On June 7, 2012 a local farmer in Ontario, Canada, started the ultimate fast food experiment to test the age old rumors that McDonald’s products don’t rot.
Now, six years later, he’s selling his experiment on eBay for $29.99.
Dave Alexander told TIME he didn’t believe the urban legend that cheeseburgers wouldn’t go bad — so he sent his daughter out to buy a McDonald’s Cheeseburger and fries. He lists the item as an “ORIGINAL, plain McDonald’s Cheeseburger and Fries MADE & PURCHASED JUNE 7, 2012.”
While the burger lost all of its moisture, and the cheese turned more of a light brown color, Alexander says from four feet away you would think he bought the meal that morning, especially because the fries look almost exactly the same.
And then it was time to plan a move. “I’m not taking this cheeseburger with me,” he said, and decided to put it up on eBay. Alexander said he didn’t touch the burger once in all the years it sat in his office, though he did “Swiffer off” the dust for the sale.
Alexander felt the surprisingly good looking appearance of the burger and some advertisement on Twitter would grab some interest soon enough.
A year after buying the cheeseburger, a friend challenged Alexander decided to add a controlled variable to his experiment and he cooked a homemade cheeseburger and fries for comparison. The five-year-old organic product has fared much worse. “The homemade fries just look like little bits of stone,” he said. “And the McDonald’s are perfect looking.”
While the McDonalds burger is in no way safe to eat, it has basically petrified and preserved its hot off the grill looks.
Alexander assured his possible buyers that this listing was no joke, and encouraged them to be part of the scientific research stating that “nature has refused to take this burger.”
With the bid at $58 as of Friday afternoon, and six days left on the auction, the profits from selling the vintage fast food will be sure to help Alexander mourn any loss of the six-year companion.
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