Accountants at these places evaluate the cost of replacing all the machines with a new vendor while still paying out the old contract vs internet comments

I’m sure they’ve done the math somewhere, and possibly determined this is more of a meme than an IRL business liability

It should be noted that even though McDonald’s began allowing franchisees to use another brand years ago, most still do not.

It’s not an excuse, almost everyone agrees they screwed up. But it’s an explanation. They likely signed a long term contract. Then a few years ago they allowed franchisees to use another brand.