Why McDonald’s Enhances Travel and Cultural Experiences
Because of the variety of designs of McDonald’s eateries, the service and selections of food people can buy at various McDonald’s around the globe, it can be concluded that all McDonald’s aren’t alike. Travelers can partake in a real globe-trotting experience when they ponder the differences, no matter how marginal, in the way commonplace activities are carried out by various segments of the world community. The McDonald’s Corporation allows our planetary citizens to do just that without breaking their budgets! Here’s a myriad of examples:
In Berlin, patrons can savor a beer with their double cheeseburgers and fries. Those who find themselves in India will have the option of becoming a temporary or permanent vegetarian because of the vegetarian products offered by McDonald’s in the world’s largest democracy. In London, McDonald’s staff is rather stingy with their distribution of napkins and condiments, handed out almost grudgingly after the purchase is completed. This contrasts to the American McDonald’s, where patrons can walk off with a handful of ketchup packets, an inch-high stack of napkins, and several refills of their favorite soft drink without a bit of protest from employees. The people of Montreal, Quebec, have such a liking for European coffee bistros that McDonald’s has catered to their Parisian-style desires via a McCafe, where no Big Macs or Quarter Pounders are served. Instead, bistro delights like gourmet coffees, teas, desserts, and soups are the menu items of choice there.
Tourists to Rome can experience a fine sampling of Italian culture because the McDonald’s near the Piazza di Spagna is one of the most elaborately designed edifices for the consumption of food and drink anywhere in the world. The floor on which locals and tourists order and then rest their feet on while dining is cobble-stoned. Replicas of Roman statues, walls made of Italian marble, and frescoes of city views of Rome enhance the dining atmosphere. Customers don’t eat ordinary ice cream here either, but instead get to choose from several varieties of fresh Italian gelato.
Americans need not fly or cruise across an ocean to witness how McDonald’s eateries can reflect cultural, architectural, and regional differences within the United States. Head to a McDonald’s in Dearborn, Michigan, to purchase some Halal McNuggets, whose chicken product is slaughtered and processed under strict religious supervision in order to cater to the 150,000 Muslims who live in the Detroit metropolitan area. Across the street from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, is a McDonald’s that even the Vanderbilts of generations past would approve of. Its interior was constructed with the same kinds of pricey materials used in building the great mansion. An extravagant fireplace highlights its dining area, one of Asheville’s hot-spots for romantic dinners! In Maine, it’s possible to purchase a taste of New England culture without having to spend a lot of money at a seafood restaurant, as the McDonald’s eateries in this state offer lobster rolls.
These are just some of the examples of how the much criticized McDonald’s Corporation provides people with many different slices of the world in which they inhabit. Even the most Conde Nast among us need to refrain from taking the Golden Arches for granted!
