Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
Topics: McDonalds, Food and Drink
Mia Williams
A McDonald's in California that has been open since the 1970s has served not a single customer in over 50 years, despite the company spending $1 million dollars on it.
It's estimated that McDonald's generates approximately $72 million to $75 million in revenue per day across the world, which is driven by it's 40,000 restaurants in over 100 countries.
But one of the 40,000, situated in California, has never made a single cent.
However, despite its lack of revenue, the franchise has remained open in the San Gabriel Valley's City in Southern California since the late 1970s.
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Hundreds of hungry passersby have pulled into the restaurant in recent years, only to realize that there are no staff to be seen at the drive-through, nor anywhere else onsite.
And that's because the McDonald's branch technically isn't a fast-food spot open for business.
Instead, the global chain built the lookalike restaurant to be used as a filming location for commercials and other projects.
Built in 1978 with a $1 million budget, it gave the chain a dedicated place to shoot without disruption.
The restaurant was designed to be an exact replica of any regular McDonald's spot, but there are some key differences.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the ceilings of the 'McStudio' are slightly higher than usual, to accommodate the bulkier lighting fixtures used for filming.
The downstairs is home to a dressing room for talent, and trees outside the building are easily moveable.
Of course, there is no pricing on the menu above the cash registers, in order to keep the space easily available to move with the times.
Prior to the purpose-built set, the fast-food giant would have to pay a franchise $5,000 per day in lost sales to film on location.
And while the 'mockDonald's' is solely used for filming, it is also able to produce food.
There are two working kitchens within the production centre, one stocked with McDonald’s equipment such as baskets and griddles, while the other is packed with accessories like dry ice and sesame seeds for food stylists to make burgers ready for their close-up shots.
Speaking to The Times in 1988, Linda Magruder-Briggs, then the advertising production manager, said: "We could be open for business tomorrow if we wanted."
And the location of the set is intentional.
Its proximity to Hollywood means that talent are easily able to get to and from the site, and by 1988, 1,000 commercials had already been filmed there.