I read the interesting “fact” that no two countries have ever declared war on each while both had a McDonalds in them. Years of reading SD have cultivated a strong skepticism in me, so I thought I’d see whether anyone has any evidence for or against this claim (although I think that proving such a statement would be rather difficult).
This might have something to do with the fact that countries don’t tend to “declare” their wars anymore. A list of their “restaurants” worldwide would help on the issue, but I can’t seem to get myself to access their website.
Hmmm… McD’s hamburgers may have a sedative in them… that’s all I can make out of this… (or maybe Mayor McCheese is a better negotiator than I had previously thought…)
I’ve heard this before. The idea is supposed to be that McDonalds only establishes itself in countries with a stable middle-class population large enough to support this sort of service industry, and countries with stable middle-class populations typically don’t go to war with one another. (They pick on countries too poor to fight back, I guess.)
It kind of makes sense, but in life as in true-or-false tests, one should be wary of claims that include terms like “never” or “always”.
Try submitting your question to
http://www.snopes2.com/
(urban legends debunking website)
I believe this was true until last Spring, when we went after Yugoslavia.
Not true anymore…if that was a war…and if any of those European places selling Big Macs that have that spicy ketchup rather than the real thing can be truly called “McDonalds.”
I believe it is also key to note that no countries at the time of the war have both had a McDonald’s. So that makes it somewhat more believable. I have read this before too in a College Sociology textbook.
Did Argentina and Britain both have McDonalds during the Falklands War?
I was barking up the wrong tree. The first McDonalds in Argentina didn’t open until 1986.
But occasionally McDonalds manages to kill off a customer even without a war. (NOT a sick joke.)
from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/northern_ireland/newsid_1109000/1109764.stm