I have not been to McDonalds for a VERY long time. Almost a decade I would say. I know I used to go as a kid and as a teen but after 15 or so I never really went…The occasional 2 a.m. venture when i was in college, or the occasional pitstop when traveling across country. But not as a regular place to eat.
I’ll wager a guess that at one time or another, when you were a kid or as adults you ate at McDonalds at least once. Would you consider naming McDonalds to be All American as being derogatory or no big deal?
Hw often do you eat there? Have you ever eaten there? What do you think of it as a restaurant?
Personally, I don’t eat there anymore - I’m sort of an organic type and try to eat at locally owned places and not chains.
Folks from other nations…do you eat at the McDonalds where you are?
I’ve probably eaten there two or three times in my entire life, the last also easily being a decade ago. Make no mistake, I loves me a good burger, fries and a shake. I just don’t think they can be found at Mickey Ds (or Burger King for that matter). To me it’s the epitome of crap fast food and I’d much prefer a quality burger from a real restaurant or even from a Wendys or a Whataburger.
I would have thought that at one time but I have asked questions here about what American culture invasions actually mean in practical terms. Several non-Americans said that they didn’t think of McDonalds as American at all even though they knew that it is U.S. based. There are a surprising number of McDonalds in Europe and elsewhere for example even in Paris so I can see why they think that. Milan, Italy has the largest concentration of McDonalds of any city I have ever been to bar none. Several other Dopers have confirmed this observation and it is pretty striking when you first get there.
Based on all of this, some may think of as American but others just think of it as generic food. Furthermore, the food at McDonalds seems to be only inspired by some American foods and not a representative example so I would just say McDonalds is just its own style of generic food for most of the world.
I don’t think of McDonald’s as being terribly American - but two decades ago I did. These days, it’s just a small part of a generic global culture. That culture is quite American anyway, but it’s so huge that you can’t see the forest for the trees, so I don’t tend to think about it.
I feel sad when confronted by things like hearing little Aussie kids unconsciously adopt American accents when they are playing role-playing games - things like that, but I don’t get upset by McDonald’s - not on that front anyway.
The real problem with me is that McDonald’s isn’t American culture, but it’s McDonald’s culture. It’s almost like Scientology - even the language is different in there, and the outside world doesn’t exist.
You might as well ask if the Web is an American thing: All of the Major Websites (Google, Digg, Reddit, Flikr, YouTube, Slashdot) are hosted in America and run by American companies, but their usership is global* and, if they have discussion fora, their discussions are between people from around the world. (The fact discussion takes place in English isn’t altogether relevant. English is the working language of the world. (Cue really angry response in French. ;)))
*(For some values of ‘global’, of course. New Zealand and Japan? Sure. North Korea and Burma? Not so much.)
Reallly? Do you mean Dungeons & Dragons type roll playing games or Cops and Robbers? I’m a little surprised at that.
I’ve always seen McDonald’s as being very American to the point where I find it strange to hear about McDonald’s in other countries; though I am very aware that they’ve spread across the world.
I like Shagnasty’s description too, and I agree that McDonald’s isn’t so much American as global-corporation-McD’s-land, kind of.
I don’t go there unless I have to, which is probably twice in the past 5 years. Like on a road trip where your companion wants something particular and anyway you’re in Isolated Gas Station, Nevada and the choice is between McD’s and Taco Bell.
The last time I stopped there was the vacation from hell, over eight years ago. The reason is I hate the taste of their food, and would rather diet a day then eat there. Foreigners should not consider MCDonalds as American food. It serves bad copies of some American foods.
Mc Donalds is so American, that after touring Asia, when I first landed in Hawaii I went to a McDonald’s and said “It is so good to get back to the USA!” Then, looking around, I realised I was the only one there who was not obviously of Hawaiian descent. But the sounds and the attitudes were pure mainland.
I’ve been there seemingly more recently than some of the others in this thread (my kids love the chicken nugget happy meals…bleh!), but it’s certainly not one of my favorite places. It is surprising where you see them overseas though. I also don’t think of it as an ‘All Amerian place to eat’ either, though it’s certainly associated with ‘American’ and ‘American food’ in the places I’ve seen outside of the US.
I agree with others assessment however that while it’s a US company its really part of the global community and culture. However, I also realize that much of that ‘culture’, such as it is, is heavily influenced by the US. It’s kind of like asking if Coke or Pepsi are ‘American’ drinks. Certainly…and not really. All rolled into one.
Cops and robbers type things. It’s not new - I did it too as a kid, but I still see seven year-old “police” saying “Freeze suckerrrrrrr!” with a Mid-Western burr.
We also have a lot of American voice-overs on commercials for things like cosmetics.
I don’t blame the Americans one moment for this, but it does grate a little.
Look, they (McDonalds) do a really good job marketing to kids. Therefore it’s the parent’s taking the kids to McDonalds who are really the consumers.
I’d like to be the first to state that the food is extremely average: in fact possibly sub-average. However, you know what you’re getting and a Big Mac in Spain will be the same as a Big Mac in Australia.
Look, we are the consumers. If the place really sucked it would have been out of business decades ago. The food is average, you know what you’re getting, the price is comfortable, and it’s fast. You make the choice to eat there, and they’re continuing to grow and profit. Don’t slag McDonalds: Slag those who support it if you will.
I don’t eat there often – maybe once every two months. If I want fast food, I’ll pick Wendys, though I’m more likely to get one of their Mandarin Chicken Salad (one of the healtiest fast food items out ther) than a burger.
McDonald’s does make a decent burger: The Big Extra is quite good if you don’t wait until you get home to eat it. And their fries are good (I think Wendy’s are marginally better, though Burger King’s are inedibile – they taste like detergent). Also, their McChicken is a good cheap snack.
But there are certainly better places to get hamburgers. They just opened a Five Guys, and those are incredible.
But if you want real American food, then go to a diner.
I thoroughly dislike Mickey D’s and will go out of my way to avoid the place. But they do adapt some local style here. They came up with sticky-rice buns once. Did not go over very well, but they just recently reintroduced them.
FWIW we get commercials here in the states with various accents (usually British, Aussie and generic ‘hispanic’, though sometimes others). The Outback commercials always have someone with an Aussie (or psudo-Aussie) accent for instance.
Well, since Hawaii is a state, you were back in the USA.
I know what you’re saying, but Hawaii has been a state for nearly 50 years. I’m sure that by now a significant portion of Hawaii’s population are American by birth as well as having become naturalized citizens as a result of statehood.
