The Shady Reason McDonald's Original 1970s Coffee Stirrers Got Discontinued

Fast food behemoth McDonald's has been embroiled in more than a few controversies over the years. Some were bigger than others, such as the hot coffee lawsuit in 1992, when a 79-year-old woman sued after suffering third-degree burns from a cup of the company's coffee. Others weren't as bad, such as when McDonald's changed its apple pie recipe. Still other controversies were totally beyond its control, such as when McDonald's coffee stirrers became the go-to utensil for some recreational drug users.

It was the 1970s, and cocaine was having a surge in popularity. Unbeknownst to McDonald's, its plastic coffee stirrers — featuring the famed Golden Arches at the top, the company's name along its handle, and a small spoon at the end — had also become popular, but not for stirring coffee. The spoon, as it turned out, was the perfect size for snorting both cocaine and PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic and dissociative drug. The corporation had no idea that its utensil had become standard drug paraphernalia, whether used to scoop cocaine up from a communal dish at parties or used as a method for dealers to package their product. Doses were even dubbed "McSpoons." It wasn't a good look for a company with an all-American image.

Some companies with controversial products, such as Four Loko, the potent drink dubbed "liquid cocaine" that combined alcohol and caffeine, are willing to put up a fight to keep from changing. Not so with McDonald's and its coffee stirrer-turned-coke spoon. In 1979, the U.S. Congress held hearings looking into the sale of drug paraphernalia. During one of them, a lobbyist for paraphernalia manufacturers proffered a McDonald's coffee stirrer and told the lawmakers he was holding the best cocaine spoon around and that it was free with every McDonald's coffee.

The ploy backfired when an anti-drug crusader, Joyce Nalepka, called McDonald's corporate office and managed to convince the company to discontinue the stirrer. "It didn't stop the drug epidemic but it was testimony that the good guys will do anything to stop drugs," Nalepka said (via the Congressional record). Not long after, McDonald's, while denying it was embarrassed by the news of its product's misuse, announced it would be discontinuing its stirrers, saying (via Chicago Tribune), "it has been brought to our attention that people are using them illegally and illicitly for purposes for which they are not intended." So, while you can still get a cup of Gaviña coffee at McDonald's, you have to use a simple stirrer if you're adding sugar or cream.