Teens cited for McDonald's rap song think it's unfair

Spenser Dauwalder and one of his friends had just finished listening to a popular YouTube video called McDonald's Rap when an idea popped into their heads.

The video, which is a rap song requesting a Big Mac without lettuce, a Dr. Pepper drink and fries from a drive-through, sounded so funny to them that the 18-year-old Dauwalder and three of his friends decided to try it out at an actual McDonald's drive-through in American Fork. But workers there didn't find it quite as amusing.

"The song starts fast the first time, then it has the cashier asking for a repeat, and then it slows down," Dauwalder said about their rapping attempt Tuesday night. "But after we played it, they (McDonald's employees) asked if we were going to keep playing games or order."

The manager requested they leave, and on their way back to a high-school volleyball game, a police officer pulled the teens over and cited them for disorderly conduct.

"I just don't understand," Dauwalder said. "We didn't do anything threatening."

American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow said the teens "exchanged words" with a manager who came out to speak with them, "used profanity toward her" and drove off, he said.

"The rapping wasn't the issue," Ludlow said. "It was their refusal to leave and disruption of the business that caused them to be cited for disorderly conduct."

The manager wrote down the vehicle's license-plate number and called police, who located the group at Lone Peak High School.

Dauwalder admits that when an employee asked if they were going to order, one of his friends used the f-word, but said they didn't threaten the manager who stepped outside to ask them to leave.

Police said the group had been holding up lines at the restaurant, but Dauwalder said there were no other vehicles in line behind them.

"They're just kids," said Dauwalder's mom, Sharon Dauwalder. "They do silly things sometimes, but it doesn't warrant a citation. I looked it up, and it's a class C misdemeanor."

The Dauwalder family plans to fight the citation.

McDonald's issued a statement saying the company cooperated with local authorities and that the "safety and well-being" of employees and customers is a top priority for them.

The McDonald's Rap video on youtube.com already has more than 6 million viewer hits.

Contributing: Paul Koepp