# Fast Food Freestyle

> Fast Food Freestyle is a 2006 viral YouTube video where Joe Woody raps his McDonald's order at a drive-thru, sparking countless imitations that infamously included real-world arrests.

Fast Food Freestyle is a viral YouTube video from 2006 featuring a man rapping his order at a McDonald's drive-thru window. The clip, created by Joe Woody, kicked off a wave of imitation videos, parody commercials, and at least one real-world arrest, making it one of the earliest drive-thru prank formats on YouTube.

## Origin
Joe Woody created and uploaded the original video, titled "Fast Food Freestyle," sometime in the spring of 2006[4]. The clip was later removed from YouTube for unknown reasons. Woody reuploaded it on July 4, 2007, where it picked up around 800,000 views[4]. By that point, however, the video had already spread far beyond Woody's own channel through unauthorized copies.

- **Platform:** YouTube
- **Creator:** Joe Woody (original video creator)
- **Date:** 2006

## Overview
The video shows a young man freestyling a rhyming order at a McDonald's drive-thru speaker, rattling off menu items over a beat. The rap opens with the now-iconic line "I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce" and runs through chicken, fries, and Dr. Pepper orders while weaving in slang like "dizzle," "rizzle," and "frizzle"[5]. The format is simple: pull up to a fast food drive-thru and rap your order instead of speaking it normally. This basic premise spawned hundreds of copycat videos across YouTube's early years.

## How It Spread
The mysterious takedown of the original actually fueled the meme's growth. Numerous reuploads appeared on YouTube, and the two biggest copies outpaced Woody's own version by a wide margin. A reupload titled "Mcdonald's Rap," posted on December 6, 2006, racked up over 14 million views[4]. A week later, on December 13, 2006, another copy called "bigmac drive thru rap" pulled in over 7 million views[4].

The video's popularity inspired a wave of imitators and parodies. Rhett and Link uploaded "Drive-Thru Rap" on September 24, 2007, poking fun at the flood of copycat drive-thru rappers[4]. That video earned over 4 million views on its own. YouTube creator todrickhall posted his own musical drive-thru performance on May 27, 2010, which hit over 9 million views within five years[4].

The format caught corporate attention too. Taco Bell produced at least two commercials directly inspired by the original rap, co-opting the drive-thru freestyle concept for advertising[4]. A Battlefield 2 parody version, created by TearsAreConfessions under the banner "Teh Pwnz0red Inc.," made the front page of multiple gaming sites including the official Battlefield EA website[6]. The rap's lyrics became recognizable enough to land an Urban Dictionary entry defining both the noun (the video itself) and the verb (to freestyle at a drive-thru)[5].

The meme's real-world consequences peaked on October 29, 2009, when four teenagers from Lone Peak High School in American Fork, Utah, were cited for disorderly conduct after performing the rap at a local McDonald's drive-thru[1]. The teens, led by 18-year-old Spenser Dauwalder, said they were imitating the YouTube video. They rapped the order once quickly, then repeated it more slowly[1]. According to Dauwalder, employees told them they were holding up the line, though he insisted nobody else was waiting[7]. The McDonald's manager recorded their license plate and called police. Officers later found the teens at a high school volleyball match and issued citations[1].

American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow defended the citations, stating the teens "continued to hold things up" after being asked multiple times to order normally[1]. Franchisee Conny Kramer released a statement claiming the employee "felt that her safety was at risk as a result of the alleged actions of these individuals in the drive-thru, not as a result of them rapping their order"[7]. Spenser's mother, Sharon Dauwalder, told the Associated Press they planned to fight the citation[1]. The arrest drew widespread media coverage from NBC News and music forums, with many commenters finding the police response disproportionate[2].

## How to Use
The Fast Food Freestyle format is straightforward:
1. Pull up to any fast food drive-thru
2. Rap your order over a beat (often provided by friends in the car) instead of speaking normally
3. Incorporate actual menu items into rhyming verses
4. Film the reaction of the drive-thru worker
5. Upload to YouTube or social media

## Cultural Impact
The Fast Food Freestyle crossed from internet joke to national news story when the Utah arrest made headlines on NBC News and across music blogs in 2009[1]. The incident sparked debate about whether rapping at a drive-thru could legally constitute disorderly conduct, with the story getting picked up by outlets like Sputnikmusic and KSL Newsradio[2]. Taco Bell's decision to build actual TV commercials around the concept showed how quickly early YouTube trends could jump to mainstream advertising[4]. The video also spawned gaming community crossovers, with the Battlefield 2 parody landing on the official EA website[6].

