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Glenn's Show Prep

It's official! McDonald's is now catching up to 1974

December 09, 2014
Radio Clips

The Glenn Beck Program

McDonald's has decided to move in a new direction with "create your taste." This morning on radio, Glenn, Pat, Stu, and Jeffy decided to analyze the "new" (baloney) "create your taste" campaign. Conclusion? It's Burger King's "have it your way" campaign from the 1970's. Glenn said, "McDonald's, I don't know if you've missed this, but it was called the 1970s."

Besides this new campaign, McDonald's has also decided to release their "secret sauce" aka, thousand island dressing. [GASP!] Wow! There's a new campaign and a released secret sauce recipe! Next, we'll hear they are hiring an executive chef. Wait, they already did that? Yes, they did. As Glenn said, "When you come in for a job interview in the food world and it says McDonald's executive chef, does everybody laugh?"

Having a semblance of a bad day? Then you need to watch this, we dare you not to laugh.

GLENN: So I just have to say, this is something that will affect your lives. McDonald's is changing. And McDonald's is going towards something called, create your taste. And it's coming at the pressure of Chipotle.

PAT: Chipotle?

GLENN: Yeah. Chipotle. Say Chipotle. How does Al Sharpton say it?

PAT: Chip-o-lay. I don't quite understand that. Do they think it's happening — I don't quite understand it —

GLENN: They're saying people are becoming more picky, and McDonald's makes it: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. People want it different. If I may say, I don't think this is a new thing. It's called, have it your way at Burger King now.

[Singing]

PAT: I mean, 1970.

GLENN: Right. I mean, hello. See if you can find the actual have it your way — Jeffy — or, Sarah — no, you got something else.

Sarah, see if you can find the have-it-your-way commercial and play that commercial for us. See if you can find the two all-beef patties, the original Big Mac song, and then give me the special orders don't upset it, have it your way, Burger King.

McDonald's, I don't know if you've missed this, but it was called the 1970s.

[laughter]

PAT: And it was a big deal because when you ordered something special at McDonald's, they all got nasty with you and it took them 55 minutes to get anything —

JEFFY: Well, that was then.

STU: Yeah, that's changed. Every day on the way in, I order a breakfast sandwich that I order special, and they make it in, like, nine seconds. That process is completely done now.

PAT: Really? It has to wait and marinate under the heat lamp. Right?

GLENN: No, it does not. The days of pulling the hamburgers — remember that thing that they would slide all the hamburgers, and they'd all be hanging out behind the cash register. Those days are gone. Those days are gone. They've been gone for a long time.

Now, here is the real shocking news, first of all, that McDonald's is just catching up to have it your way.

PAT: Hey, maybe people will like it a different way than we tell them to have it. You think? Welcome to —

GLENN: You really are run by a clown, aren't you?

Here's the next thing: They're coming out now, they put this out on YouTube, the special sauce — they have now released, quote, the secret recipe.

PAT: Wasn't it Thousand Island dressing?

GLENN: It's really not that complex. It's Thousand Island dressing. First, let's go to the commercials before I tell you what else McDonald's is doing. Start with the McDonald's commercial, will you? Oh, you don't have it? You have two Burger Kings. Go ahead. See if the this is right Burger King.

VOICE: Have it your way. Have it your way. Have it your way at Burger King. May I help you, sir?

VOICE: Two Whoppers, two Whopper Jrs, and four Coca-Colas, and would I have to wait long if you made one Whopper with one pickle and no lettuce?

VOICE: No, sir. Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce. Special orders don't upset. So we ask that you let us serve it your way.

VOICE: Oh, well, in that case, could I have the other Whopper with extra ketchup?

VOICE: Sure. We can serve it any way you think is proper. Have it your way.

VOICE: Now, that's the way to do things, our way.

VOICE: Have it your way. Have it your way.

GLENN: My gosh, this is bad.

PAT: Man, these days don't come back.

GLENN: Good.

So here's the thing. That 1974, that's amazing. Play one more for me, Sarah.

VOICE: [Singing]

PAT: Ella Fitzgerald, Burger King.

GLENN: What is this?

PAT: This is for the New York sophisticate. Stop. Stop. It's disturbing that Burger King was doing scat commercials. It's just disturbing. I may not ever be able to unhear that.

STU: That's Burger King in a world where people theoretically like jazz, which they don't.

GLENN: It's not just jazz too. It's scat jazz. Nobody likes that. Ella Fitzgerald is like, please, don't make me scat. Please.

So, anyway, here's the shocking news: Beside the fact that McDonald's is catching up to 1974, they have released the secret recipe for the special sauce, and they've dumped it on YouTube. Here comes the shocking — just play what we have here.

VOICE: All right. Every once in a while, let's face it, the craving kicks in. You have to. You want it. You got to have that Big Mac. And now the top chef at McDonald's is spilling the secret on how you can make that special sauce at home.

GLENN: The ABC report. Stop. Did you hear what she just said? McDonald's executive chef —

PAT: Yes. Wait. There's an executive chef at McDonald's? Do they also have a sous chef? I'll put the pickles on.

GLENN: You will not put the pickles on like that. I refuse for you to put the pickles on like that.

PAT: What if I put the lettuce shred on top of the pickle, or does it go the other way?

GLENN: I cannot work with this man. I'm an artist.

The executive chef. When you come in for a job interview in the food world and it says McDonald's executive chef, does everybody laugh?

PAT: There is not enough carrageenan in this meat.

[laughter]

Wasn't that the big deal in the '90s? They were putting seaweed in their meat. I think this is an effort to dispel that stuff.

STU: They do serve 69 million people a day. I think they can have an executive chef position. They can afford it.

PAT: They can afford it, but why?

GLENN: It hasn't changed —

JEFFY: Have you had the McRib?

