Impact Of The Sexualization Of The Fast Food Industry

To gain the readers’ trust, Zinczenko gives a background information about his childhood and how he grew up eating fast food. He stated that his “lunch and dinner” consisted of a “daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut” (Zinczenko). This narrative

In todays world, technology has become a large contribution to everyones daily life. We ese it to check the time, weather, get in contact with other people, and to stay in the loop on social media. Even so more dependent on your phone that without it you feel a void. Ritzer uses the example when someone Googles something or blog about a recent trip, he relates that to McDonaldization. According to George Ritzer, McDonaldization "is the process by which principles of fast food restaurants have to come to dominate virtually every aspect of society.” He uses the example McDonalds and other fast foods such as Wendys, Domino, Burger King, etc that offers a different way of labor intensive. The reason why it has been so compelling is because it is so convenient and affordable. These reasons make it easy and important for our society

For my essay I have chosen George Ritzer and his theory on the McDonaldization of society. The theory stems from the famous rationalization theory by Max Weber. This essay will discuss Ritzers application of Webers ideas. I will introduce and explain his theory. I will give examples of how it affects us and applies to modern day society, through fast food restaurants, banks and supermarkets. I will explain how it affects both the consumer and the employee. To finish up I will summarize this in a conclusion at the end of the essay.

George Ritzer 's book The McDonaldization of Society opened and exposed one of what can be considered societies major flaws: McDonaldization. Ritzer suggests that in the late 20th century the socially structured form of the fast-food restaurant has become the organizational force representing and pushing rationalization further into everyday lives and individual identity. Henry Ford was the first McDonaldization pioneer with his vision of an assembly line for improving the production of automobiles. His revolutionary idea dramatically changed how many automobiles could be produced and was very efficient.

The industrial revolution in the eighteenth century, changed dramatically the way of life for many americans. As fast food restaurants became a part of the american diet, many fast food chains competed aggressively to become the best, and maintain their spots at the top of the fast food chain. Given that many of these fast food restaurants still are profitable and successful today, there is no doubt that these companies are doing something to insure their food continues to draw people into their many restaurants and drive in locations. At an attempt to study the four principles of George Ritzer’s “McDonaldization of Society”, I observed three different fast food restaurants. My observations included McDonald's and Jack in the box..

What society is faced with are these specific questions: “Is McDonaldization good for society?” and “How will it affect our future?” These questions will be unanswered for many years to come as humans digest the likability of social control.

McDonaldization is a sociological theory which explains how the franchise industry comes to dominate the U.S. and global market. George Ritzer describes its four traits as follows: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. For instance, if you enter McDonald’s, you could see the exactly same structures and menus in every branch. It is predictability that services and products are very similar from one time and place to another time and place. You may want to order your favorite Big Mac with some French fries because the burger is relatively cheap and big (9.843cm). Like this, McDonald’s pursues calculability, which indicates calculating, counting, and quantifying means and ends, with quantify serving as a surrogate for quality. You go get your food. You do not need a silverware. After eating food, you need to clear your table by yourself. Through this simplification process, McDonald’s amplifies efficiency, choosing the optimal means to achieve a given end. While eating your burger, you might want to leave soon because the chair is too small and uncomfortable. Likewise, fast-food industries control their customers through use of nonhuman technology.

This paper deals with the entry of McDonald’s into the Russian market and the prevailing economic environment in Russia at the time. It will briefly outline the steps taken by the team to ensure a successful establishment in

At the beginning of the introduction Schlosser shares common experience that he and many of the public share such as explaining the whole experience of purchasing fast food. Since it is evident that this a relatable experience us, as the readers, find it easier to trust him. Schlosser than states his long-held interest for fast-food and how social, economic, and technological factors can affect what food people choose involve in their diet. He provides evidence of the many ways in which fast food chains have changed the “hourly wage of the average U.S worker” and how much money is being spent on fast food restaurants rather than fresh ingredients by families. Not only does he describe the impact it has on the nation’s diet, but he also explains how fast food chain’s intense advertising and marketing, for example McDonald’s have managed to influence children all over the world.

Nowadays, as people spend more and more time on their careers, they are trying to save as much time as possible on their basic necessities of life. With limited time to enjoy other parts of one’s life such as watching movies, making friends, spending time with loved ones, and so forth, one tends to cut down on time preparing meals, which increases the demand for accessibility and convenience of fast food. As a result, industrial food, a highly processed fast food, such McDonald’s and frozen food, has rapidly developed. While fast food has brought about convenience, it has created lots of problems nonetheless. The following three sources highlight the problem from different perspectives.

Another important book that one can read while thinking about the rapid growth of fast food restaurants is called ‘Mcdonaldization of Society’ by George Ritzer. The book was published in the year 1993. George Ritzer is an American sociologist and author who studies globalization, patterns of consumption and modern and post modern social theory. In the book, Ritzer took some elements from the work of Max Weber and expanded them, and produced a critical analysis of the impact the minor structural changes on human interaction. The central concept of Weber’s that Ritzer uses in his work is the concept of ‘rationalization’. The whole process of rapid increase in the number of fast food restaurants has been termed by Ritzer as “mcdonaldization”.

The theory of ‘McDonaldization’ was founded by the American Sociologist, George Ritzer, in the late 19th Century. In his book, ‘The McDonaldization of Society’, he defines the term ‘McDonaldization’ as “the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the World.” (Ritzer, 2014). ‘McDonaldization’ was adapted from the original ideas of Max Weber and his ideas of bureaucracy and rationalisation. In his theory, Weber stated that the Western World has been captured by efficiency, predictability, calculability and control (Ritzer, 2000); the four principles that Ritzer refers to in his definition of ‘McDonaldization’.

Ritzer describes McDonaldization as “...the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world” (Ritzer, 1993:1). This penetration by the ideal of “McDonaldization” can be seen in our school system. School systems are moving towards producing graduates, as apposed to imparting knowledge. Currently in the US we have over 13,000 McDonalds, and according to Ritzer the US only contains half of the worlds McDonalds (Ritzer, 2013:287). These figures show that globally we are moving towards producing for consumers, standardized products.

The company researched for the purpose of this paper is McDonald 's. This company 's history dates back since 1940 when Mac and Dick McDonald initially opened McDonald 's BBQ restaurant located in San Bernardino, CA. In 1948 they shut down the restaurant, just to reopen it as a self-service drive-in restaurant. According to About McDonald’s (2012), their menu included only 9 items, such as: milk, coffee, soft drinks, cheeseburger, hamburger, potato chips, and a slice of pie. Potato chips were then replaced by French fries. The history of this company is significantly market by Ray Kroc, who in 1954 at a visit to McDonald 's in San Bernardino decides to have a franchise of McDonald 's. A year later, in 1955, he opens his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. The franchising plan allowed growth and by 1965 there were more than 700 restaurants across United States. McDonald 's

Schlosser announces a problem with McDonald restaurants effecting local cultures. He says McDonalds restaurants are stationing themselves all over the globe. So much so that he states “Ernst Doerfter, a prominent member of the doomed East Germen parliament, who called for an official ban on ‘McDonalds and similar abnormal garbage-makers’” (Schlosser 480). The quote shows just how much McDonalds is trying to associate themselves with every country. East Germany was bothered so