## Fun Facts
- The most popular reupload of the video (14 million views) got nearly 18 times more views than Woody's own reupload (800,000 views)[4].
- The original lyrics specifically request a double cheeseburger with no lettuce and no seeds on the bun, which led one Sputnikmusic commenter to note that McDonald's double cheeseburgers don't even come with lettuce[2].
- The Utah teens' disorderly conduct citation was classified as an infraction similar to a speeding ticket, not a criminal charge[1].
- The rap entered slang as a verb. Urban Dictionary defines "fast food freestyle" as both the video and the act of freestyling at a drive-thru[5].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Fast Food Freestyle?
Fast Food Freestyle is a viral YouTube video from 2006 showing a man rapping his food order at a McDonald's drive-thru. The video launched a trend of people filming themselves freestyling at fast food restaurants[4].

### Where did Fast Food Freestyle come from?
Joe Woody created the original video in the spring of 2006 and uploaded it to YouTube. After the original was taken down, he reuploaded it on July 4, 2007[4].

### What does Fast Food Freestyle mean?
It refers to both the original viral video and the broader act of rapping your order at a fast food drive-thru instead of speaking normally[5].

### How do you use Fast Food Freestyle?
You visit a fast food drive-thru and rap your order in rhyming verses, usually while friends film the interaction. The original lyrics start with "I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce"[5].

### Is Fast Food Freestyle still popular?
The original video and its reuploads collected tens of millions of combined views during YouTube's early years. While the active trend of filming drive-thru raps peaked in the late 2000s, the format is recognized as a classic early YouTube meme[4].

### Who created the Fast Food Freestyle video?
Joe Woody created and first uploaded the video in the spring of 2006[4].

### Why was the original Fast Food Freestyle video removed?
The original upload was taken down for unknown reasons before Woody reuploaded it on July 4, 2007[4].

### Did anyone get arrested for doing the Fast Food Freestyle?
Yes. In October 2009, four Utah teenagers were cited for disorderly conduct after rapping their order at a McDonald's in American Fork, Utah. They said they were imitating the YouTube video[1].

### What happened to the Utah teens who rapped at McDonald's?
They received disorderly conduct citations, which are infractions similar to speeding tickets. Spenser Dauwalder's mother told the Associated Press the family planned to fight the citation[1].

### Did any companies use the Fast Food Freestyle?
Taco Bell produced at least two TV commercials directly based on the drive-thru rap concept[4].

### How many views did the Fast Food Freestyle get?
The most popular reupload, titled "Mcdonald's Rap," earned over 14 million views. Another copy called "bigmac drive thru rap" got over 7 million. Woody's own reupload reached 800,000 views[4].

## References
1. [McPrank: 4 teens cited for McDonald’s rap](<https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33541983>)
2. [Teens Arrested For McDonald's Rap | Sputnikmusic](<https://www.sputnikmusic.com/news/11317/Teens-Arrested-For-McDonalds-Rap/>)
3. [Funny or Die Video 88d5131d73: Fast Food Freestyle (Aldenp4 Style) : Funny or Die : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](<https://archive.org/details/funny_or_die_video_88d5131d73>)
4. [Fast Food Freestyle - Know Your Meme](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fast-food-freestyle>)
5. [List of Fast & Furious characters](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fast_%26_Furious_characters>)
6. [Fast Food Freestyle - Urban Dictionary](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fast%20Food%20Freestyle>)
7. [Fast Food Freestyle - www.tpimovies.com - смотреть видео онлайн от «Самые крутые советы» в хорошем качестве, бесплатно опубликованное 15 августа 2024 года в 13:21:36 00:01:24.](<https://rutube.ru/video/aec91bd644dea32b4ee825134f7f6637/>)
8. [McPrank: 4 teens cited for McDonald’s rap](<https://www.nbcnews.com/id/33541983/>)
9. [Teens Arrested For McDonald's Rap | Sputnikmusic](<https://www.sputnikmusic.com/news.php?newsid=11317>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/fast-food-freestyle
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