WHAT IS IT ABOUT MCDONALDS?

THEIR
STORY AND SUCCESS
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION--------------------------------------------------------------4

CHAPTER I- MCDONALD'S CORPORATION------------------------6

1.1 HISTORY---------------------------------------------------------------------6
1.2. PRODUCTS-----------------------------------------------------------------8
1.3. INTERNATIONAL MENU VARIATIONS------------------------------------8

CHAPTER II- RESTAURANTS AND TYPES OF RESTAURANTS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10

2.1. MCDRIVE AND MCCAFE------------------------------------------------10

2.2 PLAYGROUNDS-----------------------------------------------------------10
2.3. ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD---------------------------------------------11

CHAPTER III- ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES---------13

OF FAST FOOD---------------------------------------------------------------13

CONCLUSION----------------------------------------------------------------16

SOURCES---------------------------------------------------------------------17
 INTRODUCTION

Fast food? What is fast food? I have always wondered what it really is. When I first heard
of fast food I was young and I did not understand what it was. Time passed, I grew up and I got
to try fast food, I ate it and I liked it. That is what I know, I did not care how it was made, and the
taste and appearance mattered at least at that age. However, I grew up and I started to be
interested in my health; I did not know that fast food is unhealthy, I only knew that it is delicious
and that it is at discretion in any city or mall. It seems very affordable as there are many fast food
restaurants, but is something so affordable healthy for our body? Yes, the food is delicious, but
what exactly is fast food and why is it called fast food? I chose this topic because I found
fascinating how useful this word "fast food" is. And not only when are you hungry you
immediately think about this term, you may even hear doctors say it when advising you to avoid
fast food. Why would this happen?
Obviously fast food has its purpose and it is useful in many ways. But it is a very small
barrier that separates the moments when it is useful and the moments when you eat it with lust or
pleasure and it would not be such a big problem if you consume it regularly, like for example
once a month, but some people abuse of fast food daily.
Modern commercial fast food is often highly processed and prepared in an industrial
fashion, on a large scale with standard ingredients and standardized cooking and production
methods. It is usually rapidly served in cartons or bags or in a plastic wrapping, in a fashion that
minimizes cost. In most fast food operations, menu items are generally made from processed
ingredients prepared at a central supply facility and then shipped to individual outlets where they
are reheated, cooked (usually by microwave or deep frying) or assembled in a short amount of
time. This process ensures a consistent level of product quality, and is key to being able to
deliver the order quickly to the customer and eliminate labour and equipment costs in the
individual stores.

Because of commercial emphasis on quickness, uniformity and low cost, fast food
products are often made with ingredients formulated to achieve a certain flavour or consistency
and to preserve freshness.

Fast food outlets are take-away or take-out providers who promise quick service. Such

fast food outlets often come with a "drive-through" service that lets customers order and pick up
food from their vehicles. Others have indoor or outdoor seating areas where customers can eat
on-site. In recent times, the boom in IT services has allowed customers to order food from their
homes through their smart phone apps.

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 Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten "on the go," as it often
does not require traditional cutlery, and it is eaten as a finger food. Common menu items at fast
food outlets include fish and chips, sandwiches, pitas, hamburgers, fried
chicken, Frenchfries, onion rings, chicken nuggets, tacos, pizza, hot dogs, and ice cream, though
many fast food restaurants offer "slower" foods like chili, mashed potatoes, and salads.

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 CHAPTER I- MCDONALD'S CORPORATION

McDonald's Corporation is an American fast food company, founded in 1940 as a

restaurant operated by two brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino,
California, United States. They rechristened their business as
a hamburger stand, and later turned the company into
a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in
1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a
businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and
proceeded to purchase the chain from the McDonald brothers.
McDonald's had its original headquarters in Oak Brook,
Illinois, but moved its global headquarters to Chicago in June
2018.
McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant chain by
revenue, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries across 37,855 outlets as
of 2018. Although McDonald's is best known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers and French fries,
they feature chicken products, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, wraps, and desserts. In
response to changing consumer tastes and a negative backlash because of the unhealthy quality
of their food, the company has added to its menu salads, fish, smoothies, and fruit. The
McDonald's Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees,
as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. According to two reports published in 2018,
McDonald's is the world's second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees
(behind Walmart with 2.3 million employees).

