McDonald’s Americanizing Europe
At one of several concerts in Europe by the American rock sensation Bruce Springsteen, 30,000 enraptured youths wear jeans and T-shirts bearing the names of American universities, states, and products. At their feet are thousands of empty Coca-Cola bottles. Springsteen addresses the crowd in English and sings—to roaring applause—his hit, “Born in the U.S.A.” (Billard 34). These types of images continually bring up the question: Is European culture being overshadowed or diminished by the American culture? For years now since World War II, America has had a powerful grip on the European economy through the export of its products such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. The television ...
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example, wages rose more rapidly than the cost of living during the 1950s, leading to a sharp increase in purchase power (Bédarida 108). Consumption was additionally stimulated by an expansion of credit and by people’s willingness to go into debt to buy what they wanted. Similar developments occurred in Britain, Italy, and especially West Germany (11). As a result, Europeans began to spend their money on such “luxuries” as new furniture, electrical appliances, crystal and china, high-fidelity phonographs and records, television sets, and leisure wear—most of these made in America (Fells 196). Most Europeans felt that this kind of spending would make them more American and therefore, allow them to become modernized and live similar to how Americans lived.
Apart from Coca-Cola, no product seemed more quintessentially American than fast-food (Fells 302). While fast-food restaurant chains like Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut swept throughout most of Europe by the ...
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time. With a McDonald’s nearby, one could grab a quick lunch and head back to work in almost a half-hour. It also made it easier for busy people because it saved time in cooking and washing dishes.
A common complaint about McDonald’s was that it undermined social family values and relationships. As in America, fast-food in Europe was cheap, mass-produced, and meant for customers in a hurry. People ate quickly at small tables in an antiseptic setting that didn’t exactly encourage meaningful conversations and general conviviality that was found at neighborhood bistros or at home surrounded by family and friends. The traditional dinnertime where the family sits at a table and enjoys a ...
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"McDonald’s Americanizing Europe." Essayworld.com. September 22, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/McDonalds-Americanizing-Europe/90321.
"McDonald’s Americanizing Europe." Essayworld.com. September 22, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/McDonalds-Americanizing-Europe/90321.
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