top of page
Writer's picturedeenawhitwam

McDonald's Foray into Fine Cuisine

In America, McDonald’s sells burgers. Everywhere else, McDonald’s sells America. McDonald’s became a place of refuge during my year traveling abroad, and I was fascinated to learn how the restaurant adapted to local culture while firmly maintaining, celebrating, and capitalizing on their profitable American identity.

McDonald's in Warsaw, Poland

There were a lot of things I expected to learn during my 10 months backpacking the world, but discovering that a shitty American burger restaurant was a fine dining establishment in every other country was not one of those things. I am not a fan of the mayonnaise-soaked burgers at this chain restaurant, and yet when I caught view of a big golden “M” while traveling, my heart filled with relief. That “M” meant a place to rest my weary shoulders and put down my bag even at weird hours in the night. It meant access free wifi so I could find a hostel to sleep in hat night. Most importantly, it meant a public restroom that would be clean with toilet paper - no squatting required.I distinctly remember walking down the streets of Amsterdam when I suddenly and unexpectedly got my period. Panicked, I started asking shops down the street if they had a restroom - I would buy anything if they had a bathroom! One by one each clerk apologized and informed me that they had no public toilets. Finally, one clerk told me there was a McDonald’s a few blocks away and that it would be my best bet. I had to pay a small fee to use the toilet, but that shitty American restaurant had my back when I needed it.


For a section of my trip, I was traveling with an American friend that was obsessed with McDonald’s, and made an effort to visit the McDonald’s in every country they traveled to. At first I didn’t understand - I assumed the fast food chain would be standard around the world. That was not the case. While each of the chain restaurants offers and celebrates cornerstone American cuisine like beef burgers and milkshakes, each country had dishes tailored to match local cuisine. The Polish McDonald’s offered kebabs, the Spanish McDonald’s put cheese and ham on standard fries, and the Vietnamese McDonald’s sold rice and chicken meals. At each of these locations, the lines to purchase food went out the door - I couldn’t believe it. McDonald’s was so popular, in fact, that across southeast Asia when there was not a McDonald’s to be found we encountered something very similar - Lotteria. This chain fast food restaurant sold almost the same product as McDonald’s, and their marketing included cowboy lingo and traditional American lyrics with a heavy hand. These restaurants were not selling burgers so much as they were selling the brand of my home country.

Lotteria in Rural Vietnam

Before my trip, I had not realized the inherent value of an American-associated product. Where I am from, McDonald’s is cheap. The local Serbians, however, told me that the McDonald’s was for rich people. I was twice as shocked when a Dutch local told me the same about McDonald’s in Holland. In my experience, Americans choose to eat here primarily because it is cheap; in fact, options are so affordable in relation to expensive fresh produce options that fast food directly contributes to a nationwide obesity problem, primarily affecting those most financially strained. I was absolutely blown away when in some of the economically weakest countries I visited had McDonald’s prices that matched those in America. At one McDonald’s in a Western European country, I turned out the door and left when I saw how crazy expensive a sandwich was going to cost. The targeted market for McDonald’s was completely different from what I was accustomed to growing up in the United States, and I quickly learned that I was in the center of the target consumer market for global McDonald’s.

McDonald's in Hanoi, Vietnam

McDonald’s is a backpackers oasis. Located in most major cities around the world and many minor ones, this fast food establishment promises English menus, free wifi, and the elusive public restroom. It is not somewhere I frequent in the United States, and quick adaptation to being a huge fan caught me by surprise. By celebrating the inherent American qualities of the fast food chain, while still adapting to local taste, McDonald’s around the world is able to charge top dollar for shitty burgers and the American experience.

20 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page