Why American TikTokers Are Upset About McDonald's In France

McDonald's in other countries are always different, as the global fast-food giant tries to cater to the variety of tastes from one land to the next. McDonald's in Japan has a teriyaki burger on a soy sauce-flavored rice bun. A significant proportion of Swedes have animal-free diets – hence the McVegan (via Insider). Canadian McDonald's have poutine, of course, and "Macca's" in Australia have gravy-loaded fries and frozen Coke.

What did McDonald's do to satisfy palates in France? After all, "haute cuisine" isn't a French expression by accident. McDonald's had to aim high in the nation that invented the Michelin star. Anyone who has been to McDonald's restaurants in both the U.S. and France will tell you, the French establishments seem a little more upscale. And a lot of people will tell you that the food at McDo, as the French call it, is better than at a McDonald's in the good ol' USA (via BuzzFeed).

For those of us who didn't already know about French McDonald's cultural superiority over the American version, TikTok user Elliott Norris clued us in with a viral video he posted in September. Norris is a popular social-media foodie who produces a cooking show for Instagram TV called My Gay Kitchen.

One of Norris' most viral TikToks, with more than 746,000 views, is a quick tour of a McDo in a French airport. The display area could almost pass for a French boulangerie, except the display is dominated by doughnuts and muffins, not eclairs and croissants (although McDo does have croissants). Norris placed his order at a touch-screen kiosk. (McDonald's in Australia, Sweden, and probably a lot of other countries also have touch-screen ordering. These kiosks seem a lot less common in America. Time to step up your game, McDonald's USA!)

While Norris's breakfast didn't look like it was worlds better than what you can get in America, he was really impressed with the McGriddle pancakes. "This is so good. They should have these in the U.S.," he said. And he knew the instant hot chocolate was fresh because he had to stir the powder into the milk himself.

People who commented underneath his video were impressed to the point of envy. TikTok user @marylauravanwyk said what a lot of her fellow commenters were thinking: "Why is McDonald's cooler everywhere else than the states?" @prihihihi chimed in, "This is why I'm moving to France." Some fans of McDonald's U.S. tried to find a silver lining. From @tris10v: "But they don't have the Travis Scott burger." True enough. But they do have beer in French McDonald's. We're not holding our American breaths for a McBudweiser.