Funeral Procession For Teenager Who Loved McDonald's Goes Via Drive-Thru

Traditionally in the UK, funerals are very formal, black and - understandably - glum affairs.

However, more and more, people are freeing themselves from the shackles of convention.

This was typified last year when a teenager who loved McDonald's had his funeral procession pass through his local drive-thru.

Co-op Funeral Care

Joshua's procession also parked up in the Maccies car park to allow family and friends to release balloons and funeral-goers returned to the restaurant after the ceremony for the wake.

Quirky and personalised funerals like this are becoming more and more popular in the UK, according to a new report by Co-op Funeral Care, which details funerals held at zoos, golf courses, cafes and even one at a cattle auction house.

The study found that only one in 10 adults would opt for a traditional religious service nowadays, while 36 percent would prefer their family and friends to get together for a celebration of their life, with a third not wanting any fuss made whatsoever... I dunno about you, but this third of people seem to be taking things a bit far; it's one thing to not be a sentimental type, it's another to just say 'right, when I'm dead, chuck me in a hole and forget me immediately everyone'.

Anyway, the report was based on insight from Co-op funeral directors from more than 500,000 funerals conducted in the last five years, as well as the views of 4,000 British adults. More than two fifths of those who were surveyed said they thought funerals would continue to become less formal in the future, with 21 percent reckoning the wake will eventually become more significant than the funeral service itself.

The report also found people are becoming more creative with regards to what they do with a loved one's ashes. In the past year, the amount of people opting to have ashes put in jewellery has increased by more than a fifth.

Indeed, this isn't even really an unusual thing to do with the ashes these day, when compared with the following unique tributes detailed by the report:

1. Inside the furnace of a steam train

2. Putting them inside a firework

3. Creating a tattoo

4. Scattering during a skydive

5. Sent up over the sea inside a balloon

6. Putting them in a model aeroplane

7. Taking them around the world

8. Putting them inside a car so they can always travel with them

9. Keeping them inside a rucksack so they could be carried everywhere

10. Scattering at a USA baseball ground

So, obviously we shouldn't look forward to death, but it's good to know that nowadays it's totally fine to have your ashes stuffed in a piñata or fired from a cannon or whatever it is you fancy.

Topics: UK News, McDonald’s, Interesting, Weird

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey