The Cultural homogenization of McDonalds

Decades ago most restaurants around the globe were independently owned, that offered a range of specialized food choices specific to that given area. Food has been recognized as the oldest carrier of global culture and in some communities is often associated with formal social experiences. However, with the adaption of popular western food chains, parts of the world have altered their experience with consumption styles. This is especially prevalent with the development of the fast food chain across the globe.

The first McDonald’s was stated in 1948, in San Bernardino, California. Since then McDonalds has become the ultimate symbol of Western globalism culture, and is recognized as the largest transnational corporation in the world. Currently, McDonald’s serves about 46 million people a day, in 120 different countries around the world. McDonald’s outlets in a vast number of foreign countries ultimately influencing their social values and customs to be westernized. The values many foreign countries have unwillingly adopted creates an obsessive consumer culture, reflective of western society. This adoption of these westernized values can be related to cultural homogenization, a concept explored throughout the course.

Cultural homogenization refers to the reduction in cultural diversity through the popularization and diffusion of a wide array of cultural symbols, not only physical objects but customs, ideas and values. The process of cultural homogenization is when local cultures are transformed or absorbed by a dominant outside culture. Ultimately, it claims that western culture has become universalized. Conclusively McDonald’s creates cultural homogenization because the corporation has the power to dictate how everybody consumes their products. McDonald’s controls the eating patterns across the world, by essentially offering the same menu to everybody. This inherently eliminates cultural diversity and creates an unhealthy homogenized global culture created by McDonald’s, that promotes unhealthy eating habits, cheaper foods, quantity over quality and easier alternatives to traditional foods.