Do you think that McDonalds can actually be a force for positive
change in our lives?  If so, in what ways does McDonaldization improve
the lives of people in society?  If not, how would you explain these
actions and their effects on the fast food industry overall?

Hi Researchers,

I have to anwer the above question for a Sociology exam.  The question
refers to a piece on NPR about McDonalds using healthier oil to fry
with that I've been thus far unable to listen to due to the fact that
my dial up is so slow I can't download realplayer...:-)

My gut feeling about an answer is that McDonalds *could* be a positive
social force, but it will never happen because of the ever-present
profit motive.  I'd like to see what research is out there, though,
from a sociological perspective.  Please don't write an essay for me;
just cite some appropriate sources.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by googleexpert-ga on 16 Oct 2004 12:31 PDT

Hi statestraveller-ga,
There is the McVeggie burger that McDonalds is selling at limited locations.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0410090294oct09,0,1718608.story?coll=chi-technology-hed

Then there is the Adult Happy Meal (Go Active!) that McDonalds sold
until June 7,2004
and...
"McDonald's over the past year took steps to improve its image by
launching premium salads, eliminating its Super Size menu options and
touting other diet-conscious options at its outlets."
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/11/news/fortune500/mcdonalds_happymeal/?cnn=yes

One can't forget the many lawsuits from that Spilled Coffee incident
to McDonalds using "Beef" oil instead of vegetarian oil.

Also, McDonalds has made an effort by switching to healthier cooking oil.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2235018.stm

I suppose McDonalds could be a "positive force" because of its many
restaurants worldwide but please describe what you mean by "positive
social force" and list examples of "positive social force"

Thanks.

-googleexpert

---

Clarification of Question by statestraveller-ga on 16 Oct 2004 12:46 PDT

hi googleexpert,

Thanks for those links.  Unfortunately for me, "positive change" is
rather loosely defined in the question itself.  I take it to mean the
company's capacity to improve the lives of it's customers and
employees, as well as the physical world it inhabits.

Re: the salads, your quote "McDonald's over the past year took steps
to improve its image by launching premium salads" is interesting in
its choice of words.  It seems that improving the image of McDonalds
is the *only* thing the introduction of salads seeks to achieve.  The
salads come with a huge package of dressing which brings the calorie
level of the meal somewhere close to that of a hamburger.  Also, Mom
is far more likely to take her screaming soccer brats to the drive
thru for a happy meal if she can get a salad for herself - thereby
increasing McDonald's profits and instilling the fast food culture
into a new generation.  (If you can find out where I read that, it
would be super cool!)

So, please, more links on maybe (articles?  studies?) on how McDonalds
treats it's employees, contributes to the destruction of the
rainforest, etc. and how these things impact the fast food industry as
a whole, as well as "positive" impacts if any exist!  The more
credible the source the better - major newspapers, afiliations with
universities and the like.

Thanks.

---

Request for Question Clarification by googleexpert-ga on 16 Oct 2004 14:58 PDT

Hi again,
I just wanted to make certain for you that my quote came from the CNN
Money article:
McDonald's adult Happy Meal arrives
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/11/news/fortune500/mcdonalds_happymeal/?cnn=yes

You mentioned the movie "Supersize Me", I haven't seen it but from
what I've heard, the filmmaker engages in a McDonalds diet for a
month, I believe.  Probably a funny film, but nothing enlightening in
my opinion.

anyway, just wanted to know if you see anything "positive" about
McDonalds and its Ronald McDonald House Charities.
http://www.rmhc.com/

otherwise, you might want to check out http://www.mcdonaldization.com/main.shtml
for your answer.

-googleexpert

McDonald's and other fast food chains have provided a huge number of
low-wage, entry-level jobs to young people who might otherwise have
remained unemployed. When I was young, in the days before the fast
food boom, it was much more difficult for a teenager to find a job.
I'm not saying that McDonald's is a place where everyone can expect to
build a career, but it's not a bad start.

Hey there, Pink.  Thanks for your comment.  I agree that McDonalds
does provide jobs - but are they "good" jobs?  We're hearing a lot in
California at the moment about Wal-Mart - how these low-wage jobs
actually function to keep the poor poor by making them ever
increasingly reliant on aid to substitue the pathetically low wages -
and end up costing the taxpayer more than if they weren't working at
all.  You can only work part time, so the company doesn't have to
shell out for benefits, and you can't ever rely on a certain number of
hours a week: if the restaurant is slow, you go home and don't make
any money.  Wouldn't gaining some vocational skills help the average
teenager far more than a job that only teaches him how to jump when a
machine beeps???

