Written By Rachael. On Jul 28. In Friends: some of the dearest,Random Notes,Summer in France
So during our 2,600 km road trip around the entire country for my birthday holiday… Kelly and I–needless-to-say–stopped at NUMEROUS (sometimes two in one day) McDonalds. Out here the cool kids call it “MacDou”. Subsequently I thought it appropriate to take notes on the experience of french fries at various different french McDonalds… My first MacDou’s in France was in Valence… Kelly and I had to leave the toll road and actually ask the toll-worker “Il y a une MacDou dans Valence?” — really? … two american girls driving around a rental car attempting to find a McDonalds- in FRANCE? The toll-worker laughed (at us) not with us… and spit out something that sounded like there might be a golden arches somewhere if we continued “tout droit” (straight)… but we second guessed ourselves as we realized that “driot” alone is to the right? Greeeaaat. Whatever. We giggled and drove around for 30 minutes until we found what we had been looking for. We ordered and stood around for a bit thinking that our food would come out as fast as it does in the states. As we waited we watched the manager eat a burger while directing his employees during a busy time. When was the last time you saw a McDonalds employee eating McDonalds? Our food took forever turns out even fastfood in france is on the french clock… our food had to be taken out to us. I sat between two women breast feeding…? While I sat contemplating this fact, I noticed a security guard opening the door for customers arriving and leaving? The MacDou’s had bar booths complete with pillars and club music pumping… My Big Mac had no ketchup, no mustard, and only “salad sauce”. My coke had no ice. My M&M’s McFlurry had peanuts. My tray came with no straw, no napkins, and no ketchup for my fries nor could they be found anywhere in the restaurant. We later discovered that you need to ask the person you order from for all of the above — Good talk. The manager (that had just eaten the burger) noticed that we were not familiar with these MacDou methods and proceeded to check on us twice… ? …. at McDonalds?? The next 6 McDou’s I stuck with the “cheeseburger” — it was a good bet… usually extremely fresh considering NO ONE orders the cheeseburger in France… they prefer the “M” = a burger with only cheese and mayo on stale ciabatta? F-ing disgusting…. (I tried it and couldn’t finish) ??
One of my favorite MacDou’s stories was our last experience with the golden arches… Kelly and I arrived at a drive through that was supposed to open at 11:00 am… we drove through twice looking for the appropriate window/com board to place our order… on our third pass (we were determined to be as smart at the drive through) we saw that the manager racing over to unlock the window for us to start-up the drive through service…we were the first drive through of the day… it was NOON … on a friday…?? Welcome to McDou in France. Thing is… it’s still good–worth driving through three more times if need be… Delicious little slice of American heaven in every cheeseburger. McDonalds transcends regardless. hell-O?……….. anyone awake?
Argh!
U come over to France, together with Belgium the Home of Great Food, and you check out McDo?
Why not try some decent french kitchen?
I take issue with the last post. People always complain that McDo is ruining French cuisine; yet France is one of McDo’s fast growing markets. If the French don’t really mind, why should I? Also, McDonald’s spurs cultural and economic development around the world.
It has been said of Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) that trans-national corporations (TNCs) “can be an important mechanism for augmenting and enhancing the proficiency of domestic managers, professionals, and perhaps skilled workers.” McDonald’s certainly has a proud tradition of supporting the development of leadership and managerial skills. To see that this is true, one need only look to the recent announcement in the U.K. that McDonald’s, along with the government, will be offering “McDegrees” and formally recognizing the development of such skills. This is as true, if not more so, in the developing world as it is in developed nations. Additionally, McDonald’s is a company that specializes in efficiency – not only in their kitchens but in their supply chain. As such, it is likely that these skills will be learned not only in kitchens and restaurants, but also with regard to the transport of goods and applicable agricultural sectors – like potatoes, rice, wheat, and meats.
However, academics have warned that “when TNCs enter an economy, indigenous research and development is curbed and redirected toward adaptive inquiry which merely follows the lead of TNCs.” While this may be a legitimate concern in some circumstances, McDonald’s in fact supports continued development and research by its local franchisees. Few are aware that the Egg McMuffin, Big Mac, and others were not created in McDonald’s corporate kitchen, but rather by local franchisees across America. The Filet-o-Fish provides the best example – it was created by an Ohio store owner who recognized that he needed something to serve Catholics on Friday. McDonald’s has actually encouraged individuals to apply local flavor to their menus and continues to do so abroad – hence McCongee in South East Asian and the Maharaja Mac in India. The encouragement of such innovations not only weds McDonald’s to the local culture, it also fuels the creative fire of aspiring entrepreneurs around the globe. For a final example of how McDonald’s can be adapted to a local culture, look to Canada: there the addition of a maple leaf to the McDonald’s logo and the creation of McPoutine, spurred a love of the franchise in the early 90’s.
Finally, scholars have offered general advice on how the developing world should engage TNCs, should they choose to capture their benefits: “a passive strategy yields meager results, while nations that actively engage TNCs have demonstrated that dynamic policies to capture gains from DFI are possible.” Such active strategies have been those that seek to capture the benefits of having TNCs do business within their borders. McDonald’s business structure and practices would actually make this ask easier for governments by allowing countries to create backward linkages and capture value-added at the local level. First, because of McDonald’s franchise system, the profits would be split between the corporation and local business owners. This split stops the leakage of capital that is generally associated with TNCs operating in the developing world. Franchise owners can then reinvest locally – continuing the virtuous cycle.
In terms of backwards linkages, when expanding internationally one of the largest challenges faced by McDonald’s was where to obtain consistent and reliable inputs for far-flung restaurants. As a result, McDonalds cultivated local contacts and coached them towards their established standards. These standards usually focus on a certain level of quality and scale, but also deal extensively with efficiency. As such, local markets for inputs can be developed in a way that lends itself to competition in the modern marketplace. A strong example of this kind of backward linkage is the beef industry of Brazil that supports much of McDonald’s South American demand.
I’d like to thank Mr. McDonald for his thoughtful comment. Insightful and refreshing.
And i guess Mr McDonald took my comment a bit the wrong way….
I also enjoy my McDo & Quick fastfood. But if i have the choice between French cuisine or McDO, i do, prefer French!
It is an interesting comment in the whole, but nothing new for me, as I used to work in the local McDo Franchise. :-)
oh Rach- you make me so proud, end of story. love ya -Al
Oh Al… I love you so much. period. good talk.