McDonalds Around the Globe: Different Strokes for Different Folks

In my Public Relations class, we are talking about the importance of altering or tailoring your PR strategies and tactics to accommodate/attract various cultures. For example, if you have an American food company, or PR agency (frankly, any kind of business) and you would like to expand it into another country, you often need what's called a "Cultural Interpreter" as well as structure your company in favor with the culture, beliefs, practices, etc. of the new territory you are moving into. If you don't conform your company, you may not survive in a new country.

Somehow good old MickieDs always finds its way into a PR conversation, lol. They do it and they do it so well! I'm loving it! I digress...My peers ended up sharing all the countries they've traveled to and the different kinds of food those McDonald's stores sell, that are not available in the US. Also, Starbucks is a good example of this too. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled "Starbucks Brings its Coffee to Vietnam" (May 17, 2013) talks about how the company had already exceeded their expectations of revenue. The article also mentioned specific things the company is doing to appeal to Vietnamese consumers...

"Starbucks decorated the downtown store with local art and artifacts to create a distinctly Vietnamese flavor. It also came up with a drink, the Asian Dolce Latte, to appeal to local palates. For food, it serves roast-duck wraps and French-style baguettes."

Now back to McDonalds...look at some of these foods McDonalds sells in various countries...hey, I can't get a shrimp burger here! (These photos were posted on a blogpost written in 2009, so I'm not sure if all these are still offered, but it's kind of cool to see the drastic differences...I mean banana pies, shrimp burgers, bacon potato pie, fried pork sandwich stuffed with cheese?! Which would you like to try?

Middle East

McArabia: Grilled chicken or grilled Kofta (spicy beef) with toppings on Arabic Style pita bread.

The Veg McPuff Pizza: tomato sauce and veggies wrapped in dough

                                                      The Chicken McCurry Pan

China

                                             Chicken Katsu: Fried pork stuffed with cheese

                                                                   Shrimp Burger

                                                                      Banana Pie

                                                                   Chicken Porridge

Europe

                                           Of course European McDonalds sells beer, ha

                                                                   Onion Rings

To see more international McDonalds foods feel free to visit  http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/07/mcdonalds-menu-items-from-around-the-world-40-pics/ or http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/country/map.html