I. History

In 1940 a restaurant opened serving burgers, fries, and milkshakes. That restaurant, McDonalds, consisted of a small building with a drive-thru stand. This was the beginning of the McDonalds takeover of the food industry.

Dick and Mac McDonald were the founders of this new restaurant. Before McDonalds, they sold hot Dogs out of a stand in Arcadia, California. Looking to increase their revenue, they moved the building to San Bernardino. There, they built the first McDonalds serving barbecue, pork, hamburgers,fries, and malts. It was the #1 teen hangout in the Bernardino area. The restaurant was run by car hops and always had a crowd of teen waiting outside. Ray Kroc was the first franchisee appointed by Mac and Dick. He opened his first restaurant in Illinois. He mortgaged his home and moved to California to sell his multi mixers to McDonalds. He told Mac and Dick that it would be a good idea to create more McDonalds restaurants.

From here on Ray Kroc bought McDonalds from Mac and Dick for 2.7 million dollars. Ray Kroc continued to make more and more franchises even when McDonalds had sold 1 billion hamburgers. It became so popular that a new McDonalds was being built every day in 1963. Ray Kroc also extended his restaurant to France and El Salvador, then in the UK. Building were being built everywhere. McDonalds American influence spread across the world reaching China. McDonalds then began pulling in the children and came up with the Ronald McDonald cartoon and friends. This turned out to be a huge success and brought in a lot of money for McDonalds(Welcome to the Historic Site Of The First McDonalds).

II. Geographic

All colored countries have McDonalds

Nowadays, McDonalds can be found in many countries. In America, finding one is not a problem, especially on the eastern side. McDonalds has indeed spread through a great portion of the world. McDonalds influence has reached countries across the ocean. It provides more than 1.5 million jobs in more than 119 countries.

The first McDonalds was opened in San Bernardino in California. From there more and more franchises appeared throughout America. It was in 1967 when Ray Kroc decided to build McDonalds in Canada and Puerto Rico. In 1970, Ray Kroc opened a McDonalds in every state and added The Virgin Islands and Costa Rica. At this time there was a McDonalds opening every day and France decided to open some of their own. The influence of McDonalds was so great that Ray Kroc had no problem opening new franchises anywhere. It simply became a normal think to open new McDonalds restaurants. What started as a hot dog stand spread throughout the world in less than 15 years. Here you can compare McDonalds with Starbucks and other fast- food restaurants (McDonalds and Starbucks Worldwide) .

III. Technological

McDonalds is the #1fast food restaurant on the planet. They are also the first to set up a fast food restaurant thus giving way to other companys like Burger King and Wendys. The idea came from Ray Kroc when he realized the amount of people came to the first McDonalds buildings. He was the one who convinced the McDonald brothers to create more franchises and position them across America. The restaurants were setup in the places that they sought would bring in more revenue. They had to change the way that they served the customers to lower the demand. They installed new grills and utilities to make production faster. To their surprise, it worked. The system of have workers placed at different stations proved effective when producing large amounts of fries, burgers and drinks. They also installed multi mixers to allow faster production for their milkshakes.

McDonalds perfected there food by trying different ingredients to find the right taste that consumers wanted. It didn't take long until their combination of pickles, ketchup, mustard,cheese and burger
patties proved to be successful. Later, the McDonalds Corps. continue to make different sandwiches and added more items to the menu. Even today McDonalds have added salads and fruits as a choice of food. They have also dropped Trans Fat out of their food. All of these changes required a bigger work force and new utilities that worked faster. Now all McDonalds have soft drink fountains and even coffee sections (McDonald's Drops Trans Fats From Food).

IV. Artistic

McDonalds attracts all people from ages 3 and up. The golden arches seem to attract every person in the city. McDonalds have been known for their addictive food and their expensive play places. People already know what they want when they step in a McDonalds. Its the place where teens go after school and where children love to go.

When McDonalds came out with the Ronald McDonald cartoon, the kids went crazy. Every child wanted to be a part of it. Then when the Happy Meal arrived, sales blew off the roof. Now children enjoy going to McDonalds. They order their food , eat then move to the play place .The play places are always filled with children with their socks off, crawling their way through the tunnels.

I think the one reason why McDonalds is so popular is because they have options that pertain too every age group. They also have salads, yogurt and other side items. Another reason is because they have perfected the burger. They come out fast and yet are so tasty.

McDonalds is also the leading fast food restaurant in America. They have surpassed Burger King, Wendys and KfC put together. Its food and service is superior to all other resteraunts. McDonalds are always scattered throughout America. You can expect to find one on most exits or near every city. Its almost as if there is a McDonalds wherever there is civilization.

V. Biographical

Before Mac and Dick McDonald thought of their restaurant, they were in a pretty tight situation. They were running a movie theater in California. They set up lights for shows and were the stage crew .One day they noticed that a hot dog stand was holding its own. They decided to make their own called the airdrome. The first McDonalds was actually a barbecue restaurant. They noticed that they weren't pulling enough money to keep the place so they closed the building and revised their plan to be succesful. They opened up without the barbecue but left the shakes fries and burgers. They also opened the first fast food system. After they made a deal with to sell McDonalds to Ray Kroc for 2.7 million. From there Ray Kroc took over and made started to make McDonalds a franchise. From there the rest is history (How McDonald's works).

VI. Societal

McDonalds has had a major to America. Its the #1 fast food restaurant. It has a sense of greatness to the American culture that finally there something we can be proud of. From a hot dog stand to positioning buildings in China, it really show that American belief that anything could happen at a any time. Mac and Dick McDonald used what they had at the moment to create this and now its gone berserk. Their life symbolizes the rags to riches story. McDonalds will be remembered as the greatest fast food restaurant of its time.

You could ask many people if they have heard of the golden arches. Throughout the world they will tell you that they know what it is. American influence has reached other countries. Those gold arches are simply reminders of America. They symbolize great tasting food and variety. McDonalds is definetly one of the things that represents America today (McDonald's: The Secret of Their Success).

Citations.

1. McGrath, Jane . How McDonald's works. Jan. 2005 http://money.howstuffworks.com/mcdonalds.htm/printable



2. Hitti, Miranda . WebMD Health News. McDonald's Drops Trans Fats From Food. 2008 http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=89726


3. McDonalds The Historic site. route66.com. 1/29/2003 http://www.route-66.com/mcdonalds/


4. McDonalds video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxXDD_7lgYw


5. A brief history of McDonalds. McSpotlight. No date. -http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/company_history.html

6. -http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/index.html

7. Parris Kruass, Carol. The History of McDonalds. September 22, 2006.http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/61904/the_history_of_mcdonalds.html