Throughout society today, as all products revolve around capitalism, the way we live in is considered to be a consumer culture. Meaning, the public consumes an abundance of products that unifies us to all be a culture. With that being said, certain commodities can become very popular and prominent in our society, therefore, a possibility of this being translated into the production of a new religion. The specific brand, in which this essay will be focused upon, is McDonald’s. Within this brand, there are certain characteristics associated with the enterprise, therefore creating the business to be seen as a religion. McDonalds is comparable to Coca-Cola as they are both practised as a fetish. Throughout this essay, it will be proven that McDonalds is a religion through, historical relevance and development, the three forms of religion; church of baseball, fetish of Coca-Cola, and potlatch of rock and roll, and lastly, the world-wide significance of the brand. Due to the famous, well-known symbol of the golden arch, McDonalds is seen as a worldwide trademark. “Beginning the international venture into Canada in 1967, the McDonald’s Corporation has rapidly expanded abroad” (Curtis, 1982). This can be related to the documentary watched in class, showing the rapid progression of Coca-Cola becoming a necessity in our society, and the cultural ties connected to the commodity. The fascination and popularity grew rapidly, therefore creating an international symbol profoundly. The
McDonald’s is the global foodservice business with more than 20,000 local restaurants serving more than 30 million customers each day. McDonald’s has spread through over 100 countries, including countries in East Asia (Watson, 3). In the book “Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia” by James L. Watson, he studied three countries which were Beijing, Seoul, and Japan. Also, he wrote how McDonald’s has played a role in each countries cultures that he mentioned. He mentioned how different countries McDonald’s share similarities and differences the way cultures were impacted economically and politically, and also, how people viewed the American cultures coming to their countries. In this essay, I’ll be writing about how McDonald’s has been
In Eric Schlosser’s 2001 piece, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, he examines the rise of the fast food industry in the 1950’s as it was associated with the rampant consumerism of the era and shows how this led to the fast food industry becoming one of the most unethical, manipulative, and greedy industries that ever existed. Schlosser shows how fast food corporations, through mass appealing advertising, were able to manipulate consumers, especially young generations, into buying their products. Children were made the targets of advertising campaigns because these corporations knew that they were the most gullible audience. The 1950’s were filled with consumer trends in which buyers went after products that they believed to be popular and wanted to have the same things as everyone else. Corporations knew that they would have a very easy job in luring consumers because many other products and services had become trend setters in the 1950’s, so consumers would line up to buy fast food if it was presented as being “modern” and “trendy” in a sense. This paper will detail how consumerism and advertising played a large role in constructing American cultural identity during the post-war era.
McDonald’s is not some ordinary fast food restaurant with its trademark logo advertised almost everywhere in the U.S., many people all over the world know about these famous golden arches. The McDonald’s franchising started in 1955 and in less than fifty years, McDonald’s was introduced all over the world in countries such as, China, Japan, Great Britain, Sweden, France etc. McDonald’s global expansion has intermingled with cultural traditions because these countries are becoming more westernized. Since East Asia is becoming more westernized it also means that there is a cultural difference because of the influences from outside the country. The cultures are being changed because of how ideas are expressed by people and not by their
So with the introduction of a foreign symbol into a host country like a new McDonald’s restaurant, the impact is not so dramatic and the host country does not fully take in the American culture but shapes it in a way to suit their lifestyle and tastes. For example, the food and names of the food at McDonald’s in Tokyo is slightly different to those in America. In India, it serves lamb burgers and in Germany beer is available. This shows that the American formula was not as international as had been hoped, and local cultural practices had to be acknowledged.
“I’m lovin’ it” (mcdonalds.com) is the motto for McDonalds. I can remember watching the commercials on my television and wanting to eat McDonalds. Going to McDonalds was my favorite place to eat as a kid. I loved the salty fries and the prize you would get in a happy meal and I would beg my parents to take me so I could get them. When I was little they had the slide and ball pit, which I absolutely loved to play in. As I got older I started to learn about different cultures and I was always curious how the American businesses impacted other countries. I always knew that McDonalds made a ginormous impact in America. Every kid wants a meal from McDonalds but I would wonder if children in other countries would crave McDonalds meals like Americans
When someone hears the word “McDonald’s,” they may automatically associate it with various descriptions and words such as American food, hamburgers, french fries, and chicken nuggets. Others may assume that McDonald’s is only famous in the United States, but what they do not know is that McDonald’s expanded their success outside of its origin to over 100 countries around the world. In the novel, Golden Arches East, the author, James L. Watson, focused on the company’s expansion in East Asia and studied how the American culture and traditions of McDonald’s influenced the Asian countries and their people.
One thing is the connection of a brand’s name with certain issue or events; coca cola used to be supplied as a vital drink to the US army. Also, having the brand’s name and logo everywhere helps in their spreading. The documentary tries to emphasize upon the fact that these food’s super bands represent an idea and each of them has it’s own personality. When you think of McDonald’s, you think of speed and consistency. Red Bull brand name is most often attached to sports and so
Food is very much a part of pop culture, and the beliefs, practices, and trends in a culture affect its eating practices. Pop culture includes the ideas and objects generated by a society, including foods, and other systems, as well as the impact of these ideas and objects on society. For example, Mcdonald's is another of the thousands of fast food chains that populate our cities though they often use the term “popular culture” only to refer to media forms. Their popularity has also increased internationally. Although all humans need food to survive, people's food habits and how they obtain, prepare, and consume food, are the result of learned behaviors. Mcdonald’s, like other food chains, has made an effort to ‘localize’ its products so that they will be more successful in each different cultural context. These collective behaviors, as well as the values and attitudes they reflect, come to represent a group’s pop culture.
I have chosen the company named by Mc Donald’s for my assignment topic as it is a worldwide and well-known fast food company covered in Asia and Europe countries .
“The Golden Arches Logo” and “McDonald’s” are the trademarks which are considered to be of great value to the company. The logo is well known globally and represents strong brand image. While making capital allocation decisions, company prioritize the spending on enriching customer’s experience through which it can achieve sustainable long-term growth in sales and market share. Company aims for markets which have strong returns and help company to succeed in achieving long-term growth.
Much like a smile, the “Golden Arches” can be understood in any language. The McDonalds brand is the most well-known, internationally embraced fast food empire. McDonalds operates over 31,000 franchises throughout the world, with the United States leading the way with a whopping 13,381outlets as of May 2009 [1]. McDonalds has the fast food market cornered, offering an increasing variety of food of beverages, marketed to people of all ages to eat at any time of the day. However, being a corporate giant has its issues. McDonalds has faced a lot of criticism for its high-fat, high-sugar, potentially addictive menu. While the corporation is not likely to outright admit responsible for its actions, McDonalds has seen some changes to address
Today’s society and culture is becoming more and more McDonaldized. This paper will illustrate what the process of McDonaldization is. In addition, this paper will show how today’s society has adapted to this process along with using the theories from Max Weber.
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
Since McDonald’s is the most well know fast food chain in the world with a market cap of 69.35 billion, brand recognition is their biggest strength. The secret of McDonald’s success is its willingness to innovate and maintain consistency in the operation of its many outlets. In recent years McDonald’s has introduced Premium Salads, Snack Wraps, fresh Apple Dippers in the United States, and Corn Cups in China. Also, McDonald 's products are priced so low that economic conditions are almost insignificant.