Mcdonalds

McEthics in Europe and Asia: should McDonald’s extend its response to ethical criticism in Europe?

This case examines ethical criticisms of the US fast food giant McDonald’s, and explores demands for the company to extend their vigorous efforts to restore their dented credibility in Europe to markets in Asia. The case focuses on the problems of obesity and unhealthy eating that have confronted the company, which are presented in the context of the broader critique of the chain.

McDonald’s is truly a multinational corporation. By 2009, the firm was operating some 31,000 restaurants in 118 countries, serving almost 60 million customers a day. The market leader in its industry, and one of the most vigorous exponents of a global business approach, McDonald’s has pioneered an innovative business model that has since been widely imitated in the fast food industry and beyond.

However, there are many who are not so positive about the firm’s approach and there have been a number of criticisms of McDonald’s. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Europe, where McDonald’s became the bête noir of environmentalists and social justice campaigners in the 1980s and 1990s. Not only did the company gain the distinction of being the subject of England’s longest ever trial- the by now legendary McLibel case- but anti-globalisation campaigners in France and elsewhere famously targeted the company with store occupations and similar protests. More recently, nutritionists and healthy eating campaigners have criticised the company for its standard fare of high calorie burgers and fries that many saw as a major cause of spiralling obesity rates, especially among young people. With a loss of market share to apparently healthier offerings, and governments pushing for increasing regulation of fast food advertising to children, McDonald’s reached a crisis which saw it attempt an ethical makeover in the mid-2000s. McDonalds introduced healthy options, such as fresh salads and fruit, as...