AP+2016+The+McDonald’s+Corporation

The McDonald’s Corporation: Macy Zerbe



Aim: McDonald's started as a small local fast food restaurant, but grew into a large corporation, which is originally aiming to make money. That goal to make money and keep the business running is always the central goal, even when they work to better something else. Recently McDonald's has tried to put an emphasis on how they care about their customers, rather than just profits which is largely in response to when they had their approval drop significantly and thus business was worse. Most of the time this is seen in how they have tried to make their meals healthier, and how they tried to change their customer's perspective on health. They did try to make their food more healthy, but they also put much more effort in making people feel and think it is healthier. Some of the changes they made were the introduction of salads to the store, and actually cutting back on their stores saying they had changed their strategy from "growing by being bigger to growing by being better" (Evans). Still the changes in business strategy are mostly intended to increase customer turnout by increasing customer satisfaction.

Audience: Most of McDonald's actions and advertisements are trying to talk to potential customers, and try to make their restaurants convent for as many people as possible. However when they started trying to improve their approval ratings they were often trying to directly respond to certain critics that had damaged their reputation, and while many of the press was also seen by the public, it was intended for their critics. They have also worked with charities again as an attempt to make them more favorable. Often times these charity acts and improvement in health standards are advertised, sometimes trying to get help with the charities, but also as a way as reaching the general public and increasing their profits. They have also often tried to focus their advertisement on children who generally don't care about health concerns as much as adults.

Historical: The McDonald's Corporation was original owned by a McDonald and was a barbecue fast food restaurant but was later bought out and turned into a corporation rather than a family run business. At this time McDonald's is the second largest corporation in America right behind Walmart. The company was originally started by the McDonald brothers but was bought by Ray Kroc who many consider the main founder as he turned it into a corporation rather than a family run business.

Cultural: McDonald's is the second largest corporation in the US and thus can have a large effect on culture. The business model and strategies used by McDonald's has create an entire system of other fast food restaurants that can be found on every other street. The Idea of fast food has become everyday probably plays a part in most families lives at times. The role seems small, as it is just a meal, but every person in America has probably eaten at a McDonald's no matter where they live, it is a fundamental part of American life. Also being the second largest corporation tends to affect society, McDonald's provides jobs to over a million people worldwide.

"Our Company." Our Company. McDonald's, 2016. Web. 6 Jan. 2016.

"McDonald's History." History of McDonald's. McDonald's, 201 6. Web. 06 Jan. 2016.

Evans, Stephen. "McDonald's: The Journey to Health." BBC News. BBC, 20 Apr. 2004. Web. 06 Jan. 2016.