WI: No McDonald's

Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

McDonald's is a fast food and corporate juggernaut, and exists today as the icon for the food food industry, for good or ill. But there was a time, not so long ago, that McDonald's was a small regional franchise owned by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, partnered with the brothers, and expanded the franchise into an ever growing chain. Kroc, growing frustrated that the brothers wanted to maintain only a small number of restaurants, bought the company from them in 1961. From there, it grew into the widespread and prolific corporation it is today.

But what if that didn't happen? What if Ray Kroc never partnered with the brothers, and thus never took over, and/or the brothers got their wish of keeping it only a small number of restaurants, or what if their restaurant never existed at all? What if there was, at least beyond a small regional chain, no McDonalds?
 
joea64

joea64

Emperor Norton I said:
McDonald's is a fast food and corporate juggernaut, and exists today as the icon for the food food industry, for good or ill. But there was a time, not so long ago, that McDonald's was a small regional franchise owned by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, partnered with the brothers, and expanded the franchise into an ever growing chain. Kroc, growing frustrated that the brothers wanted to maintain only a small number of restaurants, bought the company from them in 1961. From there, it grew into the widespread and prolific corporation it is today.

But what if that didn't happen? What if Ray Kroc never partnered with the brothers, and thus never took over, and/or the brothers got their wish of keeping it only a small number of restaurants, or what if their restaurant never existed at all? What if there was, at least beyond a small regional chain, no McDonalds?
Click to expand...

It's easy to say - but probably accurate; I think fast food was an idea whose time had come at the time McDonald's started to really get big - that some other company would take the lead in that field. What I can't say is which one it would be - Burger King? Hardee's? White Castle? (the last one was the closest thing to a national chain before McDonald's) - and whether the leader would grow to the juggernaut size of OTL Mickey D's, or whether we'd instead see a situation where there was no single national or world-wide colossus but instead you'd have each region/country with a different leader.
 

tallthinkev

Kongzilla said:
I know it's none of my business, but could you please elaborate. I'm intrigued
Click to expand...

One of my teeth was broken by some metal in their 'meals'. All I wanted from them was a sorry and I would have left at that. Must have cost them around £10,000, instead of a bit of paper.
 

Flubber

Banned
tallthinkev said:
One of my teeth was broken by some metal in their 'meals'. All I wanted from them was a sorry and I would have left at that. Must have cost them around £10,000, instead of a bit of paper.
Click to expand...


In incidents like the one you described, corporations want to pay you off because it covers their ass against any future claims.

If they'd just given you the written apology and hearty handshake you wanted, they most likely wouldn't have your signature on a legal document absolving them of any future claims when you or your heirs decided to sue at some later date because the fry-o-lator wingnut you chomped down on somehow caused your later Type II diabetes, male pattern baldness, or terminal flatulence.

Even if you had signed a document absolving them of any future claims in return for an apology, when it comes to having cases dismissed, being able to wave both a signed legal document and a cashed check in front of a judge goes a hell of a lot further than a copy of form letter and a snapshot of a handshake.

Enjoy the money and quit pretending McDonald's was stupid to give it to you.
 

ivanotter

I fully agree: Somehow, the time was right for something like that.

Old-fashioned "sit down and order fantastic meals" restaurants were just too slow and I think it came about with the more frantic pace. US of course was the mecca for "pace".

If we look at the penetration in a world-wide perswpective, it might be more complex. The fascination with everything USA must have been huge. But how could France (of all places) be interested in fast-food?

Going a bit beyond the mere "fast" in fast food, it is (at least in South Africa) the business people on the road at lunch time who are the most loyal customers (jacket and tie people). Why? the have no time to sit and decide. They know the menu, they know the taste and they can do other things while eating.

So, where did the pressure then come from in terms of establishing something like this? Business people who wanted something else for lunch while on the road? family meals? the kids?

Just a thought

Ivan
 
Shadow Hawk

Shadow Hawk

One small effect: Glen Bell continues selling hamburgers, and never switches to tacos. Whether this is good or bad for Mexican food is subject for debate.
(Taco Bell, what Anglos living in Southern California think authentic Mexican food is like.)
Personally, I like Taco Bell, but I also know that it's not authentic.
 

LostCosmonaut

Shadow Hawk said:
One small effect: Glen Bell continues selling hamburgers, and never switches to tacos. Whether this is good or bad for Mexican food is subject for debate.
(Taco Bell, what Anglos living in Southern California think authentic Mexican food is like.)
Personally, I like Taco Bell, but I also know that it's not authentic.
Click to expand...

I like Taco Bell, because there's one within walking distance of my dorm, so it's one of the few places I can go when I'm drunk off my ass.
 

phx1138

ivanotter said:
I fully agree: Somehow, the time was right for something like that.

Old-fashioned "sit down and order fantastic meals" restaurants were just too slow and I think it came about with the more frantic pace. US of course was the mecca for "pace".
Click to expand...
Agreed. Besides which, the idea of chain restaurants with the same food isn't a new idea. There's a railway chain restauarant going back 100yr or more (name I can never recall:eek:).
ivanotter said:
They know the menu, they know the taste and they can do other things while eating.

So, where did the pressure then come from in terms of establishing something like this? Business people who wanted something else for lunch while on the road? family meals? the kids?
Click to expand...
My guess is, travellers of all kinds. It's not just knowing the menu: it's consistent flavor & quality. McD's works hard to keep it the same, so people can go in any store anywhere & get the same meal, a "piece of home".

This has tended to homogenize cuisine... It's also not the fault of McD's, or any fast food chain, as much as it is the growth of that perennial bugaboo, the Interstate System.:eek::rolleyes:
wingman said:
i dream of this topic evey time i go into work.

(i work at a McDonalds in Aiken SC. lol! :D:D)
Click to expand...
You'd rather be going daily to the unemployment office?:eek::p

Is working there really that bad?:eek::eek::p (Or do you just hate clowns?:p)
 
Last edited:
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

The interesting thing is what other local chains could arise to become national or even worldwide chains. Or, if Fast Food culture even takes off like it did.
 

phx1138

wingman said:
At this one yes it's that bad. i would rather blow my brains out than go into work somedays. get yelld at, cursed at and i caught a Manager trying to give me a sandwich right out garbage one day.:mad:

so yea i do not care for McDonalds very much.:mad:
Click to expand...
:eek::eek::eek:

You make me glad I prefer Taco Bell (tho we call them Taco Time up here:confused:).
 

Kalvan

We would still have had franchised fast food as we know it.

White Castle, Steak and Shake, Dairy Queen, Chick Fil-A, Carl's BBQ (Predacessor to Carl's Jr.) and Pizzaria Uno all predated it.
 

ivanotter

The interstate system?

Tell us more please. That is another element in this debate.

If it is a bit of "home from home" then it is a default choice for not making a decision on what and where to eat. It is not a positive choice (Let's go to Gordon Ramsey's restaurant to have a meal) but more of a non-choice (just get some MacD or KFC or whatever).

Taste and menu and everything is known. There is no surprise. There is really nothing to look forward to. It is just fuel for the human machine. A compromise.

Now, that's a bit negative and does not line up with International fascination with everything USA in the 1960's and 1970's.

I think one of the very first chains were Lion's tea houses in the UK. Uniforms, standardised menu, etc etc.

Ivan
 

Codae

ivanotter said:
The interstate system?

Tell us more please. That is another element in this debate.
Click to expand...
Interstate highways make it a lot easier to go on a long road trip in the US, which is in my personal experience the primary situation in which people get fast food. Ergo, without interstates, there is less demand for national fast-food chains.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top