The Hilarious Sign Feud McDonald's And Dairy Queen Started

Trash talking, also known as "competitive incivility," according to Harvard Business Review, refers to the exchange of comments of a boasting or insulting nature by opponents engaged in any form of competition. Trash talk may have negative consequences, including possibly promoting unethical behavior among those with an existing inclination to dispense with ethics in the interest of winning, and dampening creativity (via distraction), according to a 2018 study published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. However, experts generally regard trash talk within organizations against other organizations as a healthy, team-building activity. Trash talking may put inter-organizational competition into sharper relief, which may raise the stakes or heighten the desire to win against the perceived rival. That could, in turn, boost motivation and inspire increased productivity within the organization.

Of course, for onlookers, trash talk can be enormous fun. "I love me a good trash talk," wrote one reviewer of the Trash Talk podcast. Nor have onlookers been disappointed by the trash talk emanating from the hilarious sign feud between a McDonald's and Dairy Queen along a stretch of highway in Marshfield, Missouri, per People. Apparently, a number of other businesses got in on the fun with signs of their own and more than a million people on Facebook enjoyed the mutual roasting between the fast-food stalwarts, per Today. 

It takes two to tango, but technically, McDonald's was the first to throw down in this hilarious sign feud between a midwestern McDonalds and a neighboring Dairy Queen that played out on July 15, 2022, per Ozarks First. "Hey, DQ," the McDonald's on Spur Drive in Marshfield, Missouri teasingly formed with the letters on its road sign, according to Today. "Wanna have a sign war?" 

At first, Dairy Queen demurred with a message on its own road sign, "We would, but we're 2 busy making ice cream." Perhaps surprisingly to those who have had their soft serve jones thwarted by McDonalds' notoriously temperamental ice cream machines (via Today), McDonald's responded by deliberately invoking said ice cream machines. "That's cute," McDonald's formed with the letters on its own sign, "our ice cream makes itself." 

Does it though? Perhaps that's what you're thinking right about now. It's also what Dairy Queen seemed to be suggesting when it replied, "You mean it actually works? Shocker." "Wow, salty," came the answer from the inventor of the Big Mac, barely acknowledging the diss. Then, in another arguably surprising move, McDonald's proceeded to decline to further address its controversial ice cream machine problem (despite kind of being the one who brought it up in the first place), choosing instead to namecheck a fan favorite. "Like our world-famous fries," McDonald's concluded. And ... mic drop.