There’s An Entire Documentary About Weird McDonald’s & You Can Watch It For Free

I would posit an argument that one of the biggest killers of fast food franchises is not shrinkflation, poorer food quality, or the relentless incorporation of AI into every facet of the customer experience (although people don’t exactly love any of those things): It’s anonymity. Over the years, major fast food chains, in the eyes of many, have completely lost their spark. Every restaurant feels the same. Every restaurant looks the same. They arguably feel more like airports – but with food. 

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It’ll probably come as no surprise that McDonald’s has faced a lot of this criticism. But despite almost all of its restaurants now feeling almost indistinguishable from one another, in the eyes of customers, there are still some outliers. And one documentarian made it his mission to tell their story. 

Nonstandard – A Documentary

Nonstandard is a project created by game designer Max Krieger, who began documenting atypical McDonald’s locations on Twitter (when it was still Twitter) in 2020, via the account @nonstandardmcd. A nonstandard McDonald’s, by Krieger’s classification and our own, is one that has differences that can vary from simple architectural quirks to full-on themed experiences. We’ve covered a few of them here at Sporked, and Krieger himself spoke to us back in May when we discussed Nike’s new shoes, based on the Sedona, Arizona location, where you’ll find its Golden Arches in a turquoise color scheme. Others include the World’s Largest Entertainment McDonald’s and Playplace, or Epic McD’s, which can be found in Orlando and still serves McDonald’s pizza. 

As Krieger’s project evolved and gained a huge social media following, it grew in scope – and eventually, it was clear that a documentary was on the cards. Krieger and his production team started a Kickstarter to fund the project, which had almost 1,100 backers and raised $47,578 to support its creation. The hour-long documentary debuted in 2025 on YouTube. 

And It’s Free?

Yes – it’s free. “This is the spirit of youtube man what a treat,” says one comment on the documentary, which feels like both an allusion to the fact that this content is utterly free to access and that it’s created with such specificity, care, and passion about one specific thing. Nonstandard takes viewers through the very concept of a nonstandard McDonald’s itself and the history of specific locations, discusses the standardization of McDonald’s locations everywhere (and the subsequent loss of their charm and individuality), and examines why we love these quirky locations in the first place. It also talks about McDonald’s more recent embrace of nostalgia and the stranger corners of its own history — which a lot of customers love and miss.

In short, it’s a sheer delight for anyone interested in fast food history, architecture, or just a well-made documentary. Take an hour of your time, and enjoy a wander through some nonstandard places.