1.1 HISTORY

Siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's at 1398 North E.

Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California on May 15, 1940. The brothers
introduced the "Speedee Service System" in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the
modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than
two decades earlier. The original mascot of McDonald's was a chef hat on top of a hamburger
who was referred to as "Speedee". In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal
mascot. The mascot, clown Ronald McDonald, was introduced in 1965. He appeared in
advertising to target their audience of children.
On May 4, 1961, McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "McDonald's"
with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services", which continues to be renewed. By

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September 13, McDonald's, under the guidance of Ray Kroc, filed for a trademark on a new logo
—an overlapping, double-arched "M" symbol. But before the double arches, McDonald's used a
single arch for the architecture of their buildings. Although the "Golden Arches" logo appeared
in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company
was favoured a U.S. trademark.
The present corporation credits its founding to franchised businessman Ray Kroc on April
15, 1955. This was in fact the ninth opened McDonald's restaurant overall, although this location
was destroyed and rebuilt in 1984. In 1961, Kroc purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the
company and began the company's worldwide reach.  Kroc was recorded as being an aggressive
business partner, driving the McDonald brothers out of the industry.
Kroc and the McDonald brothers fought for control of the business, as documented in
Kroc's autobiography. The San Bernardino restaurant was eventually torn down in 1971, and the
site was sold to the Juan Pollo chain in 1998. This area serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo
chain, and a McDonald's and Route 66 museum. With the expansion of McDonald's into many
international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of
the American way of life. Its prominence has made it a frequent topic of public debates
about obesity, corporate ethics, and consumer responsibility.

Corporate logo used from 1960 until Corporate logo used from November 18, 1968
November 18, 1968 until 2003

Corporate logo used from 2003 to 2006

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1.2. PRODUCTS

McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken

sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald's
offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis,
McDonald's offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its
appeal.
Products are offered as either "dine-in" (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant)
or "take-out" (where the customer opts to take the food off the premises). "Dine-in" meals are
provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. "Take-out" meals are
usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald's-branded brown paper
bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate.
Since Steve Easterbrook became CEO of the company, McDonald's has streamlined the
menu which in the United States contained nearly 200 items. The company has looked to
introduce healthier options, and removed high-fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns. The
company has removed artificial preservatives from Chicken Nuggets, replacing chicken skin,
safflower oil and citric acid found in Chicken Nuggets with pea starch, rice starch and powdered
lemon juice.
In September 2018, McDonald's USA announced that they no longer use artificial
preservatives, flavours and colours entirely from seven classic burgers sold in the U.S., including
the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Quarter Pounder with Cheese,
double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Big Mac. Nevertheless, the pickles will still be
made with an artificial preservative, although customers can choose to opt out of getting pickles
with their burgers.
In November of 2020, McDonald's announced McPlant, a plant-based burger, along with
plans to develop additional meat alternative menu items that extend to chicken substitutes and
breakfast sandwiches. This announcement came after the successful testing of Beyond Meat plant
based meat substitutes.

1.3.INTERNATIONAL MENU VARIATIONS

Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This local deviation
from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known, and one
which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of
beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more
familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in Singapore and
Japan).
In Germany and some other Western European countries, McDonald's sells beer. In New
Zealand, McDonald's sells meat pies, after local affiliate McDonald's New Zealand partially

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launched again the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996. In Greece, the signature
hamburger, Big Mac, is changed by adding Tzatziki sauce and packaging in a pita.
In the United States and Canada, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald's
began offering in 2015 and 2017,respectively, a partial breakfast menu during all hours its
restaurants are open.