GLENN: That's a science position, not a chef position.

PAT: That came from Dow Chemical.

STU: I don't like this anti-fast food propaganda. I'm not comfortable with it.

GLENN: We have an executive chemist.

[laughter]

I would understand that. The McDonald's executive chemist is here.

PAT: We were talking about the milkshake a year ago, they can't call it a shake. There's no milk in it. They can't legally call it a milkshake.

JEFFY: Wait, what?

GLENN: What's in it? And no chef is giving you that answer. The chef is the one kicking dirt over the chemical recipe. Nothing to see. Scatter a few leaves on top. No one will know we're hear.

STU: I remember a certain someone who fell in love with the executive chef's creation of a McGriddle. The McGriddle, which was a —

GLENN: I stand by the fact that that was not a chef, that that was a chemist.

STU: Whatever. You're eating it.

GLENN: Let's be honest, it was a chemist that did it, not a chef. Sarah has the audio of the executive chef.

VOICE: I'm chef Dan Coudreaut, the executive chef from McDonald's. We have a question from Christine from Oshua (phonetic). What is in the sauce that is in the Big Mac? Well, Christine, quite honestly, the ingredients have been available in the restaurant or on the internet for many years. So not really a secret. What we'll do today, we'll make a version with ingredients that are similar that you could buy at your local grocery store. Okay? I'll be a little less formal.

GLENN: Stop. But I want you to know, Sarah, that the thing is, you can use ingredients — we'll use ingredients that are similar, that you can find in your grocery store.

Where is McDonald's finding the ingredients?

PAT: Dow Chemical.

GLENN: That's exactly right. If they're similar to the ones you can find in your grocery store, we find them on a shelf behind the prescription counter at CVS.

PAT: Right behind the pesticide.

STU: Stop it. Certainly will be a different brand name. And different suppliers. It's pesticide. That's what it is.

GLENN: Similar to a pickle.

[laughter]

PAT: That's what I believe.

GLENN: Come on. It's not like that pickle, I've got to have a certain brand of pickle. It's a pickle, dude.

STU: Did you ever work at a deli? You get the deli mayonnaise.

GLENN: This is similar to the pickle you can find in stores. My grandmother would say it's a pickle. She grew it in her garden or, you know — you know, what was the stork who — that made the pickles.

STU: The stork that made the pickles.

GLENN: I can pull it out of a Vlasic jar or my grandmother's — and she wouldn't say, this is similar to what you — she'd say, it's a pickle.

STU: Yeah, they probably have a supplier where it comes direct. It's not that you could replicate it with a different brand. You ever get that deli mayonnaise that comes in — it's not Hellmann's. It's like 16,000 more calories. But it comes in. But you can replicate it with Hellmann's. That's a fair way to put it. You guys are very anti-fast food, and I don't like it. I don't like what we're —

PAT: We're talking with chemical food defender, Stu. Stu, tell us why chemicals are fine in food.

STU: Because they taste really good. Thank you, Jeffy. Jeffy is with me.

GLENN: No. I know. It's true.

PAT: They're delicious.

GLENN: It does make it taste good. It also kills you. But it makes it taste good.

JEFFY: I'm good with anything that chemicals enhance.

STU: That's true. Jeffy is very pro chemical.

PAT: Injecting. Snorting.

GLENN: I think we'll leave it at that. And I guess in some way we're back to the chemist talk. So let's move on.

Civics isn’t optional—America's survival depends on it

JEFF KOWALSKY / Contributor | Getty Images

Every vote, jury duty, and act of engagement is civics in action, not theory. The republic survives only when citizens embrace responsibility.

I slept through high school civics class. I memorized the three branches of government, promptly forgot them, and never thought of that word again. Civics seemed abstract, disconnected from real life. And yet, it is critical to maintaining our republic.

Civics is not a class. It is a responsibility. A set of habits, disciplines, and values that make a country possible. Without it, no country survives.

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Civics happens every time you speak freely, worship openly, question your government, serve on a jury, or cast a ballot. It’s not a theory or just another entry in a textbook. It’s action — the acts we perform every day to be a positive force in society.

Many of us recoil at “civic responsibility.” “I pay my taxes. I follow the law. I do my civic duty.” That’s not civics. That’s a scam, in my opinion.

Taking up the torch

The founders knew a republic could never run on autopilot. And yet, that’s exactly what we do now. We assume it will work, then complain when it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the people steering the country are driving it straight into a mountain — and they know it.

Our founders gave us tools: separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, elections. But they also warned us: It won’t work unless we are educated, engaged, and moral.

Are we educated, engaged, and moral? Most Americans cannot even define a republic, never mind “keep one,” as Benjamin Franklin urged us to do after the Constitutional Convention.

We fought and died for the republic. Gaining it was the easy part. Keeping it is hard. And keeping it is done through civics.

Start small and local

In our homes, civics means teaching our children the Constitution, our history, and that liberty is not license — it is the space to do what is right. In our communities, civics means volunteering, showing up, knowing your sheriff, attending school board meetings, and understanding the laws you live under. When necessary, it means challenging them.

How involved are you in your local community? Most people would admit: not really.

Civics is learned in practice. And it starts small. Be honest in your business dealings. Speak respectfully in disagreement. Vote in every election, not just the presidential ones. Model citizenship for your children. Liberty is passed down by teaching and example.

Samuel Corum / Stringer | Getty Images

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Start with yourself. Study the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and state laws. Study, act, serve, question, and teach. Only then can we hope to save the republic. The next election will not fix us. The nation will rise or fall based on how each of us lives civics every day.

Civics isn’t a class. It’s the way we protect freedom, empower our communities, and pass down liberty to the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

PHILL MAGAKOE / Contributor | Getty Images

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.