Title: Colonel Sanders’ Charge: The Rise of Fast Food Diplomacy
Byline: Nishanth Uli is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be
reached at n.uli@wustl.edu.
Pull Quote: The emergence of a “fast food diplomacy” has engendered a strange interplay
of culture and cuisine across the globe.
If you haven’t heard already, Mom, baseball and apple pie are no longer the emblems of
America. Their replacements? McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. To
the outside world, the golden arches have slowly come to represent these United States
and all of their capitalist glory, one hamburger at a time. Although a quintessentially
American invention, fast food has adapted to new cultures as it has expanded throughout
the world. The emergence of a “fast food diplomacy” has engendered a strange interplay
of culture and cuisine across the globe that has forced established brands to rethink the
way they look at their products.
Fast food moguls like Yum! Brands (operator of Taco Bell and KFC among others),
Subway, and McDonald’s have been undertaking aggressive expansion efforts across the
globe for decades. While these efforts started as smart responses to demand in emerging
markets, they have evolved into something much larger. These restaurants provide a mix
between good, old-fashioned Americana and the unique local culture. At Chinese KFCs,
you can buy Colonel Sanders’ patented fried chicken smothered in Peking duck sauce. In
India and looking for some Indo-Italian fusion? Just order the Paneer Makhani pie at
Pizza Hut. And let’s not forget France, where you can find the proud tradition of Gallic
cuisine distilled to its purest form in Le Petit McBaguette. This process of cultural
diffusion and culinary diplomacy reveals the deep effect that fast food has had on
bridging the gaps between different cultures.
While its expansion has resulted in increased culinary fusion, fast food has also become
an intensely powerful economic and social force. No fast food establishment is more
recognizable than McDonald’s, the largest chain of restaurants in the world. Founded as a
small barbeque joint in 1940, the golden arches can now be found in over 34,000
locations in 122 countries on every continent except Antarctica (although this author
firmly believes we’ll be eating Chicken McNuggets at the South Pole by 2020). The
cultural impact of McDonald’s extends far beyond its cuisine. The brand has become an
economic and cultural phenomenon in and of itself. The Economist regularly publishes a
Big Mac index to measure purchasing power parity between nations based on their
differing prices for the iconic hamburger. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman,
author of The World is Flat, coined the notion of “Golden Arches of Conflict
Prevention,” which posits that no two countries that have their own McDonald’s would
go to war with one another. Although presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner, these
theories reveal the profound influence that the restaurant chain has had; since its
expansion, McDonald’s has become a benchmark for globalization and cultural diffusion.
As fast food’s global influence has grown, it has increasingly become the focus of intense
criticism and scrutiny. As more and more American fast food franchises open across the
world, many see a growing “McDonaldization” of society linked to an idea of American
cultural imperialism hell-bent on eradicating the unique cultures and cuisines of the
globe. These views have led to a variety of measures against the growing influence of fast
food, including, among others, the Italian-based slow food movement, focused on
preserving traditional cuisine and promoting environmentally friendly farming. These
new initiatives have provided an interesting counterpoint to fast food’s rise; as more fast
food infiltrates a culture, there seems to be an increasing amount of effort devoted to
maintaining that culture’s traditional cuisine.
Fast food’s meteoric rise over the past few decades has reflected the realities of an
increasingly globalized world where cultural diffusion and syncretism are the norm.
While McDonald’s and Burger King have come to represent America’s growing cultural
hegemony, the truth is that these brands are less American than ever. They have been
forced to adapt to the unique cultures that have taken them in, forcing a radical shift in
the way they do business. The problems associated with fast food are undeniable.
Increasing obesity, environmental concerns, and limited food supplies are just some of
the negative consequences of an increasingly McDonaldized world. However, fast food
diplomacy has led to a complex intermingling of culture and cuisine that wouldn’t have
happened without Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders’ worldwide advance.