McDonaldization- how it took over America

McDonald’s has grown to become one of the most influential symbols in contemporary American society and societies all over the world. McDonald’s influences every aspect of society, not just the restaurant industry. McDonald’s success is very noticeable. There is McDonald’s everywhere. At the rateof McDonald’s expansion, there may soon be one in your house (ewwww God forbid). Estimates show that their sales have rose to over 116 billion dollars and continues to grow. McDonald’s has taken the service industry by storm. Starbucks, KFC, Burger King and other fast-food businesses have taken McDonald’s uniformitarian policy and adopted it into their system.

When the first McDonald’s opened in Israel, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel was sent to be at the grand opening. The ambassador was approached by a young teenager and was asked for his autograph. The young teenager told the ambassador how he thought it was amazing to be the ambassador of McDonald’s. The U.S. ambassador corrected him letting him know he was not the ambassador of McDonald’s but the ambassador to Israel. The kid took back that he asked for his autograph and said he no longer desired his signature. This is really interesting fascinating to me because the teenager saw McDonald’s as more important than a political figure. As Americans, McDonald’s to us is simply just something we accepted as part of American culture; an icon if you will. It is just a place to grab something to eat really quick. However, in other countries, people see it as something much more than that.

Today, college cafeterias are beginning to look more like food courts you find in a mall where students have options like McDonald’s as well as Subway, Starbucks and Pizza Hut. Hotels like the Marriot are now supplying food to colleges so they would not be left out of the growing phenomena of McDonaldization. Fast food has become more readily available in hotels, airports and train stations. Some flights have even gone as far as to offer fast food options as in-flight meals. This to me is appalling though because fast food has taken over our lives. It consumes many people’s daily diets. America, in particular has completely embraced this fast-food drive thru way of life. Instead of sitting down to a nice healthy home cooked meal, families are instead just hitting up the nearest fast-food restaurant and eating that. Fast-food restaurants have changed the ways families connect. People no longer gather around the dinner table and discuss the activities of the day. Now they just take their "bag" and go off to their seperate rooms or locations.

Kids, especially, see fast food as merely a way of life. It is no longer a treat to get a happy meal but rather their daily dinner (or breakfast now that they have a wide variety of breakfast options). Despite nutrionists concerns, some schools are offering a free burger to kids that perform well in school. It is known as “an A for cheeseburger”. How disgusting is this? We reward kids who get good grades by giving something that clogs their arteries. This is absolutely atrocious.

Well why is McDonald’s so irresistible? It is a sign that people are in sync with this so-called contemporary lifestyle. McDonald’s monumental success lies in the fact that it offers calculability, predictability, efficiency and control. Calculability is everything able to be sized (time, cost, portion size as well as products offered). Predictability allows the consumer to know what to expect when they go to order something. Efficiency is the most important factor McDonald’s. It it the optimum amount of time of getting to point a to point b. Control applies to both the consumer and employee where they feel this time constraint output by the atmosphere in McDonalds. If a consumer eats too slow they may begin to feel this pressure to grab their food, eat it quickly and get out. Employees have this pressure to do well on their job or they are threatened by being replaced by machines as technology rapidly takes over the world. It is already happening in supermarkets, post offices, banks etc where humans are no longer needed in the workforce because machines are now doing their job. McDonald’s depends on these factors for its continued success in the fast-food restaurant industry.

An economic columnist dubbed McDonald’s as “the greatest restaurant chain in history”. Innovation is not discouraged in the workplace of McDonald’s among managers and franchises. McDonald’s continues as a force to reckoned with as they create a more health conscious menu (or at least they try). They have added salads and apples etc. However, they have also added iced coffee and mccafes to their menu as they compete with companies such as Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, two well known franchises for coffee.

There is no doubt that McDonald’s has taken America by storm and the world for that matter.The McDonald’s franchise is located in over 100 countries. It is estimated that 96% of school age children could recognize the McDonald’s logo. All around the world from Beiijing to France, the majority of people see McDonald’s as a symbol of modernity and contemporary lifestyle. McDonald’s is considered to be “Americana” and it is something that world is becoming obsessed with. However, in my opinion, it is an unhealthy obsession. Although McDonald’s strives to be more environmentally friendly and health conscious, it is just not working. McDonald’s menu, like many other fast food places, is just loaded with fat and salt as well as other ingredients that can have harmful effects in the long run. It is processed food that is just not good for you.

As a business, McDonald’s has obviously done well for itself. It is one of the most recognizable icons in the world. Its profits out do companies that compete with McDonald’s strategic ways of running the company. Many fast food chains strive to achieve the “McDonaldization” way in hopes of increasing sales and worker productivity. If you look at it strictly from the business sense then yes. McDonald's is an amazingly strong company. They continue to expand their menu and sales increase exponentially.

However, I am not part of the “Mc” world. I find the food they serve to be disgusting and unhealthy. Ok Ok now I understand people need to eat on the go. But come on people, really? McDonalds?? Its nothing but pre-packaged pre-processed food. There are healthier food options out there.