Here is something that I found recently, which surprised me. The McDonald's franchise, one of the most successful business models in history, and perhaps the most instantly recognizable logo and presence of the worst of the global trend of "Americanization", has actually failed somewhere. Not that long ago, when McDonald's seemed to be unstoppable, something like this would have been unthinkable.
Things do indeed change over time, and McDonald's no longer is in Bolivia.
Now, I'm not shedding a tear. In fact, I kind of hope McDonald's will shrink back to a much smaller scale. I'm not saying that there should not be any McDonald's in the world, no. But I don't think that rainforests should be cleared in order to make land available for McDonald's (and other fast food chains) to have land to graze cows to make cheap meat available. This has had a horrendous impact on the environment, and it is perhaps the main reason that I long ago gave up eating McDonald's, which was something that I grew up in.
Also, I never liked the idea that in other countries (and I have seen this in Europe), local specialties and regional cuisine (and frankly, a whole way of life along with them) should disappear, to make way for brand name fast food chains like McDonald's and Subway. Subway is one of the largest fast food chains in the world as well, and I have also long made a point of not supporting them, either. And by the way, since we're on the subject of Subway, don't believe the hype that the constantly feed you through their commercials, about their sandwiches being virtual health food - they most certainly are not. Here are a couple of links to better illustrate that point, if you'd like:
"Is Subway a Healthy Fast Food? Sandwiches Can Be Worse Than McDonalds'" by Kathleen Lees of Science World Report, May 13, 2013:
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/6821/20130513/subway-healthy-fast-food-sandwiches-worse-mcdonalds.htm
Is Subway Really Healthy? 13 5 Nov 2009 | Healthy Restaurant Reviews
http://www.naturallyintense.net/blog/healthy-nyc-restaurants-reviews/is-the-food-at-subway-really-healthy/
I am not myself a vegan (or even vegetarian, truth be told), and also, I am not entirely convinced that veganism is the future, as this next website suggests. But that said, I certainly don't want the McDonald's and Subways of the world to be the future, either. And this page proved informative as well, so it seemed logical to add this for it's information:
http://veganismisthefuture.com/is-subway-healthy-the-health-food-alternative-that-isnt/
In any case, the point I was trying to make about the myth of Subway being healthy fast food can be made on your own, simply by doing a little research. This is easy enough nowadays, with this being the age of the internet, after all. The information is out there for you, and all you have to do is make a little effort. Perhaps we want to believe that these corporations are not as bad as we keep hearing they are, and perhaps we want to believe that, like Jared, we can lose a ton of weight and get a whole lot healthier by continuing to do things and to live our lives the way that we have been doing, and barely changing our eating habits by perhaps making the switch from McDonald's to Subway. Truth is, sadly, that is it sounds too good to be true, it's probably because it is too good to be true.
Anyway, the whole point of this blog entry was about the closing of all McDonald's restaurants in Bolivia, and so it is time to regain focus. Here are some links to this story:
"McDonald's closing all restaurants in Bolivia as nation rejects fast food" Thursday, June 13, 2013 by: Lance Devon Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/040752_Bolivia_McDonalds_restaurants_fast_food.html
"McDonald’s goes belly up in Bolivia" Read more http://www.trueactivist.com/mcdonalds-goes-belly-up-in-bolivia/
http://www.trueactivist.com/mcdonalds-goes-belly-up-in-bolivia/
And here is where I will admit to being a bit confused, because all of the links that I added on about McDonald's leaving Bolivia to this point were from earlier this year, and thus fairly recent. But these two are from much larger, and more established sources, if you will. And they date back to well over a decade ago as you will surely note on the dates:
McDonald's to leave Bolivia for good published on USA Today on December 1, 2002, via the Associated Press:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-12-01-bolivia-mcdonalds_x.htm
And the same article, published under CNN, and available through latinamericanstudies.org, and also dated December 1, 2002:
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bolivia/bolivia-mcdonalds.htm
The following link takes a very sympathetic tone towards McDonald's, going so far as to actually thank the chain in the beginning for serving as a very successful business model, but pointing out that, rather strangely, one country serves as the exception to viewing McDonald's in glowing terms: Bolivia. Also, please note that the end paragraph explains the decade in between these articles about McDonald's closing in Bolivia, as the closure was slow and delayed, and did not happen all at once. In any case, pay attention to the generally favorable tone that the author takes to the fast food chain. This seems a perfect example of how acceptable it has become to present the "news" with personal opinions and values, rather than simply sticking with the facts. This article is by Bernadine Racoma of the Day News, and here is how it is worded, more precisely:
"In the United States, almost every corner of every street has a McDonald’s establishment that provides quick service for hungry people. Their reach is so wide such that this fast food chain company now provides online delivery. However, there is one place in the world where the fast food giant incurred losses instead of profits. In Bolivia, people are not convinced that McDonald’s is the answer to quick, ready meals. For the past decade McDonald’s has been slowly pulling out of the South American country."
The conclusion for why McDonald's failed in Bolivia is given at the end of the article, based on a study. Here it is:
"According to studies, Bolivians do not reject McDonald’s per se. The rejection behind the fast food industry is deeply ingrained in their cultural belief that meals are prepared during a certain amount of time. Bolivians have a lot of respect not only for their body but also for anything that they ingest. For them, a proper every day meal should be prepared with just the right time that it requires to cook. It must also be cooked the right way."
Read more:
"McDonald’s Closes Shop in Bolivia" Bernadine Racoma of the Day News, June 27th, 2013:
http://www.daynews.com/lifestyle/2013/06/mcdonalds-closes-shop-in-bolivia-21992
No comments:
Post a Comment