In our quest to help Americans better understand the world and each other, AllSides aims to make transparent the bias of all our sacred institutions. We’ve rated the bias of 2,400 news media outlets — but what is more sacred to Americans than our fast food?
Today, we’re excited to announce Version 1.0 of the AllSides Fast Food Bias Chart.
Just like our Media Bias Chart for traditional news media outlets and X Influencer Bias Chart for social media personalities, the AllSides Fast Food Bias Chart makes it quick and easy to identify the bias of your favorite burger chain — based on vibes only.
Bringing AllSides Expertise to Fast Food Bias
During our staff retreat in February, we cruised down the highway in Orlando, marveling at the sea of brightly-colored fast food signage. What’s more American than a barrage of choices that all accomplish the same thing anyway? It wasn’t long before we started shouting out bias ratings, and the Fast Food Bias Chart was born.
So what’s the chart based on? Rigorous data collection? Widespread analytical reviews?
No. Just ~ vibes ~ .
We didn’t do deep research into every corporate chain’s politics, or controversies, or decisions, or lobbying, because we have more important things to do, like pointing out how Apple’s talk-to-text feature capitalizes Black and not white. We’re focused on the hard-hitting stuff, here. That doesn’t mean none of our fast food bias ratings are based on reality. But mostly, it’s a combo of reality and vibes.
For example, one team member had worked at In-N-Out, and personally attested to the Bible verses on its packaging. Lean Right, duh. And we all agreed Chick-fil-a is also on the right. That’s an easy one. It's closed on Sundays, the CEO publicly opposed same-sex marriage, and it donated to groups misaligned with the LGBTQ agenda, making it the woke enemy #1 back in the mid-2010s. But the chicken business did stop such donations, so we’ve got it at Lean Right, not Right.
McDonald’s, that American staple, has no such partisan leaning, so we all agreed it’s Center. Easy.
Starbucks? It closed all its stores for a “racial bias education day” back in 2018 — very Lean Left vibes. We don’t see Kentucky Fried Chicken doing the same, and we gave it a rating of Right. What’s more right than spawning in deep Appalachia?
But the vibes weren't always clear. One Center team member felt strongly that Chipotle should be Center “because of gym bros.” We’ve got it at Lean Left, though — just vibes. Sweetgreen is Left, because it serves salads, and people on the left are often vegan, or something. (Our resident team vegan is Center, and would like to formally dispute the idea that vegans only eat salad.)
Cracker Barrel stirred a bit of debate, since it “de-woked” its logo, as a Left team member put it. If you’ll recall, internet conservatives were aflame over the removal of Uncle Herschel, a white man, saying the restaurant was caving to DEI culture. Even Donald Trump weighed in — because of course he did! The chain eventually reversed course and brought Uncle Herschel back. Lean Right, then, feels like the vibe. But maybe one could argue Center, or even Lean Left. We all catch our own vibes!
Support Our Ratings
Our human bias reviewers work hard to analyze bias, and we need your support! How can Americans truly think for themselves and make an informed decision around what fast food to eat if they don’t know the chain’s bias? Just think of all the uninformed highway cruising going on in America right now.
Become a Sustaining Member of AllSides today — a monthly or annual contribution supports our expansion into rating even more corporate chains, like Hobby Lobby (obviously Right) and Ben & Jerry’s (Left, duh).
For legal reasons, we should clarify that the Fast Food Bias Chart is an April Fool’s joke and will not, in fact, become part of the official AllSides platform anytime soon.
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