Wearing a uniform is a tough gig in any job, especially in foodservice. I worked at Starbucks for a short stint in high school and just the feeling of a scratchy polo shirt can make me physically shudder and make my nose smell stale coffee immediately. So I can understand why McDonald's would want to offer its employees a new look, but I don't think the company expected the Internet to react so strongly.
According to a McDonald's press release, the new uniforms were designed as a collaboration between Bindu Rivas and Waraire Boswell, who actually worked at a McDonald's in California before he started designing for celebrities like Will Smith and Ellen DeGeneres. The new look will debut in April at all 14,000 restaurants.
"Our new collections focus on comfort, fit, functionality and contemporary professionalism, delivering a uniform that crew and managers will feel comfortable to work in and proud to wear," Jez Langhorn, McDonald's Senior Director of HR, said in the release. "Beyond that, it's another step in the company's continuous effort to raise the bar by investing in people and improving the restaurant experience with a focus on hospitality."
Boswell said his goal with the uniform's design was to create something that gives restaurant employees a greater level of confidence, according to the release. While McDonald's insists that an internal survey showed that more than 70% of restaurant employees felt that the "new uniforms provide a modern image that they would be proud to wear," the Internet (unsurprisingly) seems to have a much different opinion.
Many compared the new look to costumes in sci-fi or dystopian films and TV shows:
Some took an even more controversial opinion.
All that said, we really just want to salute all the men and women who will be wearing these uniforms.
