You Can Get This Retro Haircut At The World's First McDonald's-Owned Barbershop
If you are in Sweden and miss the era of curtain fringes on the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, i.e. the late '90s, you're in luck. McDonald's Sweden noticed both the trend's resurgence and how — on blondes at least — the shape of the haircut resembles the McDonald's arch. So, naturally, they opened the M Barber Shop, which means you cut your own hair under the live instruction and supervision of a professional.
"We started the M Barber Shop not only to guard our Golden M, but also to claim it once and for all," Staffan Ekstam, the marketing director at McDonald's Sweden, explained to The Independent. "The salon is a celebration dedicated to our beloved ambassadors — a helping hand to guide them on how to keep their M's in perfect trim, even when we can't move around as freely as we usually can." Evidently, the help was wanted as their stylist became fully booked before two hours passed. Or they wanted the free Big Mac they would receive upon uploading a photo of their hairdo on The Golden M Detection App.
For those not in Sweden or too slow to devote your head to McDonald's, the Swedish fast-food chain uploaded an "official" step-by-step guide on YouTube. After wetting your hair, separate the top from the sides and cut the rest. Then, blow dry it, carefully lower the long top hairs, and spray before you are ready for the final step: "Take the world by storm."
There's been more than one McDonald's-inspired haircut
The M hairstyle that Swedish McDonald's is so desperate to create (pictured above) is not the only McDonald's-related hairstyle in recent years. In 2018, the U.K. floated a story about a haircut called "Meet Me at McDonald's" being banned at schools. The style, as described by Refinery29, is a cut worn short on the sides and long at the top, usually with a perm or some other styling. Refinery29 and PopSugar both cited a Twitter account's 2015 tweet for the name — though they dubbed it "Meet Us at McDonald's," probably because it was a group of boys instead of just one. What the name means though is unclear.
Regardless, it was a widespread phenomenon and reportedly ended up being banned by the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy. "Any child whose hair has not been restyled appropriately by Monday 26th February will either be sent home to have their hair restyled or placed in isolation until their hair is restyled," the school threatened.
This led to a debate among the local parents, but more relevantly for us, it led to McDonald's U.K. attempting to co-opt the story into a social media advertisement. It failed. They posted a meme in which someone asks, "Meet me at McDonald's?" The barber says, "Say no more, fam", and a picture of McDonald's follows. If you don't get it, don't worry... No one else did either. Like McDonald's Sweden, it was a gimmicky attempt to be relevant, but failed, making it funny.