McDonald’s: A Good Image with Bad Ethics
怎样才算真正爱一个人Aimee Gibison
Introduction
McDonald’s Corporation has been growing and spreading internationally for the past three decades. Although McDonald’s ems convenient, cheap and clean there are many negative aspects of the business. In spite of paying their employees low wages and negatively impacting other cultures, McDonald’s and chains like it, have managed to position themlves as a positive piece of Americana. McDonald’s promotes its positive image and products with greasy fries, and a clown named Ronald McDonald. The unethical practices of this large fast food corporation are known but do not em to detract from the all-American image that the corporation eks to project.
History
In the 1950s a new style of eating was introduced by brothers, Dick and Mac Donald. Their original small burger stand was soon transformed into one of the largest, well-known transnational corporations. Ray Kroc, a milk shake machine salesman bought McDonald’s from the Donald brothers
and made the burger shack into a business characterized by conformity and uniformity. “Kroc … believed fervently in the ethic of mass production” (Schlosr, 2004).
Under the influence of this mass production ethic, McDonald’s developed new, uniform production methods such as using frozen beef patties, instead of fresh ground beef, and developing a genetically-modified potato rather than using locally grown produce to ensure that all McDonald’s fries have the same uniform taste.
“McDonald's Corporation (McDonald's) is the world's largest foodrvice retailing chain. The company is known for its burgers and fries which it lls through 31,000 fast-food restaurants in over 119 countries” (McDonald’s Corporation, 2006). With so many McDonald’s located world-wide, many find it somewhat refreshing to e a familiar place when traveling in unfamiliar places. By homogenizing products and appearance of the stores, McDonald’s lls this feeling of comfort and familiarity.
Spreading Out to New Markets
Becau it is internationally known and markets a homogeneous image, McDonald’s remains a houhold name with offerings known for a uniform taste. But McDonald’s is trying to reach a broade
r market as well. The corporation is trying to reach out to a healthier crowd of customers by releasing salads with fruits and vegetables.
To reach international customers, the company has also added specialty foods for different countries. “The McArabia (chicken patties on unleavened bread with garlic sauce and onion), the McPepper (a double-patty burger asoned with black pepper sauce), the Bulgogi Korean pork barbecue sandwich, a teriyaki pork burger with lemon-flavored mayonnai, and, soon to find its way onto the menu, the Mushroom Pinwheel, a five-pointed pastry concoction filled with chicken and mushrooms, are all specialty menu items for different cultures in some Chine or Middle Eastern countries” (Old McDonald’s has some smarts in China, 2006).
McDonald’s also donates a portion of their earnings to Ronald McDonald hous, located across America, which helps children with life threatening illness. Efforts like this portray a corporation committed to the welfare of their customers. However, while the overall image of McDonald’s is that of a wholesome, family oriented business, there are contradictions to this image.
The Ethical Problems Big Business Domestically
Although McDonald’s makes the effort to support children with life threatening illness, the diet offer
ed by this corporation and others contributes to obesity, heart dia, asthma, and possibly mad cow dia. What kind of message are we giving our children when we promote healthy eating, and “at least 59 of the nation's 250 children's hospitals have fast-food restaurants?” (Tanner, 2006)
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Environmentally, McDonald’s practices are also questionable. Unlike a fresh ground beef patty at a local butcher shop, “a typical fast-food hamburger patty contains meat from more than one thousand different cattle, raid in as many as five countries” (Schlosr, 2004). This rais the possibility of a particular patty containing contaminants of unknown origin. As noted previously, instead of locally grown potatoes, the corporation us their own genetically modified potatoes. The practices of using food from extreme distances, is problematic environmentally. From a public health perspective, the u of beef from multiple sources makes contaminated sources far more difficult to trace.
最早人类Impact on Foreign Cultures
Not only do McDonald’s products harm individual and environmental well-being, they are also having an influence on some East Asian cultures with the corporation’s entry into tho countries. “Critics claim that the rapid spread of McDonald’s and its fast-food rivals undermines indigenous cuisines and helps create a homogenous, global culture” (Watson, 2006). Chine parents want to connect th
eir children to the world outside of China, so they reward them with a trip to McDonald’s, but in so doing they are also taking away from their culture. “In twenty
孩子英语years [Yunxiang Yan, a UCLA anthropologist] predicts, young people in Beijing (like their counterparts in Hong Kong today) will not even care about the foreign origin of McDonald’s which will be rving ordinary food to people more interested in getting a quick meal than in having a cultural experience” (Watson, 2006).
Another major change brought to the East by the entry by McDonald’s and American corporations into Asian countries, is the new obssion with American culture. “Prior to the arrival of McDonald’s, festivities marking youngsters’ specific birth dates were unknown in most of East Asia. In Hong Kong, for instance, lunar-calendar dates of birth were recorded for u in later life- to help match prospective marriage partners’ horoscopes or choo an auspicious burial date” (Watson, 2006).
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With the prence of McDonald’s restaurants in Asian countries, and the accompanying American cultural norms, children in the countries are recognizing the potential for celebration of individual birthdays. McDonald’s exploits this cultural change to market party packages to Chine children who want to celebrate this new occasion. In many respects, McDonald’s emergence in Asia is perm
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anently altering culture, and norms of the past are being lost in their McDonald’s party packages and Big Macs.电子实习总结
In addition to contributing to cultural changes in China, McDonald’s has offended other cultures through some of its actions. The chain has stirred up controversy with some United States Hindus, many vegetarians, and some Japane. “McDonald's, the fast food giant currently embroiled in a row concerning undisclod beef flavoring in French fries, has made a formal apology to tho it has offended” (McDonald’s resolves french fry dispute, 2002). This may em like a petty dispute, but is not a small issue to Hindus who believe that the cow is sacred. In
respon to this offen to Hindus, vegetarians, and others, McDonald’s offered an apology, and paid the groups ten million of dollars in ttlement.
In addition, “fast food giant McDonalds is facing criticism in Japan after a number of its apple pies were found to contain a banned food coloring agent (McDonald’s apple pies found to contain banned food coloring in Japan, 2006). In 15 McDonald locations across Japan there has been an apple pie recall due to the u of an illegal coloring agent known as azorubin. McDonald’s has claimed that the substance is not harmful, using consumers in the European Union and Australia as examples wh
ere people consume apple pies containing azorubin, emingly without ill effect. McDonald’s has, however, recalled the pies and announced that they will no longer purcha their pies from the China-bad factory using azorubin. Controversy in the United States
Another controversy aro in a Southlake McDonald’s becau of a bacon ranch salad. Chrissy Haley, wife of an assistant coach of the Dallas Cowboy’s, found a rat in her salad after ordering that salad and a Happy Meal for her child. According to newspaper reports, Haley and her nanny found the dead rat under a large lettuce leaf in a shared salad. McDonald’s has yet to respond, apologize, or even ask if the women are okay. “Both women have had blood and stool samples tested repeatedly over the last five and a half months and are undergoing ssions with Dallas clinical psychologist Dr. Rycke Marshall” (Whitt, 2006). Chrissy Haley, who has tested negative for any illness, is suing McDonald’s for $1.7 million, for both the dead rodent in her salad and McDonald’s respon (or lack thereof) to the incident. The corporation has chon not to cooperate during the cour of the law suit, which was t to reach court in September 2007. Labor Relations
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