Super Sized Mnc - McDonald’s

McDonald’s constructs new restaurants all over the world. They provide a taste of American culture in places where people may not know much at all about America or Americans. They provide new industry and jobs to places that may be war torn or simply lack a good job market. This is a positive implication for the town in which the McDonald’s is built but in the long run many of the negative aspects of McDonald’s seem to surface. The instant gratification provided by McDonald’s is the form of a cheap meal and an easy, zero training job comes at the expense of many other things.

The reason that the McDonald’s corporation is so profitable is because they do everything at minimal cost. The food they sell is produced and prepared as efficiently as possible without regard to their effects on those who consume them. Due to the decreased cost of commodities, they have increased the size of their portions rather than create healthier food to promote a better diet for their consumers. Obesity in America has been growing since the 1970’s because a generation has developed a taste for fat in childhood that is difficult to lose even in adulthood; essentially McDonald’s food has become an addiction for many people. McDonald’s and similar establishments are only partially responsible for making America so fat. Their food is unhealthy but it is the lifestyle that most Americans today are living that deserves even more of the blame. People in the United States have become increasingly sedentary. They are driving instead of walking, seldom performing manual labor, and replacing exercise with things like television, computers, and video games. McDonald’s food is high in fat, sugar, animal products, and salt. A diet consisting of those things is linked to bowel cancer, heart disease, and among others obesity.

McDonald’s, in a way similar to the tobacco industry, targets advertising to children. In many of their commercials is Ronald McDonald; a clown. In China, children refer to him as “Uncle McDonald” and like him because he is “funny, gentle, kind and… he understands children’s hearts.” (Schlosser, 530) In Australia, half of the nation’s nine- and ten-year-olds thought that Ronald McDonald knew what kids should eat. In almost every McDonald’s there is a “Play Place” where children can go and play in a ball pit or in whatever other jungle-gym type equipment. They give out toys with each Happy Meal. Granted it is not a crime nor is it even seen as immoral to make an establishment that caters to children and their interests, but it is wrong that they market the entire restaurant to children when the food is so tremendously unhealthy. They also depend on the fact that children will whine and complain to their parents so that they can eat there. Here is another situation in which McDonald’s does not deserve all of the blame. Some aspects such as the decline of the nuclear family and other factors such as a generally lower level of parental responsibility have lead people to blame McDonald’s for their children being fat. Our society is always looking for the easy way out. It starts with McDonald’s who provides parents with an easy meal for their children and doesn’t even require the parent to leave their car, let alone plan dinner and then cook it. Then when their children are fat they blame McDonald’s because their food is unhealthy. This is true but the laziness and overall lack of responsibility on the parent’s behalf is left out of the equation.

The building of a McDonald’s also contributes to a change in the culture around it. Christa Maerker wrote in an essay on Germany’s infatuation with the United States, “For a child growing up in [postwar] Berlin… the Americans were angels. Anything from them was bigger and more wonderful than anything that preceded it.”(Schlosser, 531) People sought refuge in American movies, music, food, and culture in general. In Plauen, Germany MTV is a popular television station and all the songs on the radio are in English. A McDonald’s was opened up in Plauen, Germany. The town had been industrious before World War I but bombing during World War II, thriving extremism, and the Cold War caused the town to become a dismal place with about a 20% unemployment rate. A McDonald’s was constructed there just several months after the end of the Cold War. It brought hope for a new future. It represented Americana and hopes that they too would be as industrious as the United States. It was also the first building to be constructed in Plauen since the end of the war. A clean and new building amidst the old, ramshackle, graffiti-covered ones gave the people a sense of optimism. A downside to the rise of American culture in other countries is the decline of the local culture. It is very difficult for the traditional German restaurants to compete with McDonald’s due to their efficient operation. Traditional restaurants