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McDonald's
Contents
Articles
Overview
1
McDonald's 1
History of McDonald's 13
McDonald's urban legends 31
McDonald's Canada 33
McDonald's Israel 35
List of countries with McDonald's restaurants 38
Big Mac Index 47
Advertising
52
McDonald's advertising 52
List of McDonald's ad programs 57
Burger Wars 78
Dreaming in Mono 80
Golden Arches 84
McDonaldland 86
McDonald's Monopoly 92
Ronald McDonald 98
Products
102
Big Mac 102
Quarter Pounder 109
Happy Meal 111
Chicken McNuggets 115
McMuffin 118
McCaf 121
Documentaries
123
Fat Head 123
Hot Coffee (film) 126
McLibel 128
Maxime, McDuff & McDo 130
Super Size Me 131
Criticism
135
McDonaldization 135
Legal Cases
139
McDonald's legal cases 139
Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants 146
McDonald's Restaurants v. Morris & Steel 150
Locations and facilities
156
Denton House (New York) 156
Hamburger University 158
McBarge 159
McComplex (Russia) 160
McDonald's (Will Rogers Turnpike) 160
McDonald's sign (Pine Bluff, Arkansas) 163
McDonald's USA First Store Museum 166
Oldest McDonald's restaurant 168
Rock N Roll McDonald's 170
References
Article Sources and Contributors 173
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 180
Article Licenses
License 186
1
Overview
McDonald's
McDonald's
Type Public
Traded as
NYSE:MCD
[1]
Dow Jones Industrial Average Component
S&P 500 Component
Industry Restaurants
Founded May 15, 1940 in San Bernardino, California;
McDonald's Corporation, April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois
Founder(s) Richard and Maurice McDonald McDonald's restaurant concept;
Ray Kroc, McDonald's Corporation founder.
Headquarters Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S.
Number of locations
34,000+ worldwide
[2]
Area served Worldwide
Key people Andrew J. McKenna
(Chairman)
Don Thompson
(President and CEO)
Products Fast food
(hamburgers chicken french fries soft drinks coffee milkshakes salads desserts breakfast)
Revenue
US$ 27.56 billion (2012)
[]
Operating income
US$ 8.60 billion (2012)
[]
Net income
US$ 5.46 billion (2012)
[]
Total assets
US$ 35.39 billion (2012)
[]
Total equity
US$ 15.29 billion (2012)
[]
Employees
1,800,000 (2013)
[3]
Website
Global Corporate Website
[4]
McDonald's
2
The McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD
[1]
) is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants,
serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries.
[][5]
Headquartered in the United States, the company
began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganized their
business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a
franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its
worldwide growth.
[6]
A McDonald's restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporation's
revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated
restaurants. McDonald's revenues grew 27 percent over the three years ending in 2007 to $22.8 billion, and 9 percent
growth in operating income to $3.9 billion.
[7]
McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks,
milkshakes, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include
salads, fish, wraps, smoothies, and fruit.
[8]
History
McDonald's corporate logo used from November
18, 1968 to 2006. It still exists at some
restaurants.
The oldest operating McDonald's restaurant was the third one built,
opening in 1953. It is located at 10207 Lakewood Blvd. at Florence
Ave. in Downey, California (at 33.9471N 118.1182W
[9]
).
The business began in 1940, with a restaurant opened
by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald at 1398
North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino,
California (at 34.1255N 117.2946W
[10]
). Their
introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948
furthered the principles of the modern fast-food
restaurant that the White Castle hamburger chain had
already put into practice more than two decades earlier.
The original mascot of McDonald's was a man with a
chef's hat on top of a hamburger shaped head whose
name was "Speedee". Speedee was eventually replaced
with Ronald McDonald by 1967 when the company
first filed a U.S. trademark on a clown shaped man
having puffed out costume legs.
McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name
"McDonald's" on May 4, 1961, with the description
"Drive-In Restaurant Services", which continues to be
renewed through the end of December 2009. In the
same year, on September 13, 1961, the company filed a
logo trademark on an overlapping, double arched "M"
symbol. The overlapping double arched "M" symbol
logo was temporarily disfavored by September 6, 1962,
when a trademark was filed for a single arch, shaped
over many of the early McDonald's restaurants in the
early years. Although the "Golden Arches" appeared in
various forms, the present form as a letter "M" did not
appear until November 18, 1968, when the company
applied for a U.S. trademark. The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by
Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955, the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall. Kroc later purchased
McDonald's
3
the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion, and the company became listed on
the public stock markets in 1965. Kroc was also noted for aggressive business practices, compelling the McDonald
brothers to leave the fast food industry. The McDonald brothers and Kroc feuded over control of the business, as
documented in both Kroc's autobiography and in the McDonald brothers' autobiography. The San Bernardino store
was demolished in 1976 (or 1971, according to Juan Pollo) and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo restaurant chain. It
now serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, as well as a McDonald's and Route 66 museum.
[11]
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 also made it a frequent topic of public debates about
obesity, corporate ethics and consumer responsibility.
Headquarters
McDonald's Plaza, located in Oak Brook, Illinois
is the headquarters of McDonald's
The McDonald's headquarters complex, McDonald's Plaza, is located
in Oak Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and
stabling area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook.
[12]
McDonald's
moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office within the Chicago
Loop in 1971.
[13]
Products
A McDonald's McArabia meal, served with
French fries. The McArabia is a popular pita
bread sandwich sold in the Middle East and
central Asia.
McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken
sandwiches and products, 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.
[14]
Various countries, especially in Asia, are
currently serving 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). In Germany and other Western
European countries, McDonald's sells beer.
McDonald's
4
Corporate overview
Facts and figures
By 1993, McDonald's had sold more than 100
billion hamburgers. The once widespread
restaurant signs that boasted the number of sales,
such as this one in Harlem, were left at "99
billion" because there was only space for two
digits.
The McDonald's in Northport, Alabama
commemorates President Ronald Reagan's visit.
McDonald's restaurants are found in 119 countries
[15]
and territories
around the world and serve 68 million customers each day.
[]
McDonald's operates over 34,000 restaurants worldwide, employing
more than 1.7 million people.
[15]
The company also operates other
restaurant brands, such as Piles Caf.
Focusing on its core brand, McDonald's began divesting itself of other
chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a
majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when
McDonald's fully divested from Chipotle through a stock
exchange.
[16][]
Until December 2003, it also owned Donatos Pizza. On
August 27, 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital
Partners.
[17]
Notably, McDonald's has increased shareholder dividends for 25
consecutive years,
[]
making it one of the S&P 500 Dividend
Aristocrats.
[][]
In October 2012, its monthly sales fell for the first time
in nine years.
[18]
Types 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 Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other
fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at
Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986.
[19]
A Montevideo McCaf
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, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer Walk-Thru
service in place of Drive-Thru.
To accommodate the current trend for high quality coffee and the
popularity of coffee shops in general, McDonald's introduced McCaf,
a caf-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants in the style of
Starbucks. McCaf is a concept created by McDonald's Australia,
starting with Melbourne in 1993. Today, most McDonald's in Australia
have McCafs located within the existing McDonald's restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafs in every store,
with the rest of the states quickly following suit. After upgrading to the new McCaf look and feel, some Australian
stores have noticed up to a 60% increase in sales. As of the end of 2003 there were over 600 McCafs worldwide.
McDonald's
5
Some locations are connected to gas stations/convenience stores,
[20]
while others called McExpress have limited
seating and/or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonald's are located in Walmart stores. McStop
is a location targeted at truckers and travelers which may have services found at truck stops.
[21]
Since 1997, the only Kosher McDonald's in the world that is not in Israel, is located in the Abasto mall, in Buenos
Aires, Argentina.
[22][23]
Global operations
Countries with McDonald's restaurants, showing their first year with its first restaurant
A McDonald's in Buenos Aires, Argentina
McDonald's has become emblematic of
globalization, sometimes referred to as
the "McDonaldization" of society. The
Economist newspaper uses the "Big
Mac Index": the comparison of a Big
Mac's cost in various world currencies
can be used to informally judge these
currencies' purchasing power parity.
Norway has the most expensive Big
Mac in the world as of July 2011, while
the country with the least expensive Big
Mac is India
[24]
(albeit for a Maharaja
Macthe next cheapest Big Mac is
Hong Kong).
[25]
Thomas Friedman once said that no
country with a McDonald's had gone to
war with another.
[26]
Wikipedia:Citing
sources#What information to include
However, the "Golden Arches Theory
of Conflict Prevention" is not strictly
true. Exceptions are the 1989 United
States invasion of Panama, NATO's
bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006
Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war.
