The Super Size Me film is 20 years old this month… but it certainly hasn’t hurt McDonald’s

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the controversial Super Size Me film. While at the time it seemed to influence some big changes at McDonald’s, it hasn’t hurt the fast food chain at all.

Directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, the documentary followed the filmmaker as he ate only McDonald’s products for 30 days straight to demonstrate the negative impact – both physically and psychologically – the fast food has on customers.

Following its release on May 7, 2004, Super Size Me was a hit, grossing over $US22 million on a budget of just $US65,000, and soon after, McDonald’s discontinued its super size menu for six weeks. However, as Sean Aylmer pointed out on an episode of the Fear and Greed podcast this week, those changes didn’t last long.

“But 20 years later, McDonald’s is much bigger with 42,000 locations, and there are about 40 fast food chains in the US with more than 500 locations each, according to a report in the NYT,” Aylmer said.