McDonald's is the American hamburger chain headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, and the largest fast food operator in the world3. Online, the brand shows up in two very different registers: as a punching bag in casual internet writing about junk food and weight (Urban Dictionary entries call it "the #1 scapegoat to America's obesity problem"1) and as an active participant in meme culture through its own marketing stunts.

The most concentrated McDonald's meme moment came on May 1, 2017, when the chain rolled out the Frork, a plastic handle with three french fries jammed in as prongs2. The gadget was pitched in a mock infomercial to promote the new Signature Crafted Recipe sandwiches, whose toppings kept falling out the back of the bun4. The joke was that the Frork was, in the company's own words, "supremely superfluous," and the self-aware absurdity is what made it travel4.

The Frork itself is used exactly as pitched in the infomercial: hold the plastic handle, stab dropped toppings with the fry prongs, then eat the whole thing5. As a meme, McDonald's works as a stand-in reference whenever people are joking about American fast food excess, corporate cringe marketing, or self-aware brand stunts, with the Frork often cited as the archetype of the last category2.