McDonald’s – Devaluing the Meal

This empire generated nearly $23 billion in revenues in 2007 from the sale of their infamously unhealthy products. McDonald’s, which began as a small burger stand in 1954, pioneered the assembly line approach to creating quick and consistent food products. They are now the world’s leading fast food retailer, with more than 30,000 restaurants serving more than 52 million people in over 100 countries each day.[1]

In many ways, McDonald’s exemplifies what is wrong with U.S. industrial agriculture with its demand for consistent and cheaply produced commodities. In the U.S., McDonald’s buys more processed beef, chicken, pork, apples and potatoes than any other corporation, and their buying power drives an unsustainable food system that is making people sick.[2]

In part because they spend more on advertising and marketing than any other fast food corporation, McDonald’s is one of world’s most well-known brands.[3] They have built their brand through aggressive marketing tactics targeted at kids. This includes the Happy Meal and its cartoon-based toys, building playgrounds inside their restaurants, and creating one of the world’s best-know clown mascots, Ronald McDonald.  

McDonald’s was the first chain to put its restaurants near – and inside – schools as a strategy to market to children. Studies show they have been able to manipulate people’s perception about the unhealthy nature of their products by locating their restaurants inside or near hospitals.[4][5] Through these methods, McDonald’s has made billions over the years - but, it’s time they start to Value [the] Meal more than just their profits!

1. McDonalds Corporation, “About McDonalds…” http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about.html

2. Eric Schlosser, Chew on This (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2006), p.7-8.

3. Advertising Age, “22nd Annual Global Marketers: Part 1,” Crain Communications (December, 2008) p.4.

4. Eric Schlosser, Chew on This (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2006), p.10.

5. Hannah Sahud M.D., et al., “Marketing of Fast Food: Impact of Fast Food in Children’s Hospitals,” Pediatrics, 118:6 (December 2006): 2290-2297, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi//abstract/118/6/2290 (accessed February 20, 2009).