A McDonald's with a playground in Zwolle,
Netherlands
Some observers have suggested that the company should be given
credit for increasing the standard of service in markets that it enters. A
group of anthropologists in a study entitled Golden Arches East
[27]
looked at the impact McDonald's had on East Asia, and Hong Kong in
particular. When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald's was the
first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers
to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald's
has taken to partnering up with Sinopec, the second largest oil
company in the People's Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the
country's growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous
drive-thru restaurants.
[28]
McDonald's has opened a McDonald's
restaurant and McCaf on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.
[29]
McDonald's
6
A McDonald's in Dortmund, Germany
The company stated it will open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by
mid-2013.
[]
Playgrounds
McDonald's in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California
designed for family-friendly image
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 USA, with many more being constructed soon after.
Some PlayPlace playgrounds have been renovated into "R Gym"
areas.
Redesign
An American McDonald's in Mount Pleasant,
Iowa in June 2008; this is an example of the
"new" look of American McDonald's restaurants.
In 2006, McDonald's introduced its "Forever Young" brand by
redesigning all of its restaurants, the first major redesign since the
1970s.
[30][31]
McDonald's has invested $1 billion to redesign nearly all
of the 14,000 restaurants by 2015.
The goal of the redesign is to be more like a coffee shop, similar to
Starbucks. The design includes wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and
muted colors; the red was muted to terra cotta, the yellow was turned
golden for a more "sunny" look, and olive and sage green were also
added. To warm up its look, the restaurants have less plastic and more
brick and wood, with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow.
Many restaurants now feature free Wi-Fi and flat screen TVs. Other
upgrades include double drive-thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red
roofs, and replacing fiber glass with wood. Also, instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants now feature
"semi-swooshes" (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh.
[32]
McDonald's
7
An Irish McDonald's in Port Laoise, County
Laois, Ireland in August 2012; this is a relatively
modern restaurant complete with a drive-through.
Business model
McDonald's Corporation earns revenue as an investor in properties, a
franchiser of restaurants, and an operator of restaurants. Approximately
15% of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by
McDonald's Corporation directly. The remainder are operated by
others through a variety of franchise agreements and joint ventures.
The McDonald's Corporation's business model is slightly different
from that of most other fast-food chains. In addition to ordinary
franchise fees and marketing fees, which are calculated as a percentage
of sales, McDonald's may also collect rent, which may also be
calculated on the basis of sales. As a condition of many franchise
agreements, which vary by contract, age, country, and location, the
Corporation may own or lease the properties on which McDonald's franchises are located. In most, if not all cases,
the franchisee does not own the location of its restaurants.
The United Kingdom and Ireland business model is different than the U.S, in that fewer than 30% of restaurants are
franchised, with the majority under the ownership of the company. McDonald's trains its franchisees and others at
Hamburger University in Oak Brook, Illinois.
In other countries, McDonald's restaurants are operated by joint ventures of McDonald's Corporation and other, local
entities or governments.
As a matter of policy, McDonald's does not make direct sales of food or materials to franchisees, instead organizing
the supply of food and materials to restaurants through approved third party logistics operators.
According to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight workers in the U.S. have at some time
been employed by McDonald's. The book also states that McDonald's is the largest private operator of playgrounds
in the U.S., as well as the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of meats
McDonald's uses varies to some extent based on the culture of the host country.
Advertising
McDonald's branch in Beirut Central District
McDonald's has for decades maintained an extensive advertising
campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and
newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and
signage, sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the
Olympic Games, and makes coolers of orange drink with its logo
available for local events of all kinds. Nonetheless, television has
always played a central role in the company's advertising strategy.
To date, McDonald's has used 23 different slogans in United States
advertising
[citation needed]
, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions. At times, it has run into
trouble with its campaigns.
McDonald's
8
In Australia some restaurants temporary changed
their logo to Macca's for Australia Day holidays
Space exploration
McDonald's and NASA explored an advertising agreement for a
planned mission to the asteroid 449 Hamburga, however the spacecraft
was eventually cancelled.
[33]
Sports awards and honors
See Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans
Charity
McHappy Day
McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald's, where a percentage
of the day's sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for
Ronald McDonald House Charities.
[34]
In 2007, it was celebrated in 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Finland,
France, Guatemala, Hungary, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay.
