Fact check: Stationary bikes at McDonald's locations in China are part of green-friendly initiative
The claim: McDonald's released in-restaurant exercise bikes for people to burn calories as they eat
McDonald's customers who count calories can now have their burger and eat it too, according to a popular claim on social media.
A video published Dec. 21 on Instagram shows someone eating and drinking at the fast-food restaurant while riding what appears to be a stationary bike.
"Bizarre video shows exercise cycles in McDonald's for people to 'burn calories' while eating," reads text overlaid on the video, which was posted by Indian news channel Mirror Now.
The video, which received more than 4,000 views within a week, originated in a Dec. 16 TikTok post that has accrued nearly 2.5 million likes. Versions of the video have also been widely shared on Twitter.
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While the new bike chairs are real, the main reason they were built wasn't for people to burn calories while eating fast food. McDonald's China rolled out the bikes as part of a new environmental initiative.
Paste BN reached out to Mirror Now for comment.
Bikes let customers charge cell phones
The Instagram post makes it seem like McDonald's created stationary bike seating so its customers could burn calories while they eat.
"Even while eating you burn some amount of calories," Mirror Now wrote in its caption. "It looks like the world's biggest fast-food restaurant has merged the two activities to create a new experience for diners."
While that is an added benefit of cycling while eating, it's not the whole story.
The bikes, which include a square seat and a table, allow customers to charge their cell phones while pedaling, according to a Google translation of a McDonald's China press release.
McDonald's introduced the recycled plastic bikes in the Chinese region of Guangdong in September. The company told Business Insider 10 bikes are available in two locations: one in Guangdong and another in Shanghai.
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The goal of the bikes is to allow "more consumers to learn about and participate in green and low-carbon initiatives in a practical way," the company wrote in its press release. While customers will undoubtedly burn calories as they pedal, the announcement does not mention exercise as one of the initiative's primary goals.
Paste BN reached out to McDonald's for comment.
Our rating: Missing context
Based on our research, we rate MISSING CONTEXT the claim that McDonald's released in-restaurant exercise bikes for people to burn calories as they eat, because without additional information it could be misleading. McDonald's rolled out the bikes, which allow customers to charge their phones, as part of a green-friendly initiative. While customers who use the bikes will undoubtedly burn calories, that was not one of the primary objectives of the initiative.
Our fact-check sources:
- @Chris13yu, Dec. 16, TikTok post (archived)
- Alvin Foo, Dec. 17, Tweet (archived)
- Google Translate, accessed Dec. 29
- McDonald's, Sept. 30, McDonald's China's first low-carbon life experience store is located in Wanda Plaza, Jieyand, Guangdong
- Business Insider, Dec. 22, McDonald's has installed exercise bikes in some of its restaurants in China so customers can work out and charge their phones while eating
- Fox 10 Phoenix, Dec. 21, McDonald’s rolls out exercise bikes for dine-in customers in China
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