Okay. So I want you to do something for me. The photo below is a game similar to Where's Waldo, except I'm not going to tell you what you're looking for.
Ok? OK! Ready? Go!
Ok? OK! Ready? Go!
Ok, if you haven't figured it out yet, there is something a bit off about the content of this image. It's on a wall, sure. But where? And why is he not wearing a shirt? And why is he completely hairless? Is this an Abercrombie advertisement? Well, for the answer LOOK IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE WALL. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU SEE? A FUCKING McDONALDS LOGO. Sorry y'all, this blog just got rated R for mature content. I mean, given that any red-blooded American boy would look at that wall and desire a slab of meat, I am not sure I would have made the same design choices as this was in Porto (Portugal). But ok why?
So this actually got me thinking a lot about me, my relationship to McDonalds, and most
interestingly how McDonalds represents itself in different countries.
Lets talk about me first. I have not eaten McDonalds save emergency or lack of rest stop alternative since sometime in middle school. It was a very good choice, and probably will add a few years on to the tail end of my life. At one point, i was really loving it. Thankfully, though, i grew out of it. Any establishment running/having run a campaign advertising their new chicken nuggets as "now 100% chicken" is not at the top of my restaurant list.
That being said, I am an asshole, and like the U.S. Constitution (?? bad metaphor...we'll see if this one works...) I have defined my terms broadly enough that they may be interpreted differently depending on the circumstance (ehh...). Let me give a few examples:
If you peruse the McMenus of various countries Donald's, their strategy actually appears right before your eyes; in addition to selling pieces of American culture that foreigners can literally consume, they alter their menus based on their host country in order to appeal to their target customer's cultural sensibility. In Israel, like i mentioned, all the meat is Kosher. In the Philippines, for example, McDonald's serves pasta. Apparently, Philippinos like pasta. I want to say that in Croatia, there may have been a McBurek, but that might have just been me ordering a Burek and then sitting outside a McDonalds. In France, they serve French Fries.... ha ha.
But the most interesting of all the McDonald's Outposts is the set of them in Portugal. Each "restaurant" has, in addition to the main menu and serving area, a separate express stand that is made to resemble a Portuguese bakery. The stand, sometimes with its own ordering window, serves coffee (The Portuguese take coffee very seriously...) and various pastries. Included are the same Pastel de Nata and Bollo de Arroz that you would find at a real bakery.
McGenious or McInsidious. Probably both. By adapting to a foreign country's cultural sensibilities, the company manages to package a version of the commodified American culture that is slightly different from the products served state-side (eg. instead of quarter pounder, the larger burger is a McRoyale or just Royale) with a similarly commodified version of the host country. This resulting amalgam is really interesting to think about.
Really, to be honest, the whole point of this entry was to rant about the abercrombie ads and justify to myself going to McDonald's abroad. It is evil. Terrible. Awful. But honestly, every country's McXperience is slightly different. McTourism? Maybe. McTasty? Especially when you're drunk.
So this actually got me thinking a lot about me, my relationship to McDonalds, and most
interestingly how McDonalds represents itself in different countries.
Lets talk about me first. I have not eaten McDonalds save emergency or lack of rest stop alternative since sometime in middle school. It was a very good choice, and probably will add a few years on to the tail end of my life. At one point, i was really loving it. Thankfully, though, i grew out of it. Any establishment running/having run a campaign advertising their new chicken nuggets as "now 100% chicken" is not at the top of my restaurant list.
That being said, I am an asshole, and like the U.S. Constitution (?? bad metaphor...we'll see if this one works...) I have defined my terms broadly enough that they may be interpreted differently depending on the circumstance (ehh...). Let me give a few examples:
- I will go to a McDonald's in an airport, but only in a foreign country.
- I will go to a McDonald's in the U.S. ONLY if i am dragged there, and i will try and order a McSalad Shaker even though they no longer exist. McFuck.
- I will go to a McDonald's at a mall, but only in Israel where it is Kosher.
- I will go to a McDonald's on the street, but only if i am drunk, lazy, just got off a boat/bus/train and require something reassuringly American.
- This often backfires, as the customer service of any McDonald's employee in Europe is far better than LaKretsha Brown at the Hyde Park McDonald's back in Chicago.
If you peruse the McMenus of various countries Donald's, their strategy actually appears right before your eyes; in addition to selling pieces of American culture that foreigners can literally consume, they alter their menus based on their host country in order to appeal to their target customer's cultural sensibility. In Israel, like i mentioned, all the meat is Kosher. In the Philippines, for example, McDonald's serves pasta. Apparently, Philippinos like pasta. I want to say that in Croatia, there may have been a McBurek, but that might have just been me ordering a Burek and then sitting outside a McDonalds. In France, they serve French Fries.... ha ha.
But the most interesting of all the McDonald's Outposts is the set of them in Portugal. Each "restaurant" has, in addition to the main menu and serving area, a separate express stand that is made to resemble a Portuguese bakery. The stand, sometimes with its own ordering window, serves coffee (The Portuguese take coffee very seriously...) and various pastries. Included are the same Pastel de Nata and Bollo de Arroz that you would find at a real bakery.
McGenious or McInsidious. Probably both. By adapting to a foreign country's cultural sensibilities, the company manages to package a version of the commodified American culture that is slightly different from the products served state-side (eg. instead of quarter pounder, the larger burger is a McRoyale or just Royale) with a similarly commodified version of the host country. This resulting amalgam is really interesting to think about.
Really, to be honest, the whole point of this entry was to rant about the abercrombie ads and justify to myself going to McDonald's abroad. It is evil. Terrible. Awful. But honestly, every country's McXperience is slightly different. McTourism? Maybe. McTasty? Especially when you're drunk.
1 comment:
there is a good article about the fast food experience in china and how the establishment of "western" institutions creates "new" social spaces:
"of hamburger and social space: consuming mcdonald's in beijing," yunxiang yan (in the consumer revolution in urban china, pp. 201-225)
i tried to find it on the internet but i think it's only on chalk. try this link and see if it works? it might not if you're not registered for the class it was from: https://chalk.uchicago.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=%2Fbin%2Fcommon%2Fcourse.pl%3Fcourse_id%3D_4337_1%26sc%3D%252Fcourses%252F1%252F2005.04.48520150XX%252Fcontent%252F_225300_1%252FYan2003_Hamburger_17092004.pdf
if not, i can e-mail it, it's a pretty short article but really interesting, and also touches on a lot of things that you mentioned in your post (cultural assimilation, for one).
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