[The expansion of McDonald’s in the twentieth century brought
the fast food chain to more than 100 countries. But how well did it
integrate into its new home(s)?]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE
FAST AND PLURIBUS: IMPACTS OF A GLOBALIZING MCDONALD’S
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Danielle Han
February 27, 2023
JSTOR
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_ The expansion of McDonald’s in the twentieth century brought the
fast food chain to more than 100 countries. But how well did it
integrate into its new home(s)? _
McDonald's Japan Swing Manager Miwa Suzuki presents a box of McChoco
Potato on January 25, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan, Getty
The connection between globalization and McDonald’s is a tale of
scholarly metonymy. There’s no textual shortage of evidence that
references the now-global fast food chain’s success in other
countries, often linking it to themes of self-sufficiency,
post-industrial stability, and democracy-formed capitalism.
Among these chunks of research is a more endogenous angle that
examines the impact McDonald’s has had within offshore cultures;
namely, how the American fast food model has been diffused across
different countries. Such case studies, which look at individual
cultural phenomena and their direct applications to globalization
activity, refines not only the framework of McDonald’s in theories,
but overall globalization processes and strategies as well.
Japan’s stylish renditions of fast food practices, for one, existed
long before McDonald’s came to the country. Given the existing
popularity of convenient and on-the-go meals—including conveyor belt
sushi and street vendor meals—American fast food chains were bound
to succeed. Scholars John W. Traphagan and L. Keith Brown investigate
this supposition by employing an ethnographic model of research,
building the argument that Japan not only assimilated—but basically
swallowed whole—the McDonald’s dining model, to the point that
younger people especially believe McDonald’s is a Japanese company.
Traphagan and Brown emphasize that, rather than “styles of
preparation or ingredients,” fast food is defined by “a style of
selling food.” Essentially, McDonald’s brought no real paradigm
shifts to Japan—but rather constructed a space in which
already-formed Japanese cultural practices could continue.
Their case study contrasts with that of geographers Ray Oldakowski and
John McEwen, who similarly investigate McDonald’s and its cultural
assimilation—but in Ecuador. THEIR EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT THE
INTEGRATION OF AMERICAN FAST FOOD DINING FOLLOWED A DIFFERENT PATH
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and McDonald’s remains an obviously foreign establishment in the
cityscape. McDonald’s didn’t attempt to adapt to Japanese or
Ecuadorian culture (for McDonald’s, “the strategy has been one of
consistency, i.e. McDonald’s prefers not to change its way of doing
business to adapt to foreign cultures, rather, it changes local
cultures to meet its own needs,” they note), but Ecuadorians clearly
viewed the fast food chain as a deviation from local tastes, unlike
Japanese consumers.
“[A] comparison of exterior designs revealed that the McDonald’s
in Guayaquil [Ecuador] were very similar to the typical McDonald’s
restaurants in the United States,” write the authors. Moreover, the
menus were also similar. Only 2 percent of those polled considered the
food served at McDonald’s similar to Ecuadorian food. In contrast,
very few interviewees considered Kentucky Fried Chicken—another
American fast food establishment—different from Ecuadorian food.
Eighty-four percent reported that KFC was the most similar to
Ecuadorian food, and 68 percent said it was actually where they dined
regularly.
“Those results suggest that McDonald’s might gain new customers,
and more visits from existing customers, if they also offered menu
items more typical of Ecuadorian food,” conclude the authors.
In neither Japan nor Ecuador did McDonald’s actively work to adapt
itself to the tastes of the host countries, but the depth of
integration into local dining customs differed between the two
nations. Such observations could prompt additional nation-specific
analyses and possibly reveal additional adaptations to the “strategy
of consistency” associated with McDonald’s. However, the study of
the globalization of fast food from a micro-cultural angle requires
challenging assumptive attitudes around American businesses and
classical theories, with one of the most popular—and infamously
controvertible—examples being the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict
Prevention, built on tropes of democratic peace through development.
Globalization and its effects could also be examined in light of
McDonald’s cultural impacts on its origin country of America,
opening a conversation on socio-economics and class.
Resources
JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students.
JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our
articles for free on JSTOR.
Fast Food and Intergenerational Commensality in Japan: New Styles and
Old Patterns
By: John W. Traphagan and L. Keith Brown
Ethnology, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Spring 2002), pp. 119–134
University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher
Education
The Diffusion of American Fast Food to Ecuador
By: Ray Oldakowski and John McEwen
Material Culture, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Fall 2010), pp. 28–49
International Society for Landscape, Place & Material Culture
Fast Food: Oppression through Poor Nutrition
By: Andrea Freeman
California Law Review, Vol. 95, No. 6 (December 2007), pp. 2221–2259
California Law Review, Inc.
* Fast Food
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* McDonalds
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* Japan
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