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 CHAPTER II-RESTAURANTS ANDTYPES OF RESTAURANTS

Most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-

through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and
Drive, or "McDrive" as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing,
paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined; it was
first introduced in Sierra Vista, Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The
first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986.
In 1994, McDonald's attempted Hearth Express, a prototype specializing in home-style
takeout meals. Among the fare offered were meatloaf, fried chicken, and baked ham. This
experiment started with a single location in Darien, Illinois, but closed in only one year.

2.1.MCDRIVE AND MCCAFE

In some countries, McDrive locations near highways offer no counter service or

seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through
service. There are also a few locations, mostly in downtown districts, that offer a "Walk-Thru"
service in place of Drive-Thru.
McCafe is a cafe-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants. The concept was
created by McDonald's Australia, where it is marketed as Macca's, starting with Melbourne in
1993. As of 2016, most McDonald's in Australia have McCafes located within the existing
McDonald's restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafes in every restaurant, with the rest of the
states quickly following suit. After upgrading to the new McCafe look and feel, some Australian
restaurants have noticed up to a 60 percent increase in sales. At the end of 2003, there were over
600 McCafes worldwide.

2.2PLAYGROUNDS

McDonald's playgrounds are called McDonald's PlayPlace. Some McDonald's in

suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds. The first PlayPlace
with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the US,
with many more being constructed soon after.

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2.3. ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD

Since McDonald's began receiving criticism for its environmental practices in the 1970s,
it has significantly reduced its use of materials. For instance, an "average meal" in the 1970s—a
Big Mac, fries, and a drink—required 46 grams of packaging; today, it requires 25 grams, a 46
percent reduction. In addition, McDonald's eliminated the need for intermediate containers
for colaby using a delivery system that pumps syrup directly from the delivery truck into storage
containers, saving two million pounds (910 tonnes) of packaging annually. Weight reductions in
packaging and products, as well as increased usage of bulk packaging, ultimately decreased
packaging by twenty-four million pounds (11,000 tonnes) annually. McDonald's efforts to reduce
solid waste by using less packaging and by promoting the use of recycled materials were
recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In 1990, McDonald's worked with the Environmental Defence Fund to stop using "clam
shell”-shaped Styrofoam food containers to store its food products.
In April 2008, McDonald's announced that 11 of its restaurants in Sheffield, England,
were engaged in a biomass trial program that cut its waste and carbon footprint by half in the
area. In this trial, waste from the restaurants was collected by Veolia Environmental Services and
used to produce energy at a power plant. McDonald's announced plans to expand this project,
although the lack of biomass power plants in the United States would prevent adoption of this
plan as a national standard there anytime soon. In addition, in Europe, McDonald's has been
recycling vegetable grease by converting it to fuel for its diesel trucks.
In an effort to reduce energy usage by 25 percent in its restaurants, McDonald's opened a
prototype restaurant in Chicago in 2009, intending to use the model in its other restaurants
throughout the world. Building on past efforts, specifically a restaurant it opened in Sweden in
2000 that was the first to incorporate green ideas, McDonald's designed the Chicago site to save
energy by managing storm water, using skylights for more natural lighting, and installing
partitions and table tops made from recycled goods, among other measures.
In 2012, McDonald's announced they would trial replacing Styrofoam coffee cups with an
alternative material.In 2019, McDonalds switched from plastic straws to paper ones in Ireland
and the United Kingdom in an effort to reduce plastic pollution.However, a subsequent
investigation by The Sun found that the new paper straws were not recyclable. Disabled activists
criticized the shift away from plastic straws as ableist.
McDonald's uses a corn-based bioplastic to produce containers for some products. The
environmental benefits of this technology are controversial, with critics noting that
biodegradation is slow and produces greenhouse gases, and that contamination of
traditional plastic wastestreams with bio plastics can complicate recycling efforts.

