Fast food restaurants are increasing by the day, and people can select from a wider range of options. Among those, the most widely known would definitely be McDonald’s. The golden arches of McDonald’s and their red clown are familiar to everyone and the restaurants are literally everywhere. Their commercials are on television at least once a day and people enjoy their fast, convenient service, along with their cheap price, consistent taste and sanitary environment. However, some critics do say that McDonalds’ foods are the worst for one’s bodies and the beef that they use are absolutely detrimental to the environment. They go as far as to say that McDonald’s is a “homogenization of culture”, the impact of globalization that destroys a certain country’s tradition and value. However, compared to what McDonald's provides us, McDonald's is, by far, the most beneficial to the Korean society.
First of all, McDonald’s can be depicted as convenient. In total, there are 35 thousand McDonald’s restaurants over the world serving an average of 68 million customers a day. Every town has at least one McDonald’s and there are even drive-throughs where people can order and receive their burgers without getting out of their cars. It opens 24 hours a day and the food is cheaper than the foods served in other Korean restaurants. Furthermore, the menus are simple and a set provides side menus along with drinks while other restaurants require additional money. Another convenient aspect of McDonald’s is that they are consistent. Unlike local restaurants, McDonald’s food has a consistent taste for every restaurant within the nation and their menus are also fairly consistent from restaurant to restaurant. The atmosphere is pleasant and the place is sanitary-even the kitchens and toilets are cleaner than those of the normal local fast food place.
Additionally, McDonald’s is also known to be economically beneficial. As McDonald’s are all over the world, the place certainly needs a plethora of employees to maintain the restaurant. According to the McDonald’s official site, there are 1.7 million McDonald’s employees globally and they are also known to employ the crippled or other groups who have difficulty in getting employed. The McDonald’s stock price is also fairly consistent-it has remained around $95 for the past 3 years. Seeing that McDonald's not only remained economically consistent while helping the economy go around by providing workplaces for people, this chain of fast food restaurants can certainly be seen as the best in the world.
Despite these beneficial aspects, people still criticize McDonald’s for being detrimental to society. The biggest criticism comes from the fact that McDonald’s is a fast food restaurant serving poor quality food that contains excessive sugar, salt, and fat. However, that is just a stereotype-in fact, the menus have changed over the years and McDonald's are now serving healthy such as their Caesar salad or gourmet hamburgers. Not only that, they also serve veggie burgers for vegetarians as to respect the minorities. Environmentally, although beef is quite harmful to nature, McDonald’s usage of paper wrappings and plastic forks are actually less harmful to the environment than the use of chemical dishwashing soap, considering the number of customers McDonald’s have each year. Lastly, people criticize McDonald’s for being the “homogenization of culture” but this can also be considered as the convenient aspect of McDonald’s as it is easily accessible to anyone around the world.
The convenience and the economic benefits that McDonald’s provides to the world is a prominent fact. McDonald’s might just be a huge fast food restaurant to some, but to the most, it is more than just a fast food place; it is a place where all the cultures meet in a single, simple packet with fries and drinks.
