Choice Of Topic
The fast food market had seen much intense competition but it seems that McDonald’s is able to have a major breakthrough. McDonald’s breakthrough is seen as a major impact of the influence by the fast food market. McDonald’s tagline is ‘I’m loving It’, as their intention is to enable everyone in enjoying their life to the fullest and their happy meal show their intense desire in bringing happiness to every customer, especially children, they serve.
Furthermore, results have shown that the most popular foods bought by youth in the USA were French fries, soda, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, and hamburgers. Happy Meals were bought by more than half of the 490 youth.
From the above statistics, we can see that McDonald’s is a strong influence to all walks of life.
Reasons for choice of topic
McDonald’s breakthrough has indeed brought happiness to children, but it can also be a negative force, causing unhealthiness, such as obesity among children.
Both happiness and unhealthiness are significant impacts as they affect the growth of our country, for example, if our citizens are happy, our workforce will probably be more productive, and thus improving the economy of our country and our whole society will be livened up. If our citizens are unhealthy, our workforce will not be operating at its maximum, again affecting our country’s economy.
Management Of future Developments aka Solutions
To expand the positive impacts of and diminish the drawbacks
The Plan:
To diminish the drawbacks (unhealthiness):
1. A healthy week, when McDonalds can offer discounts if customers have 100% Pure Minute Maid Orange Juice, Magnolia Hi-Calcium Milk or Smoothies as part of their meal and have fries switched to corn cup. Aims to promote the healthier options of fast food and encourage children to have the responsibility of choosing what they should eat.
2. McDonalds can have a digital nutrition calculator in stores where customers can make informed decisions for their meal as they will be aware of the dietary values of their food.
To expand the positive effects (Making people happy) :
1. Change the music genre in stores to fast-paced and cheerful as it not only helps to cheer the customers up but also helps to increase productivity and allow people to eat more quickly and clear their seats, killing two birds in one stone.
2. Have loyalty programs. For example, reward points can be exchanged for a free healthy snacks and when customers receive ‘rewards’, they tend to be happy.
McDonalds. What had started as a humble family owned drive-through has become a multi-million dollar industry. Everywhere one goes, there are reminders of how amazingly widespread this company has become, whether it be seeing McDonald’s famous golden arches on a billboard or hearing the catchy “I’m Lovin’ It” tune in a commercial. But more than this, McDonalds has become part of our global identity– our McWorld.
The obesity problem in this country has gotten worse, a lot worse, and the surge in obesity can be tied directly to fast food. I was appalled by the fact that since 1980 the number of people either fat of obese has doubled, and in that time frame there are twice as many overweight children and three times as many overweight adolescents. Looking strictly at the numbers, it is very easy to find a direct correlation between the number of overweight or obese individuals and the number of fast food establishments. However these fast food outlets are not created in a vacuum, they are servicing a demand. Each day one in four Americans visits a fast food restaurant. Our culture has evolved to one of immediate gratification, we want it convenient, and we want it now. The fast food industry has simply seized that cultural demand and has taken advantage of it all the way to the bank. I think we have a cultural weakness that looks for someone to blame for our problems and McDonalds certainly makes a nice target.
To mitigate this contradiction, McDonald’s in the past few years have been trying to make their menus healthier. They have added some different items to the menu and have stopped advertising less healthy menu items towards children. McDonald’s has added salads, fruits, and raw cut vegetables to its menu in the most recent years. (Strom, 2013) Even though McDonald’s has tried to add more healthier food to their menu they still make more money from all the unhealthy menu options opposed to the healthy menu options. “Sure, McDonald 's is touting its menu refresh, and various stats to prove its food is nutritious…The big money that McDonald 's makes still comes from greasy burgers, large fries, and soda pop.” (Fooducate,
“Today, more than 95% of all chronic disease is caused by food choice, toxic food ingredients, nutritional deficiencies and lack of physical exercise” Mike Adams (1967- present). People tend to believe our obesity epidemic is due to our high-calorie fast food restaurants. They are quick to blame others for their own mistakes and their willingness to change their eating habits. Fast food restaurants are not to blame for our obesity problem in our society but as a consumer, we are making that ultimate choice. We need to stop and think about what we are putting in our bodies and what they are doing to us. Yes, it’s true, it’s easier to find a McDonalds than a fruit or vegetable stand, but why not choose the salad with half the dressing at McDonalds
From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating customers. With each generation that passes, brings fast food chains into more homes and continues impacting lives.
