CNBC's Inside the McDonald Empire

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Jul 26th 2007 @ 1:10PM

I just finished watching CNBC's new feature, Big Mac: Inside the McDonald's Empire. It tracks the history of the world's best-known fast food empire from its humble beginnings as a basic burger stand in Southern California all the way to their current expansion into China. The show takes you into the test kitchens, talks about the business model that the chain has created and in my opinion pays very little attention to the health risks involved in exporting a different (and unhealthy) cuisine to more than 1 billion people.

That said, it's still an interesting watch and I recommend it for people who find the business side of the fast food industry to be fascinating stuff. It airs again on Monday, July 30th at 9 pm and 12 midnight, EST.

Filed Under: Business, Television/Film, Fast Food
Tags: america, asia

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-07-2007 @10:52PM The McChronicles said... The McChronicles also watched this report with interest. We are interested in what your readers thought of the program.
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8-07-2007 @10:10AM John S. Anderson said... Wouldn't it be great, if the biggest (and tastiest) burger joint in the WORLD __ which is probably the first employer of a large percentage of people entering the work force ___ realized and utilized it's opportunity to require their Customer Facing Employees (CFEs) to speak with courtesy.
'Good morning' (or time appropriate remark) is a nice way to be greeted.
'Please' is a pleasant addition to request for your payment. 'Thank you. is an almost totally unexpected, but polite way to terminate the brief transaction. If the customer is slow in placing an order, or deciding on what to order, wouldn't it be nice if the broadcast voice asked 'may I help you with something on the menu?'
Think of the impact on our nation 10 or 15 years down the road. It sure couldn't hurt!!!
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8-08-2007 @4:56PM Mike said... I watched the piece on the McDonald's Empire last night (8-7-07). It was a very interesting story on a great American institution. I even worked for McDonald's as a teenager.
But a couple of things caught my eye. One, I didn't really see much divesity in McDonald's management or in the taste kitchens. Sure, they had the one black owner of McDonald's but that's about it.
That's odd since many of McD's employees are Hispanic and blacks making 5 bucks a hour.
It also find it interesting is that what is driving McDonald's need to be the biggest in the whole world? Is there one guy that's benefiting financially from this? I see vice presidents of Asia and stuff like that, but are they the ones pushing this? When is McDonald's going to just quit already and focus on their crappy, dirty American stores that have poor service. They need to focus on the stores they have.
Like White Castle, good food, and probably better than McDonalds but they're not looking to take over the world. And just like KFC in China, hey KFC, get your ass back to the U.S. and fix your product. It stinks. The founders of McDonald's and KFC I think would cringe if they knew of the companies were run today.
I like a lot of stuff that McDonald's has to offer, but enough is enough. The Chinese don't want that crappy food. If they do, then the hell with them. McDonald's need to be the biggest turns me off to them.

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