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 Studies of litter have found that McDonald's is one of the most littered brands worldwide.
In 2012, a Keep Australia Beautiful study found that McDonald's was the most littered brand
in Queensland. In 2009, Keep Britain Tidy likewise found McDonald's to be the leading producer
of fast-food litter on British streets, accounting for 29% of the total.  An early protest against this
practice was "Operation Send-It-Back", launched by London Greenpeace in 1994 in response to
the company's targeting of activists in the McLibel Trial. Participants in Operation Send-It-Back
returned 30 sacks of McDonald's litter to the company. In the 2010s, similar individual protests
took in New Zealand and England.

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 CHAPTER III- ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF FAST FOOD

There is a lot of debate and controversy related to fast food and whether people today
should still consume such a food. Fast food is a type of food service that offers fast, tasty and on
the go meals. It is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. It is
convenient and ready to consume, but it does not guarantee that it is nutritionally balanced and
healthy.
The system of fast food is prevalent in all countries, with each country having its own
variations of types served and the nature of establishments serving. The most popular of them is
McDonald's, KFC, Burger King’s restaurants, and so on. Despite all the disputes about the
advantages and disadvantages of fast food, that industry is prospering. But is fast food good or
bad?
In most parts of the world, the popularity of fast food is growing at a considerable rate.
Given the fact that today’s generation is always busy, most people consider fast food as a
convenient source of food. Fast food can be prepared and served within a very short time, and
thus is more convenient for those people who tend to be busy or single people who are not
willing to cook. Undoubtedly, fast food saves much or people’s time. Imagine who things were
in the past, before such fast food places appeared. You had to look for a recipe, then go and buy
the ingredients you needed, maybe even from different places, then defreeze or unpeel and clean
them and only then start cooking. The cooking itself might last quite a lot of time, and obviously
the effort, cost and time involved in preparing the dish might prove to be too great for the final
result, which might not always be satisfactory. Such challenges do not exist when a person opts
for fast food.
Further, fast food is an excellent option for who do not know how to cook or single
people who are not willing to cook for one. Especially for single people, fast food is absolutely
cheaper. In most cases, cooking for single person leads to unnecessary food been remaining
which goes to waste.
This is probably the most important incentive for people to eat fast food. Fast food is
usually much cheaper than homemade meals and dine-in restaurants. Because of that, it is the
most common meal choice of lower class folks in our societies.Having said that, fast food is
eaten by almost everyone. Some of the most popular athletes in the world eat fast food. It is
definitely not limited to poor people, despite the way the media portrays it.
Fast food is convenient and accessible, as food is served is within reach. A few walk from
your home or office. They are everywhere and available anytime of the day. Fast food joints are
very accessible, you can find them everywhere, in the city, and even in the provinces has fast
food restaurants; so everybody can have the chance to enjoy these foods.

