In Soup Nazi voice
“No McDonald’s for you!”
There were McDonald’s in the former Yugoslavia when we bombed that country. Now whether or not that counts as a “war” is up to you to decide.
**
Ah McDonalds, when I lived in Stavanger Norway there was one McDonalds in the center of town. It may have been the only one around but it seemed a perpetual source of pride and fascination for the locals, a taste of Americana. What’s more, the food there actually tasted good because they cared enough to make it right.
Later another McDonalds was built in Kvadrat (the “largest mall in Norway”) and it actually had a drive thru. The first and only drive thru in the city. Very exciting times for the Norwegians; they seemed to think it was a good thing.
But McDonalds is only one of many ways we export American culture to the rest of the world. Far more significant would be our popular culture itself, which we export in the form of television programs and music. Those are the mediums by which we project an image of the American way of life to the rest of the world. We are very good at it, because people all over the world (just like us) eat it up. Somehow I believe that involves more than just fast food. It serves to imbue anything distinctly American with a kind of mystique that makes it very attractive, especially to younger generations.
There is nothing inherently bad about this, worries of a “global monoculture” are overblown and misinformed. Hand waving about “cultural imperialism” is often only a cover for protectionism and xenophobia. McDonalds might take the blame for being a monolith of American capitalism, but all McDonalds is really guilty of is serving a decent meal quickly for a reasonable price. If you don’t like it, don’t eat there. The fast food model is very efficient and profitable, no wonder it came from America. If that must be one of our gifts to the larger world then so be it.
I wouldn’t eat the shit if it was the last food on the planet – and from an Englishman, that’s saying something.
Well, what have we had in the past year; Is it five profit warnings, the first ever corporate loss and 150-ish outlets closed worldwide ?
Is the tide turning … one can only hope. Certainly the information is finally getting through. I even heard yesterday the scum are ‘considering’ putting the nutritional details on the side of the boxes … yeah right.
‘Mechanically recovered meat’ … yum yum…
I never eat fast food in the US, with the exception of Taco Smell. But, McD’s draws me on odd occaisions when abroad.
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with McD’s expansion.
But other cultures either due to
- lack of resources
- lack of intent
haven’t spread their “tentacles” worldwide like the American culture has, driven by revenues and profits.
So, in essence, there is the local culture and the American culture.*
If a monoculture was to reign supreme, American culture is already in the best position to accomplish that. Trouble is, economic forces don’t offer much of a chance for local cultures to have a say in this.
This leads to fears that the global spread of Americana could mute if not extinguish local culture. Certainly, this is true in Bombay as I can testify from firsthand experience.
*Regions still colonized as of recent history excluded.
Given their treatment of their own employees (and even their franchisees), I’d disagree. I see no problem with a business expanding, oven going overseas to do so, and even bringing in a foreign culture (and thus leading to a kind of cultural imperialism), but when that expansion is at the expense of the very people who make it possible, then I’d say there there IS something inherently wrong with it.
Pakistan and India? Does the Kashmir problem count as a war?
I almost never eat McD’s, at home or abroad. Big Macs make me retch, though some of their other stuff is edible.
While travelling, I try to experience as much of the local food as possible. But there was a time or two, backpacking around in south Asia off the usual backpacker/tourist tracks, eating from disreputable-looking street stalls, living on what appeared to be rat filets fried in fermented fish grease, weak from the loss of 10 kilos and not having had a solid stool in a month, that I would have given my last rupiah for a McDonald’s hamburger. (They do exist in Indonesia, of course, but not on all the islands.)
They are bland and sterile, but they’re pretty dependable, and usually clean.
I ate at a McDonalds in Buenos Aires a little over ten years ago. After a few weeks camping, even though the food was good, I really craved some fries. That, and they were the only place around where I could break a 50,000 peso note (= to $50 US).
A dispute.
After McD’s came in, there hasn’t been a declared war. But I’m not counting on their presence.
But then you would have to make an actual case against McDonalds, not just some vague references to “their treatment of employees.” Can you elaborate a little? Its a franchise, these people aren’t conquistadores or anything. And no, bringing in a foreign culture (while at the same time I might add, adapting to that culture) does not necessarily lead to “a kind of foreign imperialism.” That is a slippery slope argument.
