Word: mcdonaldization
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Since no one is forced to eat at a McDonald's, the chain must be giving multitudes exactly what they want. For one thing, many people find the cheerily bland atmosphere reassuring. Says Sociologist David Riesman: "Americans have had a lot of experience being cheated and exploited when they eat out, and they feel unsure of themselves." McDonald's has designed a place to neutralize this anxiety, a place that does not make a customer feel he will not know how to use his fork...
...McDonald's patrons put it more simply. To them, a McDonald's is a clean, well-lighted place, where they will be served quickly and courteously. Customer waits rarely exceed five minutes, even at the height of the lunch-hour crush; the company is introducing computerized, diode-display order-taking machines to cut delays even further...
...Also, McDonald's is one of the few places left where a customer can buy a meal for $1 or less. Its price list reads like something exhumed from the good old days: hamburger 25?,,cheeseburger 30?, Quarter-Pounder 55?, Big Mac 60?, a small bag of French fries 24?, milkshake 30?. Prices vary slightly throughout the country; for example, most items in the New York City area cost a nickel more. Surprisingly, burgers are not much better than a break-even item for McDonald's; the highest profits come on French fries, soft drinks and the extra...
Millions of Americans have become virtually addicted to "junk food" as exemplified by McDonald's menu. "The food is good and the price is right," observes Pete DeKramer, an IBM programmer of Mahwah, N.J. David Green, a night, auditor in San Francisco, is enthusiastic: "McDonald's is my favorite place to eat in the whole world. I've eaten at McDonald's all around the country. I wouldn't move to any town that didn't have...
Such ardent loyalty has made McDonald's one of the business successes of the century. Since the company sold stock to the public in 1965, system-wide sales have increased sixfold, from $170.8 million a year to the $1.03 billion in 1972, and profits have zoomed from $3.8 million to $36.2 million. Company-owned outlets now account for about 28% of sales and 16% of profits. In the first six months of 1973, sales rose 47% and profits 46% above a year earlier. The growth has kept the stock at stratospheric heights; $5,000 invested in McDonald...