According to the Australian McHappy Day web site, McHappy Day raised $20.4 million in 2009. The goal for 2010
is $20.8 million.
[35]
McDonald's Monopoly donation to St. Jude
In 1995, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing
a $1 million winning McDonald's Monopoly game piece. McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied by
a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler's eyepiece,
handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner.
[36]
Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes,
McDonald's waived the rule and has made the annual $50,000 annuity payments, even after learning that the piece
was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald's (see McDonald's
Monopoly).
Criticism
As a prominent example of the rapid globalization of the American fast food industry, McDonald's is often the target
of criticism for its menu, its expansion, and its business practices. The McLibel Trial, also known as McDonald's
Restaurants v Morris & Steel, is an example of this criticism. In 1990, activists from a small group known as London
Greenpeace (no connection to the international group Greenpeace) distributed leaflets entitled What's wrong with
McDonald's?, criticizing its environmental, health, and labor record. The corporation wrote to the group demanding
they desist and apologize, and, when two of the activists refused to back down, sued them for libel in one of the
longest cases in British civil law. A documentary film of the McLibel Trial has been shown in several countries.
Despite the objections of McDonald's, the term "McJob" was added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in
2003.
[37]
The term was defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for
advancement".
[38]
In 2001, Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation included criticism of the business practices of McDonald's. Among
the critiques were allegations that McDonald's (along with other companies within the fast food industry) uses its
McDonald's
9
political influence to increase its profits at the expense of people's health and the social conditions of its workers.
The book also brought into question McDonald's advertisement techniques in which it targets children. While the
book did mention other fast-food chains, it focused primarily on McDonald's.
In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu and Buddhist, successfully sued McDonald's for misrepresenting its
French fries as vegetarian, when they contained beef broth.
[39]
A PETA activist dressed as a chicken confronts the
manager of the Times Square McDonald's over the
company's animal welfare standards.
Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary film Super Size Me said that
McDonald's food was contributing to the epidemic of obesity in
society, and that the company was failing to provide nutritional
information about its food for its customers. Six weeks after the
film premiered, McDonald's announced that it was eliminating the
super size option, and was creating the adult Happy Meal.
Arguments in defense
In response to public pressure, McDonald's has sought to include
more healthy choices in its menu and has introduced a new slogan
to its recruitment posters: "Not bad for a McJob".
[]
(The word
McJob, first attested in the mid-1980s
[40]
and later popularized by
Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland in his book Generation X,
has become a buzz word for low-paid, unskilled work with few
prospects or benefits and little security.) McDonald's disputes this
definition of McJob. In 2007, the company launched an
advertising campaign with the slogan "Would you like a career
with that?" on Irish television, outlining that its jobs have many
prospects.
In an effort to respond to growing consumer awareness of food provenance, the fast-food chain changed its supplier
of both coffee beans and milk. UK chief executive Steve Easterbrook said: "British consumers are increasingly
interested in the quality, sourcing and ethics of the food and drink they buy".
[41]
In a bid to tap into the ethical
consumer market,
[42]
McDonald's switched to using coffee beans taken from stocks that are certified by the
Rainforest Alliance, a conservation group. Additionally, in response to pressure, McDonald's UK started using
organic milk supplies for its bottled milk and hot drinks, although it still uses conventional milk in its milkshakes,
and in all of its dairy products in the United States.
[]
According to a report published by Farmers Weekly in 2007, the
quantity of milk used by McDonald's could have accounted for as much as 5% of the UK's organic milk output.
[43]
McDonald's announced on May 22, 2008 that, in the United States and Canada, it would switch to using cooking oil
that contains no trans fats for its french fries, and canola-based oil with corn and soy oils, for its baked items, pies
and cookies, by year's end.
[44][45]
With regard to acquiring chickens from suppliers who use CAK or CAS methods of slaughter, McDonald's says that
it needs to see more research "to help determine whether any CAS system in current use is optimal from an animal
welfare perspective."
[46]
McDonald's
10
Environmental record
Kosher McDonald's at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel
In April 2008, McDonald's announced that 11 of its Sheffield, England
restaurants have been using a biomass trial that had cut its waste and
carbon footprint by half in the area. In this trial, wastes from the
restaurants were collected by Veolia Environmental Services, and were
used to produce energy at a power plant. McDonald's plans to expand
this project, although the lack of biomass power plants in the United
States will prevent this plan from becoming a national standard
anytime soon.