McDonalds promotes the construct of “healthiness” as a justification as to why a consumer should purchase their food. This article introduces an interesting viewpoint that despite these claims of “healthiness” or even the inclusion of low calorie options does not ensure that the consumer will not overconsume their food. I will use this source to expand the findings in "Nutritional Quality at Eight U.S. Fast-Food Chains 14-Year Trends” which argues that despite the addition of “healthy” options at fast food restaurants, the overall nutritional quality of the menu remained poor. An analysis of these two sources will be used to help answer my research questions: what consists of healthy food in the McDonalds “Questions” campaign and what are the implications of this definition of healthy food? I will use these sources to support the significance of my claim. Specifically, I will use Downs as evidence for my claim that despite marketing campaigns aimed at redefining McDonald’s as a healthy option, the definition of healthy food that these commercials promote is too limited and ultimately attempts to conform to new definitions of healthy food without actually changing their
Since the fast food industry is targeting America’s youth, providing healthier options on children’s menus will reduce the rate of childhood obesity and allow for a healthy future.
Ask a teenager what their favorite fast food restaurant is and most of them will probably say McDonalds. "McDonalds operates approx. 30,000 restaurants on 6 continents, and feeds about 46 million people in a single day! In the U.S. alone, McDonalds accounts for 43% of the fast food market." Manhattan alone contains 82 restaurants packed into the island (Super Size Me). McDonalds has been criticized by the media and other people for offering too many unhealthy choices on their menu, therefore leading to obesity in America. Eating too much McDonalds, or any other fatty food, will give you many long term health problems.
Fast food is everywhere, and sometimes hard to differentiate from healthy food that can be ordered quickly. McDonald’s is a company that is known for being a place to buy fast food. Their food has large portions, is fairly inexpensive, and contains a lot of sugar, so it fits the requirements for a fast food restaurant (“Food and Diet,” 2012). There are meals at McDonald’s specifically for children. Happy Meals, as they are called include an entrée of chicken nuggets, a hamburger, or a cheeseburger. These all come with a side of French fries, a choice of apples or yogurt, and a drink.
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
Since McDonalds is aware that people are more concerned with the healthiness of their products, they have added few items such as salads and fruits to gain a better reputation. Many high ranked officials even claim their food to be among the safest. “McDonald's is considered one of the best, if not the best, company in the United States when it comes to food safety” says Weisman. This claim, however, does not at all account for the poison...
A world without the Big Mac, Happy Meals, Chicken McNuggets, and the phrase “I’m lovin’ it,” is almost inconceivable. People around the globe have become accustomed to the high gleaming golden arches that make up the famous emblem for McDonald’s. McDonald’s has grasped the concept that culture flows from power. In this case, the American culture flows through the veins of this fast-food giant and the more that is supplied, the greater the demand. It is no secret that McDonald’s has become one of the world’s largest fast-food retailers. It has become a well known icon that has played a huge part in globalization, with chains located in many different countries… transforming the meaning of fast-food all around the world.
Have you ever wondered how the business empire of McDonalds was started? With over ninety nine billion served, it was started in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. It was started off as just a Bar-B-Q that served just twenty items. Its first mascot was named “Speedee” They eventually realized that by setting up their kitchen like an assembly line that they could be much more productive and get their food done faster, with every employee doing a specified job; the restaurants production rate became much higher. A milkshake machine vendor came into their small restaurant one day, his name was Ray Kroc. He saw how much potential the restaurant has, so he bought it out and opened one of the first franchises. Within the first year of Ray Kroc buying it, there were one hundred and two locations all around the world. McDonalds currently is one of the largest fast food restaurants in the world and currently has served over sixty four million customers through one of their thirty two thousand sites. It has almost become a way of life for America. Though, McDonalds started off as a small business between two brothers, it grew into one of the largest restaurant franchises in the world and greatly affects our society and how we eat our food.
When researching McDonald’s through online sources, it is clear that nutrition is a major concern of the public visiting the fast-food chain. Secondary research conducted shows that there are several case studies and other secondary source searches around the same topic. McDonald’s has often been the center of nutritional attention within the fast-food industry. Secondary research shows that the restaurant has recently made changes to the American Happy Meal to reduce the amount of French fries offered and replace the portion with fruit (Strom, 2011). In a study conducted by McDonald’s a secondary source reports the meal cuts calories by 20% for the children’s meal (Strom, 2011). This is a critical move by the organization on children’s obesity is currently a hot topic within food chains and attention is driven by the Obama administration. Secondary research also shows that although the public has major health concerns with the food chain, profits are increasing during a high point of an economic recession (Dahan & Gittens, 2008). Acco...
McDonald’s has the largest fast food market share in the world. As mentioned, it serves 68 million customers every day in 119 countries, allowing it to be the second largest outlet operator with more than 34,000 outlets.