You’ve heard of hardcore music. Metalcore. Sadcore. All kinds of cores, really. But have you ever heard McDonaldcore?
In a recent video, TikTok creator @kaberator unlocked a musical genre that sounds like crispy, golden-fried potatoes, and it’s got viewers buzzing—especially those that work for McDonald’s.
The video has 4 million views and almost 740,000 likes.
“Could a mentally stable person do this?” @kaberator asks in a camera closeup. The creator then takes to a keyboard and plays a familiar tune: The twinkling noise that some fast food restaurant fryers make constantly.
“‘Your fries are ready, Hurry tf up’ type beat,” @kaberator wrote in the video’s caption.
Based on the almost 5,000 comments on the TikTok, the jingle really is remarkably similar to a chime that haunts the dreams of those who toil under the golden arches.
One person commented, “please i JUST clocked out.”
Another wrote, “I’m having war flashbacks,” and a fellow viewer replied, “Exactly orders popping up so fast I can’t even [breathe].”
“I haven’t worked at mcdonalds in 4 years, I only worked there for a few months, I still went stiff as a board and felt a rush of panic,” a viewer chimed in.
A comment read, “its been 5 years since I left and i just full body shivered to this.”
@kaberator “Your fries are ready, Hurry tf up” type beat
♬ Ding fries are done – Kaberator
“I never worked at McDonald’s, why do I know the sound. why do I feel numb inside?!” someone commented.
Another person wrote, “i have an interview at Mcdonalds today. i havent even gotten the job yet but i got PTSD.”
“Could hear that beeping in my sleep after the shift,” a viewer commented.
One comment read, “was watching this in the bathroom with my BFF and my partner yelled from the next room ‘THE FRY SOUND!’ we both used to work at maccas.”
There were conspiracy theorists, like the person who wrote, “i’m convinced there is just someone back there doing this on a piano as their full time job all day.”
The TikTok account for Wendy’s in the U.K. even commented: “They should play this sound in horror movies.”
We here at the Daily Dot aren’t musicologists, but a few sonically inclined viewers weighed in on the precise notes of @kaberator’s tune. One person wrote, “that E note is wrong though, I have never heard that working at mcdonalds … but otherwise, the tone is spot on.” Another wrote, “as a mcd’s employee, it sounds like the tone after you drop a basket of something and start the timer. Could be wrong though.”
The McDonald’s fry machine noise haunts many corners of TikTok, with plenty of other creators exploring their fascination and/or trauma with the electronic melody.
The Daily Dot reached out to @kaberator via TikTok and McDonald’s via email.