[47]
In addition, in Europe, McDonald's has been
recycling vegetable grease by converting it to fuel for its diesel
trucks.
[48]
Furthermore, McDonald's has been using a corn-based bioplastic to produce containers for some of its products.
Although industries who use this product claim a carbon savings of 30% to 80%, a Guardian study shows otherwise.
The results show that this type of plastic does not break down in landfills as efficiently as other conventional
plastics. The extra energy it takes to recycle this plastic results in a higher output of greenhouse gases. Also, the
plastics can contaminate waste streams, causing other recycled plastics to become unsaleable.
[49]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized McDonald's continuous effort to reduce solid waste by
designing more efficient packaging and by promoting the use of recycled-content materials.
[50]
McDonald's reports
that it is committed towards environmental leadership by effectively managing electric energy, by conserving natural
resources through recycling and reusing materials, and by addressing water management issues within the
restaurant.
[51]
In an effort to reduce energy usage by 25% in its restaurants, McDonald's opened a prototype restaurant in Chicago
in 2009 with the intention of using 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 intentionally incorporate green ideas,
McDonald's designed the Chicago site to save energy by incorporating old and new ideas such as managing storm
water, using skylights for more natural lighting and installing some partitions and tabletops made from recycled
goods.
[52]
When McDonalds received criticism for its environmental policies in the 1970s, it began to make substantial
progress towards source reductions efforts.
[53]
For instance, an average meal in the 1970sa Big Mac, fries, and a
drinkrequired 46grams of packaging; today, it requires only 25grams, allowing a 46% reduction.
[54]
In addition,
McDonalds eliminated the need for intermediate containers for cola by having a delivery system that pumps syrup
directly from the delivery truck into storage containers, saving two million pounds of packaging annually.
[55]
Overall, weight reductions in packaging and products, as well as the increased usage of bulk packaging ultimately
decreased packaging by 24 million pounds annually.
[56]
Legal cases
McDonald's has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases, most of which involved trademark
disputes. The company has threatened many food businesses with legal action unless it drops the Mc or Mac from
trading names. In one noteworthy case, McDonald's sued a Scottish caf owner called McDonald, even though the
business in question dated back over a century (Sheriff Court Glasgow and Strathkelvin, November 21, 1952). On
September 8, 2009, McDonald's Malaysian operations lost a lawsuit to prevent another restaurant calling itself
McCurry. McDonald's lost in an appeal to Malaysia's highest court, the Federal Court.
[57]
It has also filed numerous defamation suits. For example, in the McLibel case, McDonald's sued two activists for
distributing pamphlets attacking its environmental, labor and health records. After the longest trial in UK legal
history, the judge found that some claims in the pamphlet were untrue and therefore libelous. The company,
McDonald's
11
however, had asserted that all claims in the pamphlet were untrue, essentially obliging the judge to publicly rule on
each one. A few of the specific allegations (specifically that McDonald's was "culpably responsible" for animal
cruelty, that it exploited children through its advertising, and that it paid low wages) were found to be true.
[58]
McDonald's has defended itself in several cases involving workers' rights. In 2001, the company was fined 12,400
by British magistrates for illegally employing and over-working child labor in one of its London restaurants. This is
thought to be one of the largest fines imposed on a company for breaking laws relating to child working conditions
(R v 2002 EWCA Crim 1094). In April 2007, in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald's pleaded guilty to five charges
relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its outlets and was fined A$8,000.
[59]
Possibly the most infamous legal case involving McDonald's was the 1994 decision in Liebeck v. McDonald's
Restaurants where Stella Liebeck was awarded several million dollars after she suffered third-degree burns after
spilling a scalding cup of McDonald's coffee on herself.
In a McDonald's American Idol figurine promotion, the figurine that represents "New Wave Nigel" wears something
that closely resembles Devos Energy dome, which was featured on the band's album cover, Freedom of Choice. In
addition to the figurine's image, it also plays a tune that appears to be an altered version of Devo's song "Doctor
Detroit". Devo copyrighted and trademarked the Energy Dome and is taking legal action against McDonald's.
[60]
Employment practices
On 5 August 2013, The Guardian revealed that 90% of McDonalds UK workforce are on zero hour contracts,
making it possibly the largest such private sector employer in the country.
