Are McDonald’s Self-Serve Soda Fountains Actually Going Away for Good?

McDonald’s has been the subject of some bad press recently… my own included. (Hey, that’s what happens when you make the McDonald’s hash brown even more expensive by scrapping BOGOS off your value menu.) But there’s a new headline that has everyone up-in-arms today, and for once—I can’t believe I’m about to say this—I’m going to resist jumping on the hate train and (*gulp*) try to defend the McDonald’s corporation. 

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Sort of. Maybe. Okay, maybe not. We’ll see how this shakes out by the end. 

The inflammatory headline in question: “McDonald’s is ditching its self-serve soda fountains.”  

There’s a good chance you’ve seen some version of this headline today. Well, it’s true: McDonald’s will be phasing out all of their self-serve beverage fountains… eventually. It’s also true that they’ve already started the process. (A photo on Reddit shows an empty wall where once a McDonald’s self-serve station once stood. RIP.) 

But this phase-out is going to take a while. Like, at least another six years. The target date is sometime in 2032. And more importantly, this probably isn’t the first time you’ve heard about it. 

This tidbit of “news” hits the press cycle at least once a year. But we’ve known about it since 2023. 

So if you’re getting déjà vu reading this, the multiverse isn’t to blame. Outlets love to recycle this as brand new info whenever they can find a new angle (a viral Reddit thread, perhaps), even though McDonald’s officially announced this initiative back in 2023.

Allegedly, this change isn’t about cutting costs. It’s about increasing efficiency. 

It seems to come down to delivery. McDonald’s fulfills millions of delivery and mobile orders every day, and they claim it’s inefficient for workers to step away from the counter to fill up drinks at a lobby station. They also cite sanitation concerns, since self-serve fountains require a lot of upkeep and don’t exactly scream “post-pandemic hygiene standards.”

Basically, it’s an operational shift that anticipates a future of more deliveries. One they’re trying to get ahead of. Sure, okay…

Remember when I said I was “sort of-maybe-maybe-not” going to defend the McDonald’s corporation? 

This is the “maybe not” part. Look, I’m just skeptical. Is it really that much of an issue to leave the counter to dispense fountain drinks? It’s… right there. I understand that it disrupts workflow, but fixing that could be a focus of the remodel. There has to be a way to make them more accessible to employees instead of doing away with them entirely. Also, isn’t it more work to have to fill up every dine-in cup yourself, including the free refills they (allegedly) will still offer once this change takes place? 

Actually. Let’s talk about those “free refills.” 

Because turns out, they won’t be as free. Once the self-serve fountains are gone, whether or not your local McDonald’s offers free refills will be up to the discretion of the location. I mean, having to bother an employee for free refills when there was once a beautiful, shiny (albeit from sticky wetness), mix-and-matchable self-serve fountain right there is already a pain, but this?? This is an outrage.

And if this was REALLY about efficiency, why also get rid of the self-serve ketchup dispensary? 

GOTCHA. Gotcha, b*tch!!!!

Make it make sense, Mickey D’s. Because you aren’t just getting rid of soda fountains. You’re also phasing out the ketchup stations. And last time I checked, employees aren’t dispensing ketchup into little cups and tossing them into delivery and mobile order bags. 

So listen, Ronald McDonald. Let’s call a spade a spade. You want to keep operations as scant as possible. That means reducing the draw for dine-in so you don’t have to hire as much help on the floor.

By 2032, I think McDonald’s just wants to be a ghost kitchen. 

And it all starts with the soda fountains.