{"id":35404,"date":"2021-05-18T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=35404"},"modified":"2021-05-21T09:14:24","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T13:14:24","slug":"mcdonalds-global","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is McDonald&#8217;s global strategy? How did McDonald&#8217;s expand internationally?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McDonald&#8217;s global strategy is to gain customers all over the world, and to have McDonald&#8217;s restaurants in all countries using their efficiency model. Another hallmark of McDonald&#8217;s global is that it should taste the same everywhere you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about McDonald&#8217;s global strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>McDonald&#8217;s Global Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast food began in Southern California as a quintessentially American product, boosted by US postwar prosperity and powered by the nation\u2019s growing rates of automobile ownership, highway construction, and suburban sprawl. From these roots, the industry expanded to take over the rest of the country. But it hasn\u2019t stopped there: <strong>fast food is now available in almost every country on the planet.<\/strong> Through this global conquest, it has reshaped how the entire world eats and lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fall of the Iron Curtain, Rise of the Golden Arches<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The collapse of the Soviet Union, beginning with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/importance-of-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall\/\">fall of the Berlin Wall<\/a> in 1989 and ending in the final dissolution of the superpower state in 1991, was a dramatic moment in world history. All across Central and Eastern Europe, people took to the streets, refused to obey the orders of Soviet police and military officers, overthrew puppet Communist governments, and participated in free democratic elections for the first time ever. Little did they know that the fall of the Soviet empire would signal the rise of another: that of fast food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Just months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, McDonald\u2019s announced that it planned to open a location in East Germany,<\/strong> the first in the former Soviet Union. Indeed, fast food chains have become a leading indicator of Western economic development in Third World or post-communist states. They are often the first international corporations to arrive after a country has made the decision to open its markets to foreign investment. In the early 1990s, McDonald\u2019s frequently awarded franchises to former Communist officials, thanks to their proven combination of connections and leadership skills.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast food has aggressively positioned itself in former Soviet states and even recruited ex-Communist leaders to serve as spokespeople. In 1997, Mikhail Gorbachev, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, appeared in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fgm14D1jHUw\">Pizza Hut commercial<\/a>. He was hired to serve as a warm and familiar face who could help introduce the Russian people to fast food. In the 1990s, Gorbachev was a frequent figure on the paid-lecture circuit, delivering speeches in which he advertised Russia\u2019s openness to foreign investment to audiences of fast food executives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The opening of the first McDonald\u2019s in China, although still nominally a communist state, was met with great enthusiasm by the public <\/strong>in 1992. Thousands of people waited in line to take their first bite of a Big Mac, as the chain\u2019s mere presence seemed to symbolize the long-awaited arrival of modernity. McDonald\u2019s has shown few qualms about opening for business in culturally or religiously significant places\u2014the golden arches are now in the Muslim holy city of Mecca and in Beijing\u2019s Forbidden City. Perhaps most shockingly, the company even opened up a restaurant on what was once the grounds of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau\u2014and aggressively marketed itself to visitors with flyers announcing, \u201cWelcome to Dachau and welcome to McDonald\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is McDonald&#8217;s global strategy? How did McDonald&#8217;s expand internationally? McDonald&#8217;s global strategy is to gain customers all over the world, and to have McDonald&#8217;s restaurants in all countries using their efficiency model. Another hallmark of McDonald&#8217;s global is that it should taste the same everywhere you go. Read more about McDonald&#8217;s global strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,17,104],"tags":[287],"class_list":["post-35404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-food","category-marketing","tag-fast-food-nation","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is McDonald&#039;s global strategy? McDonald&#039;s aims to be a beacon of capitalism and be present all over the world. Read more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is McDonald&#039;s global strategy? McDonald&#039;s aims to be a beacon of capitalism and be present all over the world. Read more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-18T12:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-21T13:14:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"601\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-18T12:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-21T13:14:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\"},\"wordCount\":563,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Fast Food Nation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Food\",\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\",\"name\":\"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-18T12:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-21T13:14:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"What is McDonald's global strategy? McDonald's aims to be a beacon of capitalism and be present all over the world. Read more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":601},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country - Shortform Books","description":"What is McDonald's global strategy? McDonald's aims to be a beacon of capitalism and be present all over the world. Read more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country","og_description":"What is McDonald's global strategy? McDonald's aims to be a beacon of capitalism and be present all over the world. Read more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-05-18T12:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-21T13:14:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":601,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country","datePublished":"2021-05-18T12:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-21T13:14:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/"},"wordCount":563,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg","keywords":["Fast Food Nation"],"articleSection":["Business","Food","Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/","name":"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-05-18T12:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-21T13:14:24+00:00","description":"What is McDonald's global strategy? McDonald's aims to be a beacon of capitalism and be present all over the world. Read more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg","width":800,"height":601},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mcdonalds-global\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"McDonalds Global: Golden Arches in Every Country"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mcdonalds-global-street.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35420,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35404\/revisions\/35420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}