[61]
References
[1] http:/ / www. nyse.com/ about/ listed/ lcddata. html?ticker=mcd
[4] http:/ / www. aboutmcdonalds. com/
[9] http:/ / tools.wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=McDonald%27s& params=33. 9471_N_-118. 1182_E_
[10] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack.php?pagename=McDonald%27s& params=34. 1255_N_-117. 2946_E_
[12] Steele, Jeffrey. " Oak Brook history in caring hands society president is part of village's changing heritage (http:/ / pqasb. pqarchiver. com/
chicagotribune/ access/ 32461979. html?dids=32461979:32461979& FMT=ABS& FMTS=ABS:FT& type=current& date=Jul+ 29,+ 1998&
author=Jeffrey+ Steele. + Special+ to+ the+ Tribune. & pub=Chicago+ Tribune& desc=OAK+ BROOK+ HISTORY+ IN+ CARING+
HANDS+ SOCIETY+ PRESIDENT+ IS+ PART+ OF+ VILLAGE'S+ CHANGING+ HERITAGE& pqatl=google)". Chicago Tribune. July
29, 1998. Page 88. Retrieved on September 17, 2009.
[13] Cross, Robert. " Inside Hamburger Central (http:/ / pqasb. pqarchiver. com/ chicagotribune/ access/ 648915512.
html?dids=648915512:648915512& FMT=ABS& FMTS=ABS:AI& type=historic& date=Jan+ 09,+ 1972& author=& pub=Chicago+
Tribune& desc=Inside+ Hamburger+ Central& pqatl=google)". Chicago Tribune. January 9, 1972. G18. Retrieved on September 17, 2009.
[15] aboutmcdonalds.com (http:/ / www.aboutmcdonalds.com/ mcd/ our_company. html), retrieved May 8, 2008
[22] "El nico Mc Donalds kosher del mundo fuera de Israel es certificado por Ajdut Kosher" (http:/ / www. kosher. org. ar/ kosher/ Mc
Donalds. pdf) (Spanish and English). Last consulted: 22/05/2011
[27] [27] Stanford University Press, 1998, edited by James L. Watson
[34] McHappy Day (http:/ / rmhc. org/ news-and-events/ mchappy-day/ ), Ronald McDonald House Charities. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
[35] McHappy Day (http:/ / www. mchappyday.com.au/ ) Retrieved 8 November 2010.
[40] Merriam-Webster: 'McJob' is here to stay (http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2003/ SHOWBIZ/ books/ 11/ 11/ offbeat. mcjob. ap/ )
[42] Carrigan, Marylyn and De Pelsmacker, Patrick (2009). Will ethical consumers sustain their values in the global credit crunch? International
Marketing Review, 26(6), pp. 674687,(p.7).
[54] [54] Environmental Defense Fund. Task Force Report. p. 42.
[55] [55] Environmental Defense Fund and McDonald's Corporation. Waste Reduction Task Force Final Report. Oak Brook, IL: McDonald's, 1991.
p. 22.
[57] BBC online news article dated September 8, 2009 News.BB.co.uk (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ 8243270. stm)
[61] </
McDonald's
12
Further reading
Thomas Derdak and Jay P. Pederson, ed. (2004). "McDonald's". International directory of company histories 67
(3rd ed.). St. James Press. pp.108109. ISBN9781558625129.
Love, John F. (April 1987). "Big Macs, Fries, and Real Estate". Financial Executive (4): 2026.
External links
Official website (http:/ / www. mcdonalds. com/ )
"Big Mac's Makeover: McDonald's Turned Around" (http:/ / www. economist. com/ business/ displaystory.
cfm?story_id=E1_PNRVRJR). The Economist. 2004-10-14.
CBC Archives (http:/ / archives. cbc. ca/ economy_business/ business/ clip/ 12844/ )CBC Television reports on
the opening of Moscow McDonald's (1990)
History of McDonald's
13
History of McDonald's
McDonald's
Type Public
Traded as
NYSE:MCD
[1]
Dow Jones Industrial Average Component
S&P 500 Component
Industry Restaurants
Founded May 15, 1940 in San Bernardino, California;
McDonald's Corporation, April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois
Founder(s) Richard and Maurice McDonald McDonald's restaurant concept;
Ray Kroc, McDonald's Corporation founder.
Headquarters Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S.