Don't miss the movie that out now on video/CD called 'Supersize Me' .
. . all about McDonald's.

If McDonald's, with all it's huge franchise power around the globe,
took it's menu and made some radical changes (more than changing the
cooking oil) then it could be a great positive force. That's a big if.

statestraveller,

Most of what you've said about jobs at McDonald's applies to my work
for Google Answers, and I consider this to be a "good" job. ;-)

Writing from a UK perspective, though generally McDonalds gets a bad
press, it has been praised recently for providing economic activity
and jobs in run-down inner city areas, where employment is hard to
find. In particular, it provides employment for young people from
ethnic minorities who find it especially difficult to break into the
jobs market. Incidentally, in the UK part-time employees receive
almost all the benefits and rights available to full-time employees -
eg paid holidays, sick pay, maternity leave, equal opportunities
rights etc etc.

I think that some of the comments presume to define "force for positve
change" into some rather tight boundaries. A writer indicated that if
they would just make radical changes to their menu... Well, they have
introduced a number of more socially conscious items and most all of
them have flopped.

Face it, McDonalds isn't health food but we go anyway. Sure they could
switch to tofu burgers but not enough people would buy them to make it
profitable for them.

There have been many positive things that McDonalds pioneered. A good
referecne, if you can find a copy is, "Under the Golden Arches." I was
published a good 20 years ago but would still be relevant. The key
points that the book would help you with are how McDonalds revamped
the entire franchise industry by assisting the franchisee to be
successful and controlling the quality of the supply chain.

The bottom line is that because of McDonalds, entire industries have
been developed creating not only entry level jobs in the stores but
also the high level jobs designing the specialized machinery to make
Chicken Nuggets. We have french fries year around because McDonalds
drove it. The quality of the foodstuffs that go into the products is
high because McDonalds recognized its importance to its success and
demanded it. Yes, I agree that what they do to it may be unfortunate
but prior to McDonalds defining for the industry what hamburger was
and strictly enforcing it by cutting off suppliers who cut corners,
just about everything including floor sweepings went into the grider.

Hello statestraveller-ga 

Be sure to check out Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. It will give
you a lot to chew on.

~ czh ~

http://robwalker.net/html_docs/fnation.html
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

In the opening pages of ?Fast Food Nation,? Eric Schlosser makes a
series of observations about McDonald's. The company operates about
28,000 restaurants around the world. It's the nation's biggest buyer
of beef, pork and potatoes, and the world's biggest owner of retail
property. The company is one of the country's top toy distributors and
its largest private operator of playgrounds. Ninety-six percent of
American schoolchildren can identify Ronald McDonald. Roughly one of
every eight workers in the United States has done time at the chain.
The McDonald's brand is the most famous, and the most heavily
promoted, on the planet. ?The Golden Arches,? Schlosser says, ?are now
more widely recognized than the Christian cross.? Of course,
McDonald's isn't alone. ?The whole experience of buying fast food,? he
writes, ?has become so routine, so thoroughly unexceptional and
mundane, that it is now taken for granted, like brushing your teeth or
stopping for a red light.?


http://dir.salon.com/books/feature/2001/02/08/schlosser/index.html
Unhappy meals 

The reasons Schlosser sees fast food as a national scourge have more
to do with the sheer ubiquity of the stuff -- the way it has
infiltrated almost every aspect of our culture, transforming "not only
the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and
popular culture."


http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/food/schlosse.htm
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

actually, maybe you have talked about this in your class, but there is
a fascinating (if out of date) theory put together by journalist and
author Thomas Friedman, in _The lexus and the olive tree_, pages
239-264.  He calls it "the Golden arches theory of conflict
prevention" and claims that until 1999, no country with a McD's had
ever fought a war against another country with a McD's.  His point is
that globalization, often spearheaded by corporations like McD's,
"significantly raises the cost of countries using war as a means to
pursue honor, react to fears or advane their interests."  Their are
economic implications, and cultural connections, however grease-soaked
they might be.

for what it's worth!