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 Also, fast food chains offer comfort food, which means that the menu items satisfy our
cravings and palates with no struggle in preparation, cooking and serving. Fast food menu
provides people with extensive varieties of ready meals and drinks to choose. One can choose
what he or she feels like taking for meals.These restaurants aim to provide delicious meals so that
their customers will keep on coming back.
Another advantage is the fact that food at this kind of restaurant tastes the same no matter
the place or the country you are in. This is a good thing for those that already like this kind of
food and are accustomed to it. They will no longer have the negative surprise some of us
sometimes do when visiting a new restaurant. Wherever you are in the country or even abroad,
you will always know what you are getting when you order food from a fast food chain. This is
especially true if you are in a place where you do not exactly know where to eat. You can always
choose to dine in at a fast food store whenever you are doubtful of what a restaurant or diner
serves.
A last positive aspect about fast food, which is not really an advantage, though, is the fact
that many fast food places nowadays offer healthier options to choose from, like fresh salads, or
freshly squeezed juice, yoghurt, milk or even fruit.
All in all, fast food is very tasty, fast and comes at a very affordable price. Moreover, the
restaurants selling fast food are friendly, open spaces with cozy welcoming and inviting
atmosphere that just makes you feel at home.
On the other hand, despite these obvious advantages, one could not or should not neglect
the drawbacks of consuming such food. The disadvantages are usually associated with prolonged
or frequent consumption of these products; as long as people do not get accustomed to eating out
only in fast food restaurants, this can be considered as being quite a good alternate solution from
time to time, when in need of money or in a hurry.
For one thing, fast food poses several health hazards to people. Fast food is rich in fats,
salts, artificial substances and oils which increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Obesity is
also on the rise as a result of growing popularity of fast food. Although the human body
definitely requires these ingredients, the amount of such substances in fast food is too high.
Further, the cooking method of most fast meals involves frying which destroys most of important
nutrients to human health.
The food served at such places is usually considered lower quality food, which is usually
caused by a large-scale production process. There is no doubt about it; fast food is made in a bulk
production process, which tends to lower the overall quality of food. Historically speaking, fast
food has also been very fattening. The production process involved in creating fast food added a
lot of greasy and fat content to foods. However, this is quickly changing. While most restaurants
have your normal greasy burgers and fries, they have also started to offer grilled chicken, fish,
salads, and healthy wraps. So whether you are looking to eat a nice greasy meal or a healthy
grilled sandwich, fast food restaurants have what you want nowadays.

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 Besides containing a lot of fat, sodium and sugar, this food is also low quality because of
the high amounts of preservatives and chemicals that are not meant to be consumed on a regular
basis, as well as because of the unknown ingredients that they might use in their products and
that might be harmful to health. Suppliers for these chains of stores are not always revealed to the
public. This means that there is no guarantee that the meat and other materials used in fast food
chains were processed in a clean and humane manner. Chicken nuggets and hotdogs, for
example, are not always made from real chicken.
Another problem with this kind of food is that fast food chains serve twice the
recommended serving for an individual. They serve more than the required quantity for one
person. But to persons with bigger appetite it encourages them to eat more and turn out to be
obese which links to other diseases.
With all these in mind, it is important to consume fast food in moderation. Eating pizza,
pasta, hotdogs, burgers and fries will not harm people’s health, as long as it is combined with lots
of physical activity on a daily basis. After all, a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food are the
ingredients to fatal health problems.

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 CONCLUSION

Fast food makes sense, but not everything that comes with it is beneficial, healthy for us
or the environment. However, fast food is not the problem, obviously it is not very healthy and
obviously fast food restaurants are not the problem, the problem is with us, we do not know how
to control and respect ourselves in the first place.
If we stop saying that fast food makes us fat, McDonald's make a mess and spoil the
environment with their food packaging, but they do not throw away that packaging in the first
place, people who eat from it do it, obviously not everyone of their clients, but there are people
who have no respect for them and do not know what the responsibility is.
The food from McDonald's is a fast food, I ate from them, it is very tasty, but I do not eat
daily, I eat there periodically when I have no time to make something to eat or I am in town and
I am hungry. Not fast food is the problem, fast food is very useful and good especially the one
from McDonald's, not the restaurant is the problem, not the brand, not the food is the problem. It
is bad for you only if you eat it every day at every meal of the day, but this is your own choice,
no one makes you do it.
Fast food is good within its limits, I really like McDonald's food but I do not always eat
it, I eat it in the necessary situations. Fast food from McDonald's is very good in situations when
you have nothing to eat or do not have time to cook or you are in town and you are hungry. Fast
food is good and I recommend it to everyone who is or will be in a situation where they do not
have cookedfood at that time but do not abuse, fast food could definitely never replace the home-
cooked meals.

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 SOURCES

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_food
 http://www.sampateek.com/en/restaurants/fast-food-advantages-and-disadvantages
 https://greengarageblog.org/11-chief-pros-and-cons-of-fast-food
 http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/For_and_against_about_eating_fast_food
 https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-us/our-history.html
 http://www.historyoffastfood.com/
 http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/fast-food2.htm

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