It is, however, a form of foreign investment which works to stimulate the local economy. But I guess that is just too horrible to contemplate. What I am getting at here is that if you want to say there is something inherently wrong about the international expansion of a franchise like McDonalds then you are going to have to actually show that that expansion is “at the expense of the very people who make it possible.”
I don’t want to claim that the people who run the McDonalds empire are saints. In fact I never eat at McDonalds here in the states. I’m not willing to vilify them out of hand though, no one is forcing anybody to eat there.
Well said, Azael. It’s just another one of those “bashing anything American” things.
My son was in Russia at the time Yeltsin was coming to power. At the same time the news reported that McDonalds had opened in Moscow. The word was that the price of a 1/4 pounder was over $5.00. My son reported that he was living on $10.00 a week and also mentioned going to the McDonalds, so I asked about the obvious descrepancy. His answer was that there were two lines; one for foreigners and one for Russians. As long as you dressed like a Russian you got in the Russian line.
In Russia, Big Mac eats YOU!
-Yakov Smirnoff
Well, I don’t know about this. Right here in Silicon Valley, I can eat the foods of just about every culture in the world. Thai, French, Mexican, German, Russian, Italian, Ethiopian, and the list goes on. Many of these are authentic, run by immigrants from that nation. Certainly, when the dude moves from Viet nam & opens a restaurant here, he is driven by “revenues & profits”, isn’t he? I have heard that in England there are also many cultural foods available- in fact my friend insists the best curries come from Indian eateries in GB, not the subcontinent.
Besides- what’s wrong with “revenues & profits”?
As long as the Mc Donalds does not REPLACE local culture to any great extent (and is certainly hasn’t so far), then fine by me. Choice is a GOOD thing.
I admit that along with Blowero, McD’s is an occasional guilty pleasure. But note- McD’s food is NOT “bad for you”. What’s bad for you is eating that sort of fast food fried stuff TOO MUCH. Like ice cream, or bacon- it’s fine in moderation. And, you CAN eat healthy at a McD’s.
And I agree with MrO- altho i love the local cuisine, there are times when the sight of those golden arches has been a Godsend.
My first post in this thread (which is the first after the OP, IIRC) cites two books that convinced me that McDonald’s treatment of its own people is less than stellar. Both Ritzer and Schlosser lay out a litany of abuses, ranging from the minimum wage/no benefits combo (which is hard to knock 'em for too much; after all, they’ve gotta squeeze in a profit somewhere) to the punitive measures that the corporation takes against franchisees (revoking franchises without notice and for minor transgressions; poaching from one franchisee by placing another too close by).
So I didn’t feel that my post was a vague assertion; I guess I took it for granted that it was common knowledge that McDonald’s doesn’t treat its employees and franchisees well. So you’re right in pointing out that I didn’t mention any kind of support for my position.
RE: your last paragraph. Why don’t you eat there? Does it have to do with the people running the place (as the first sentence of that paragraph might suggest)?
Well about 7 years ago my parents were looking to buy a McDonald franchise here in aus but gave up because of the shocking treatment for the franchisee.
First the said that my dad would be the manager. My mum wouldn’t have ne thing to do with the business at all, she couldn’t work their, couldn’t be manager, and if my father died the business wouldn’t go under her name, if would go back to McDonalds. Their excuse for this was that the wife should be at home making dinner for the family.
Secondly as soon as u start making a profit they force you to in invest in new things, ie party rooms, playgrounds etc so therefore the franchisee is running on minimum profits for the franchisee the whole time. If you broke this rule and tried to make higher profits without building new things or along those lines, it would be breaking a clause in the contract and McDonalds would take the store back.
Thirdly our McDonalds here in Aus have a tendicy to open up new stores right near another one thats open, also said something in the contract about that.
In the end my parents said no way and turned it down.
Im not sure about business practises for big franchisees but my parents looked at a few different franchises (not other fast food though) and this was the worse of the lot.
Two things about McDonalds:
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apparently the city with the most McDonalds is right here, in Hong Kong. No cite, but I believe it. Damn things are everywhere.
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When I was in San Sebastian in Basque country in Spain a few years ago, I was told that McDonalds didn’t want to open a restaurant in that town because of fear of Basque reprisals (a political issue, not a reaction to the ambience of the place). Could anyone enlighten me on that?
Well Pakistan has rather a lot of Muslims. And I am willing to bet that most of those muslims don’t like America. So it seems strange that there is a very much American symbol (mcD) in that country.