The bizarre reason McDonald's Sprite is trending on Twitter
Have you ever noticed how a McDonald's Sprite is, well... Spritier than other Sprites?
That's according to the Twitterverse, who last week kicked off a tsunami of memes and one-liners describing the fizzy menu item with renewed gusto.
And the trend hasn't run out of steam yet.
Leading the comic gold on Twitter are memes of Avengers: Infinity Wars characters disintegrating with the caption "he drank McDonald's sprite", and photos of WD-40 aerosols explaining "McDonald's Sprite secret ingredient".
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A photo of a burned-out home claiming "Accidentally poured McDonald's Sprite on my house" is in good company alongside radioactive pets and fire-breathing dragons.
Adjectives like "spicy" and "powerful", meanwhile, attempt to describe the curious phenomenon.
Another viral illustration shows Ronald McDonald milking Sprite straight from an alien creature's teats.
The general gist of the joke is pretty clear — Macca's make one helluva Sprite. Turbo-charged, hyper-boosted, wasabi-burn-level effervescent.
Which got us wondering: what exactly is it that sets it apart?
It's not the first time the public has taken an interest in the fast-food chain's postmixes.
The topic has even spurred a FAQ page on the McDonald's US website for the query: "Why does Coca-Cola taste so good at McDonald's?"
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In 2014, a The New York Times article claimed to have found the answer to why Macca's Cokes are superior to all others.
It came down to the way the syrups are stored. Most restaurants have their Coke syrup delivered in plastic bags, but McDonald's apparently receives its syrup — or at least did at a point in its history — in stainless steel tanks.
This VIP treatment is thanks to the two brand's long-standing business relationship, according to Dick Starmann, a close pal of the man behind McDonald's' global expansion, Ray Kroc.
McDonald's Australia wouldn't confirm with 9Honey whether local restaurants were still benefitting from this so-called handshake deal struck by Kroc, in the form of syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks.
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McDonald's Australia wouldn't confirm whether the drinks partner delivered its syrup in stainless steel containers. iStock
However, they did offer up another theory about the unique taste.
The company claims to employ a higher standard of water filtration than standard postmix outlets, and they use fresh ice every time.
But, more importantly, they factor the ice into their postmix ratio — which may suggest the soft drinks are made a tad on the sweeter side, to account for that ice melt.
The McDonald's website does seem to support the theory, writing: "The water and Coca-Cola syrup are pre-chilled before entering our fountain dispensers with the ratio of syrup set to allow for ice to melt."
The company also credits its thick straws for that punchy flavour hit, echoed in all the recent Sprite memes.
"It's slightly wider than a typical straw so all that Coke taste can hit your taste buds."
