The Impact of Mcdonalds in East Asia

The topic was “McDonald's Takes Olympic Stage to Announce Advances in Children's Well-Being, Menu Innovation and Access to Nutrition Information”. The message was communicated by McDonald’s US President and CEO, Don Thompson, McDonald’s U.K. CEO, Jill McDonald, Chief Brand Officer Kevin Newell; and, McDonald's Executive Chef Dan Coudreaut. Along with the press release, McDonalds opened up 4 Olympic Restaurants that served various menu items with an assortment of tastes and nutritional values (Hary,R 2012).

Another social outcome from the fast food industry is that Ronald McDonald, McDonald’s fictional character, is now the second most recognized fictional character behind Santa Claus and some don’t even recognize Jesus Christ (Schlosser 4). The Golden Arches of McDonald’s are now more widely known than the Christian Cross (Schlosser 5). It is these things that are scaring a lot of Americans. Kids recognize and know more fast food companies than they do about school, religion, and other things they may need to know in the future.

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

The way that Burger King and other fast food restaurant chains do business and markets their products to consumers is due to the change in our society to where the consumer wants the biggest, fastest, and best product they can get for their money. This change in society can be attributed to a process known as McDonaldization. Although McDonaldization can be applied to many other parts of our society, this paper will focus on its impact on Burger King and Taco Bell restaurants. My belief is that the process of McDonaldization has lead our generations toward a more a much more efficient lifestyle, with much less quality. From my observations and studies of these fast food resturants, several themes have become

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 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.

When McDonald’s was put on the spot for advertising to children, a spokesperson said, “Ronald McDonald never sells to children… He informs and inspires through magic and fun.” This statement alone builds-up Ronald McDonald. Instead of a marketing strategy, he is an inspirational, magical character, supporting much higher ideals than simply trying to increase sales. McDonald’s is also guilty of not addressing issues. The company will instead draw attention to the Ronald McDonald house, and other good they have done. McDonald’s, like other food companies, employs card stacking to avoid issues and build up their reputation.

The restaurant industry is a dominating power in the United States. Specifically, fast food restaurants are the leading force of the food that Americans consume every day. The popular chains- such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s- control the way that consumers eat, due to the fact that they remove most mom and pop type businesses. In Chew on This, authors Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson explore the effects that the fast food industry has taken on children’s lives, food distribution and packaging, and health of the public since its rise to fame.

When faced with the task of providing nutritious and healthy food to a large population, the American government seems to neglect both ideas; instead, we are fed diseased, pesticized food concepts. Why concepts? Because the food we eat daily is a mere reminder that general American health means nothing, and large profits are everything. Food is now mass produced, the idea of farms and mills have been completely removed from the process of food making and replaced with machines and large factories. Though we think we have escaped this concept of Mcdonaldization regarding our food, we have not, the food industry continues to practice this basic infrastructure: Control, Efficiency, Calculability, Predictability,

The New York Times bestseller Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is one of the most riveting books to come out about fast food restaurants to date (Schlosser, 2004). Fast food consumption has become a way of life for many in the United States as well as many other countries in the world. The author Eric Schlosser an investigative reporter whose impeccable researching and bold interviewing captures the true essence of the immense impact that fast food restaurants are having in America (2004). Beginning with McDonald’s, the first fast food restaurant, which opened on April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois to current trends of making fast food a global realization McDonald’s has paved the way for many fast food

I love Happy Meals. Opening the house-shaped box, getting my free toy; it’s one of the best things about being a kid. And who hasn’t begged their parents to stay an extra fifteen minutes to play in the playground or laughed at a commercial with Ronald McDonald and the Hamburgler? McDonald’s is a part of childhood, and it’s a part of life. There are McDonalds’ all

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.

You would hope that businesses all over the world would work to the best of their ability in order to be the best. However, this is not always the case as there are many differences when it comes to businesses that are based in different countries. The way that a UK McDonalds functions is very different to the way Haveli in India does, due to the political, social and legal factors that cause them do so.

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.