Number of locations
34,000+ worldwide
[1]
Area served Worldwide
Key people Andrew J. McKenna
(Chairman)
Don Thompson
(President and CEO)
Products Fast food
(hamburgers chicken french fries soft drinks coffee milkshakes salads desserts breakfast)
Revenue
US$ 27.56 billion (2012)
[]
Operating income
US$ 8.60 billion (2012)
[]
Net income
US$ 5.46 billion (2012)
[]
Total assets
US$ 35.39 billion (2012)
[]
Total equity
US$ 15.29 billion (2012)
[]
Employees
1,800,000 (2013)
[2]
Website
Global Corporate Website
[4]
The McDonald's restaurant concept was introduced in San Bernardino, California by Dick and Mac McDonald of
Manchester, New Hampshire. It was modified and expanded by their business partner, Ray Kroc, of Oak Park,
Illinois, who later bought out the business interests of the McDonald brothers in the concept and went on to found
McDonald's Corporation.
History of McDonald's
14
Early history
The oldest operating McDonald's on Lakewood and Florence in
Downey, California, was the chain's third restaurant and the second
to be built with the Golden Arches.
In 1937, Patrick McDonald opened "The Airdrome", a
food stand, on Huntington Drive (Route 66) near the
Monrovia Airport in Monrovia, California.
[3]
Hamburgers were ten cents, and
all-you-can-drink
[citation needed]
orange juice was five
cents. In 1940, his two sons, Maurice and Richard
("Mac" and " Dick"), moved the entire building 40
miles (64km) east, to West 14th and 1398 North E
Streets in San Bernardino, California. The restaurant
was renamed "McDonald's Bar-B-Q" and served
twenty five barbecued items on their menu.
In October 1948, after the McDonald brothers realized
that most of their profits came from selling
hamburgers, they closed down their successful carhop
drive-in to establish a streamlined system with a simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries,
shakes, soft drinks, and apple pie. The carhops were eliminated to make McDonald's a self-serve operation. Mac and
Dick McDonald had taken great care in setting up their kitchen like an assembly line to ensure maximum efficiency.
The restaurant's name was again changed, this time to simply "McDonald's," and reopened its doors on December
12, 1948.
In 1953, the McDonald brothers began to franchise their successful restaurant, starting in Phoenix, Arizona and
Downey, California; the latter is today the oldest surviving McDonald's restaurant. The McDonald brothers created
Speedee to symbolize the quick and efficient service system that they had devised. They later withdrew Speedee
because the Alka-Seltzer mascot was named Speedy, and McDonald's did not want to be affiliated with Alka-Seltzer.
Downey's Speedee is one of only a few remaining. His little legs, animated in neon, still run as fast as they can to
serve the restaurant's next customer. The Speedee sign was erected in 1959 at Downey with its single giant arch and
is a one-of-a-kind. It also hearkens back to the days of the postwar era when the roadside was filled with larger than
life advertisements of all shapes and colors vying for motorists' attention: "Hey pull in over here, This is Your Kind
of Place!" Designed by the architect Stanley Clarke Meston and his assistant Charles Fish, Downey's restaurant is the
oldest operating McDonald's in the world. Since it was franchised not by the McDonald's Corporation, but by the
McDonald brothers themselves to Roger Williams and Burdette Landon, the Speedee McDonald's was not required
to comply with the McDonald's Corporation's remodeling and updating requests over the years.
Recognizing the historic and nostalgic value of the intact 1953 structure, the McDonald's Corporation acquired the
store in 1990 and rehabilitated it to a modern but nearly original condition, and then built an adjacent museum and
gift shop to commemorate the site. Inside the small museum are many McDonald's artifacts from over the years, and
also a small display showing how the restaurant buildings evolved from the small walk-up candy striped stands to
the large more common mansard-roofed restaurants.
In 1954, Ray Kroc, a seller of Multi-mixer milkshake machines, learned that the McDonald brothers were using
eight of his machines in their San Bernardino restaurant. His curiosity was piqued, and he went to San Bernardino to
take a look at the McDonalds' restaurant. He was joined by good friend Charles Lewis who had suggested to Kroc
several improvements to the McDonald's burger recipe.
Believing that the McDonalds' formula was a ticket to success, Kroc suggested that they franchise their restaurants
throughout the country. When they hesitated to take on this additional burden, Kroc volunteered to do it for them. He
returned to his home outside of Chicago with rights to set up Mc