American History Tellers - Listen Now: The Best Idea Yet

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

The untold stories behind the products you’re obsessed with and the bold risk-takers who made them go viral. How did Birkenstocks go from a German cobbler’s passion project 250 years ago to a starring role in the Barbie movie? Who created that bottle of Sriracha permanently living in your fridge? Did you know the Air Jordans were initially banned by the NBA, or that Super Mario became the best-selling video game character ever thanks to a strategy called “The Infinite Game?” On Wondery’s new weekly podcast The Best Idea Yet, Nick Martell and Jack Crivici-Kramer (hosts of the award-winning daily pop-business podcast, The Best One Yet aka TBOY) have identified the most viral products of all time and reveal their untold origin stories — plus the bold risk-takers who brought them to life. From the Happy Meal to Levi’s 501 jeans, come for the products you’re obsessed with, stay for the business insights that’ll make you the most interesting person at your next brunch. Follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Wondery.fm/TBIY_IPSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Have you ever wondered how the McDonald's Happy Meal became the best-selling meal of all time? Or who's really behind that bottle of sriracha in your fridge? Or why almost every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast about the untold origin stories of iconic products and the people who made them go viral. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, or that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? Every week on The Best Idea Yet,

they'll be digging into a product you already know well, but you'll never believe their surprising origin stories. You're about to hear a clip from The Best Idea Yet. While you're listening, follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's June 19th, 1974. Guatemala City's historic district and Yolanda Fernandez de Cofino is grinning from ear to ear because it's opening day for the very first McDonald's franchise located in Guatemala.

And she and her husband, they own it. She's turning 40 next month and she's feeling excited for this new chapter in her life because it's been months of work to get this thing ready, to bring in the supplies, to hire, and then to train 30, 40 employees, all while raising five kids of their own. That's a lot. Now, quick side note, McDonald's Corporation, they don't actually own most of the restaurants. Great point, Jack. That would be the franchisees. Ah, yes. So Yolanda and her husband are small business owners, and they put up their own money to build the first Guatemalan McDonald's location. Basically, they're paying McD's a licensing fee in exchange for the rights to use the McDonald's brand, the logo, and all those salty, sweet recipes.

El Mac Mas Grande. Did they call that? Actually, I may want to fact check that. But this is a system that's been in place since even before Ray Kroc, who is the cutthroat entrepreneur and eventually the Mickey D CEO that muscled the McDonald's brothers out of their own company back in 1961. For that story, you can curl up on the couch and watch a movie called The Founder. It's a good airplane movie. I watched that on a flight the other day.

But Yeti's McDonald's, they started expanding to international markets in the late 60s. But as of 1974, McDonald's has made a huge dent in Latin America. So as Guatemala's first McDonald's franchisee, Yolanda, or Doña Yoli, as she's known locally, is ready to introduce this fast, this affordable, this fantastic new food to her community.

Now, the Covino-Fernandez family, they may own the franchise together, but it's Doña Yoli who really takes charge. She is the fast food trailblazer, or as McDonald's employees like to say, she's got ketchup in her veins. What a great expression. Although that can't be good for the blood pressure. I mean, you may want to see a doctor at a certain point, Jack. But still, don't you, Yoli? She wants their location in Guatemala to feel like a family-owned restaurant.

She does not want this to feel like a chain. But there are a lot of hidden steps that go into creating this kind of environment. Like all the details. So many details. You have to nail the soda fountains, the hiring standards, the daily signage. Ensure the sesame seed bun is the same density in Guatemala as it is in Grand Rapids. Yeah, it is.

You are literally running a business when you're a franchisee. But since it's a business you didn't found, you got to do everything according to the corporate standards. And this is why Doña Yoli ventures 2,700 miles from her home to Elk Grove Village, Illinois. That's right. Doña Yoli is going to Hamburger University. H-U? Nick, I have some questions about this university. Oh, Jack, you may need to apply, but let's get into it, baby. Hamburger University, which, by the way, should absolutely be a D1 school, is the brainchild of a guy named Fred Turner.

Now, Fred, he actually started as a grill man at one of the very first McDonald's franchise locations. But this university he dreams up, it's actually a training program for franchise owners. The very first type of training program like this in the entire world. Jack, this is the Harvard for hamburgers. This is Stanford for fries, man. It's the Cambridge for quarter pounders. And it all starts in the basement of a McDonald's in Elk Grove Village,

a suburb not that far from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Now, the students at Hamburger University, they earn a bachelor's of hamburgerology with like a minor in french fries. Jack, would you hang that on your wall? I feel like that's a good diploma to brag about. On my wall? No, but on my brand new McDonald's location. Exactly.

Because despite what you may think, Hamburger University, students there are learning everything from supply chain logistics to management to leadership skills. And actually, it is really hard to get into Hamburger University. You ready for some stats, man? Hit me. Okay. Today, the Shanghai campus of Hamburger University has a 1% acceptance rate. That's actually lower than Harvard. So I take it back. I will put that diploma on my wall. Yeah, get it framed, Jack. Now, when Donya Yoli attends

Hamburger University, she's absorbing everything. But there is one thing that Yolanda learns at Hamburger University that really gets her fired up. McDonald's is naturally all about delivering a uniform experience for their customers. That was one of the keys to McDonald's explosive growth in the 1950s. Exactly, Jack. But the company's leaders, they don't want to quash the entrepreneurial instincts of their franchisees. Donya Yoli, for example, she knows her community better than corporate does, especially being nearly 3,000 miles away in Central America. So while corporate wants the fries always fried at a certain temperature and the patties all to be the same weight, they also want a franchise owner to pay attention to their customers, right? Yeah. And if they get a great idea, they want the franchisee to take initiative.

Well, that's exactly what Doña Yoli does. She heads back to O'Hare, passes through the same terminal as the McAllister family, and then spends the whole flight to Guatemala City thinking. And she is more energized than ever. Because when she lands, she thinks she's got it. But she has no idea that her brainstorm on that plane is about to make fast food history. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.