McDonald's is an international restaurant business, with franchises and owner-operated stores throughout the world, if not the universe. There are over 15,000 locations in 79 countries and a new McDonald's restaurant opens every 13 hours. 85% of the restaurants are independently owned and operated, with company-run stores making up the other 15%. Stock increased by 16% in 1994, and 25% of all McDonald's stock is owned by employees, licensees, and suppliers (McDonald's 1997). The company has achieved a size that makes it a target for many anti-establishment groups, a fact which is expressed in the number of anti-McDonald's web sites on the Internet.
The reason it is such an easy target is that McDonald's is the second-most recognized brand in the world - only Coke (which McDonald's serves) is more recognized. Its promotion techniques include a sophisticated mix of television commercials (generic, special product, and age, gender and ethnic focused); POP merchandising; promotional tie-ins with Disney and other companies; and institutional. No matter how you slice it, McDonald's has made money, but it has not been an easy task, and its corporate identity is accepted yet questionable. Possibly no other food company has prompted so much vigorous discussion and protest.
The most vocal and libelous web site is one called McSpotlight, which is in the process of organizing anti-McDonald's efforts around the world. That site not only includes examples of good picket signs "McDonald's for McLies," and "Stop Killing Innocents" but also links to some 100 other web sites where negative news about the company is found. Most of this vocal activism can be traced to 1984, when McDonald's promoted heavily in England the fact that it was the first UK restaurant group to introduce nutritional information throughout England for the benefit of British Consumers. This was accomplished by the distribution of millions of folders in all restau...