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MEMORIES:
BuckBrann02 remembers...I loved this place. Like with BK though, I had to stop eating there. It was like alcohol to an ... More »
Posted on 06/19/08
PHOTOS:
“It’s Mac tonight!”
“You Deserve a Break Today”
“Look for the Golden Arches”
“I’m Lovin’ It!”
Once upon a time, food was slow. Kids at restaurants had to wait for ages until their dinner arrived. And nobody expected those restaurants to actually cater to children with kid-size portions and clown spokesmen and little boxes of culinary wonder (well, wondrous to a five-year-old, at least) with a toy surprise inside. All of that changed with the rise of McDonald’s.
The food giant got its start in San Bernardino, California back in 1940 with brothers Dick and Mac McDonald. In 1955, restaurant appliance salesman Ray Kroc was so impressed with their efficient service he purchased the licensing to build it up as a franchise, and the McDonald’s we know today was born. Under its credo of “quality, service, cleanliness and value” McDonald’s has revolutionized not only fast food, but also they way products are marketed, the language we use today – in fact, it changed our very culture to the core.
Until the early 60s, McDonald’s served only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes and sodas. In 1963, they added the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and their prominent mascot, Ronald McDonald, who was initially played by Willard Scott after his run on the Washington D.C. version of Bozo the Clown. Second only to good ol’ Santa Claus in world-wide recognition, Ronald McDonald has appeared on television and in advertisements since 1963, enticing kids and adults alike to come to McDonalds for a hamburger and a smile. Ronald McDonald can often be found hanging out with his pals, Birdie the Early Bird, Grimace, and of course, the Hamburglar (all of which, by the way, were created in 1971 after the company failed in their attempt to license the H.R. Pufnstuf characters.) In the past, you might have also seen him with Mayor McCheese (removed from the pack after the Kroffts sued for similarities to Pufnstuf), as well as The Fry Kids, The McNugget Buddies, and of course, the jazzy Mac Tonight.
In the later 60s, McDonald’s went international, becoming an early benchmark of successful globalization. Along with it, McDonald’s started making their now-famous Big Mac – made with two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions all on a sesame-seed bun (or at least according to the famous jingle). The Big Mac made it so big that for many years it was an indicator used to determine the cost of living in different countries, the “Big Mac Index,” since it was so widely available around the world. Do you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? Well, fans of Pulp Fiction know that it’s a Royale with Cheese, the burger McDonald’s started making in 1973. Just two years later, McDonalds opened its first drive-through, making eating on the run even easier for the increasingly automotive society.
A childhood favorite made its debut in 1979. Originally called the Circus Wagon Happy Meal, it included a hamburger or a cheeseburger, fries, a McDonaldland cookies sampler and a small drink along with a small set of toys, like stencils, puzzle books, wrist wallets, ID bracelets and character erasers. Soon after, the happiest meal on earth went commercial with toys that promoted a movie: Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Later they began to include licensed character toys with gender-specific audiences, like Barbie items for the girls and Hot Wheels for the boys. (A little-known fact? Some of the restaurants use the register code “with nuts” to designate when a customer has ordered a masculine toy.) Nowadays, toy placement often coincides with movie and TV promotions, or whatever the toy du jour for kids might be.
They also added the choice of Chicken McNuggets to the Happy Meal, as well as the regular menu with their introduction in 1983. The then-novel idea of bite-sized pieces of breaded chicken was a hit and came with a wide choice of sauces, from ranch to barbeque, honey and honey mustard, sweet and sour… Soon, kids were even experimenting with their fries and nuggets, dipping them into their milkshakes for a nice sweet and salty combination.
McDonald’s doesn’t just lure in the kids. They sucker in the adults, too, with promotional and seasonal food items like the McRib sandwich, which has an avid fan base (and anti-fans who are just as avid.) This barbeque-smothered pork sandwich was not originally a success for McDonald’s. They changed it into a seasonal menu-item, with every appearance accompanied by a media-marketing blitz announcing its ‘arrival.’ No matter whether you think the sandwich is a drool-worthy or disgusting, the McRib has become a cultural phenomenon, both mocked and adored by Homer Simpson and John Q. Public since its inception.
In the mid-90s McDonald’s began their “Supersize” program where customers could order their regular ‘meals’ in larger portions. It became a huge part of the American lexicon, used to describe anything that was upgraded or larger than the norm. The term became pejorative as the rise of obesity and the growing concern about the food industry came to light in books (Fast Food Nation) and movies (Supersize Me).
Through thick and through thin, however, McDonald’s remains not only an important part of pop culture, but may even be its very symbol - for better of worse - in the United States, and around the world.
