dressed like a typical tavern serving maid.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Red Alert 2'' managed a reference to both Burger King and [=McDonald's=] by having a fast-food restaurant called "[=McBurger=] Kong". With a giant ape on the roof, and bananas forming a shape reminiscent of the [=McDonald's=] M. Hilariously, if you [[GarrisonableStructures occupy it]], the ape gets a bandana and when the building is sufficiently damaged, it cowers in fear with its hands protecting its face.

* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'': "[[MemeticMutation RAMIREZ!]] Secure the Burger Town!"

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* Trish from ''Series/AustinAndAlly'' is the personification of NewJobAsThePlotDemands, so naturally she's been a burger fool a couple times. For example, one episode sees her (and Dez) work at a pirate-themed restaurant that specializes in deep-fried food; Dez being [[CloudCuckoolander Dez]], he quickly starts seeing how much stuff he can deep fry. Eventually, when they need to get fired for plot reasons, they do so by ''[[UpToEleven deep-frying almost everything in the restaurant.]]''

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Stranger than Fan Fiction", a background pony running a juice bar is seen, sporting a silly hat and an expression that can cut glass. She only cracks a smile when it's evident someone's having a worse day than she is.

** In "Germs", Zim's germophobic antics lead him to [=McMeaties=] again, where he discovers that the meat is germ-free. After asking an employee he discovers that the meat was NASA-developed [[PowerEchoes SPAAAAAAACE MEEEEEEAT!]] But since they couldn't actually afford [[RecycledInSpace SPAAAAAAACE MEEEEEEAT]], they made them out of [[PowerEchoes NAPKINS]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Not So Awesome Blossom", Blossom starts working at a rather low-grade hot-dog place after suffering a HeroicBSOD. When Mojo calls to [[IHaveYourWife make his demands]], he actually rubs her nose in it by [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown telling her to bring him two hot dogs.]] ("And don't forget the ketchup!" he adds.)

* In 2003, "[=McJob=]" was formally added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement" (the word having been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob used as slang for such since roughly 1986]]. Shortly thereafter, then-CEO Jim Cantalupo tried to claim that UsefulNotes/McDonalds is a better career choice than most people assume by claiming that over 1,000 franchise owners had started out in the kitchen. Given that [=McDonald's=] and its franchises had over 400,000 total employees at the time, that [[NotHelpingYourCase doesn't exactly prove much of anything]] if you do the math.

* In 2003, "McJob" was formally added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement" (the word having been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob used as slang for such since roughly 1986]]. Shortly thereafter, then-CEO Jim Cantalupo tried to claim that UsefulNotes/McDonalds is a better career choice than most people assume by claiming that over 1,000 franchise owners had started out in the kitchen. Given that [=McDonald's=] and its franchises had over 400,000 total employees at the time, that [[NotHelpingYourCase doesn't exactly prove much of anything]] if you do the math.

* In 2003, "McJob" was formally added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement" (the word having been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob used as slang for such since roughly 1986]]. Shortly thereafter, then-CEO Jim Cantalupo tried to claim that UsefulNotes/McDonalds is a better career choice than most people assume by claiming that over 1,000 franchise owners had started out in the kitchen. Given that [=McDonald's]= and its franchises had over 400,000 total employees at the time, that [[NotHelpingYourCase doesn't exactly prove much of anything]] if you do the math.

* In 2003, "McJob" was formally added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement" (the word having been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob used as slang for such since roughly 1986]]. Shortly thereafter, then-CEO Jim Cantalupo tried to claim that McDonalds is a better career choice than most people assume by claiming that over 1,000 franchise owners had started out in the kitchen. Given that McDonalds and its franchises had over 400,000 total employees at the time, that [[NotHelpingYourCase doesn't exactly prove much of anything]] if you do the math.

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' has Freckle Bitch's, featuring radio commercials with a chain-smoking, raspy-voiced, middle-aged broad hawking its greasy wares. The special [[OfferVoidInNebraska New Zealand/Australia only]] collectors edition of Saints Row 2 is a large white box with Freckle Bitch herself in a suggestive position on the top. Oh yeah, just ''try'' and carry that out of the video game shop without getting noticed.

* In ''Film/{{Loverboy}}'', the protagonist tried to make money working in a place called Señor Pizza (which sold both pizza and Mexican food), where the worst part of the job was [[BadJobWorseUniform having to wear a fake moustache.]] (Which would probably have [[NoOSHACompliance been a health code violation]] in RealLife.) During most of the movie, however, he ended up using the place as a front to make ''real'' money as a male escort, and a few of his friends at the place helped.

''' Customer:''' [Unintelligible] \\

* Series/{{Roseanne}} does a stint at a chicken joint as one of her many odd jobs over the series to keep her family afloat. It's not too bad, but her barely legal boss has a superiority complex and can't understand how her family comes before her responsibility to ''him''. The family actually makes more fun of her when she gets a job sweeping hair at a salon.
** Notable in that the episode, "Chicken Delight" was written by Creator/JossWhedon.

* In the second season of ''Series/SisterSister'', Tia and Tamera are dissatisfied with working for Tamera's dad Ray at his limo washing business, so they both got jobs at Rocket Burger.

* ''VideoGame/SplatterMaster'' have it's second boss being a giant animated burger joint robot, dressed in the stereotypical burger fool outfit (complete with a hat and logo) who attacks by flinging ''exploding'' burgers on your character. Said fight takes place near a burger joint, and from inside the bulding occasionally some imp flinkies will show up to assist the boss.