To Rot or Not To Rot, That Is The Question!

The Last Hamburger in Iceland on Display!

Photo by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash

After the economic crash in Iceland McDonald's decided to close their diners in the country. For many that was symbolic for the way Icelanders shun the capitalistic powers in Iceland following the crisis. Besides, the McDonald's menu didn't really fit the diet of skyr, blueberries and rotten shark that had given Icelanders one of the longest life expectancy in the world. 

"I realised it was a historic occasion and decided to buy the last burger on sale in October 2009, which I donated to the local museum. They had it on display until somebody complained and it was decided that a museum was not the appropriate place for food on display like this. So they asked me for permission to destroy it. But I regard it as a historical item now. I think it's incredible that it seems to show no signs of decomposition, although apparently the fact that there were fewer chips returned to me was because some museum visitors had eaten some of them."

The day before it closed down, October 30th 2009, Hjörtur Smárason went to McDonald's and bought a burger. Not to eat, but to keep and it was put in the original packaging on a garage shelf. Three years later he opened it again to find it looking exactly like it was when he left it. So he donated it to the national museum in Iceland where it was in storage for a year. 

Now it is on display at Bus Hostel Reykjavik in Iceland, not only for those who drop in, but also with a live video stream where you watch the hamburger rot - or not - on live camera. You might have to be patient though to see any changes. Chances are that this is the most boring, uneventful web cam on the planet.

[source: DailyMail & Bus Hostel Reykjavik]