In the now legendary Big Mac made its debut, and in McDonald's sold its five billionth hamburger. A year later, as it launched the "You Deserve a Break Today" advertising campaign, McDonald's restaurants had reached all 50 states.
In McDonald's opened its 1,th restaurant, and Fred Turner became the company's president and chief administrative officer. Kroc became chairman and remained CEO until Turner had originally intended to open a McDonald's franchise, but when he had problems with his backers over a location, he went to work as a grillman for Kroc in As operations vice-president, Turner helped new franchisees get their stores up and running.
He was constantly looking for new ways to perfect the McDonald's system, experimenting, for example, to determine the maximum number of hamburger patties one could stack in a box without squashing them and pointing out that seconds could be saved if McDonald's used buns that were presliced all the way through and were not stuck together in the package. Such attention to detail was one reason for the company's extraordinary success.
McDonald's spectacular growth continued in the s. Americans were more on-the-go than ever, and fast service was a priority. McDonald's pioneered breakfast fast food with the introduction of the Egg McMuffin in when market research indicated that a quick breakfast would be welcomed by consumers. Five years later the company added a full breakfast line to the menu, and by one-fourth of all breakfasts eaten out in the United States came from McDonald's restaurants.
Kroc was a firm believer in giving "something back into the community where you do business. Twelve years after this first house opened, similar Ronald McDonald Houses were in operation across the United States. In McDonald's opened its first drive-thru window in Oklahoma City. This service gave Americans a fast, convenient way to procure a quick meal. The company's goal was to provide service in 50 seconds or less. Drive-thru sales eventually accounted for more than half of McDonald's systemwide sales.
Meantime, the Happy Meal, a combo meal for children featuring a toy, was added to the menu in In the late s competition from other hamburger chains such as Burger King and Wendy's began to intensify. Experts believed that the fast-food industry had gotten as big as it ever would, so the companies began to battle fiercely for market share.
A period of aggressive advertising campaigns and price slashing in the early s became known as the "burger wars. Consumers seemed to like the taste and consistency of McDonald's best. During the s McDonald's further diversified its menu to suit changing consumer tastes. Chicken McNuggets were introduced in , and by the end of the year McDonald's was the second largest retailer of chicken in the world. In ready-to-eat salads were introduced to lure more health-conscious consumers.
The s were the fastest-paced decade yet. Efficiency, combined with an expanded menu, continued to draw customers. McDonald's, already entrenched in the suburbs, began to focus on urban centers and introduced new architectural styles. Although McDonald's restaurants no longer looked identical, the company made sure food quality and service remained constant. Despite experts' claims that the fast-food industry was saturated, McDonald's continued to expand.
The first generation raised on restaurant food had grown up. Eating out had become a habit rather than a break in the routine, and McDonald's relentless marketing continued to improve sales. Innovative promotions, such as the "when the U.
In Michael R. Quinlan, who took over as CEO in , had started at McDonald's in the mailroom in , and gradually worked his way up.
In his first year as CEO the company opened new restaurants. McDonald's growth in the United States was mirrored by its stunning growth abroad. By , 37 percent of systemwide sales came from restaurants outside the United States. McDonald's opened its first foreign restaurant in British Columbia, Canada, in By the early s the company had established itself in 58 foreign countries and operated more than 3, restaurants outside the United States, through wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, and franchise agreements.
In the mids, McDonald's, like other traditional employers of teenagers, was faced with a shortage of labor in the United States. The company met this challenge by being the first to entice retirees back into the workforce. McDonald's placed great emphasis on effective training. It opened its Hamburger University in to train franchisees and corporate decision-makers. By , more than 40, people had received "Bachelor of Hamburgerology" degrees from the acre Oak Brook, Illinois, facility. The corporation opened a Hamburger University in Tokyo in , in Munich in , and in London in Braille menus were first introduced in , and picture menus in In March Braille and picture menus were reintroduced to acknowledge the 37 million Americans with vision, speech, or hearing impairments.
Quinlan continued to experiment with new technology and to research new markets to keep McDonald's in front of its competition. Clamshell fryers, which cooked both sides of a hamburger simultaneously, were tested.
Critics consistently point to the chain as a symbol of American issues with obesity, and argue that its drive toward low-cost, low-quality meals has contributed substantially to this problem. Arguably the high point of this bad press came with the documentary "Super Size Me," in which the film maker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's meals and always accepted a cashier's offer to "super size" his meal. This referred to a now-discontinued practice of offering customers one size bigger than large, known as "supersize.
Spurlock's film focused on the dramatic ways in which eating only McDonald's food affected his health, including warnings from his doctor that this diet could kill him.
Over the course of his month-long experiment he gained nearly one pound a day. Critics of this movie have pointed out that it only shows what happen when you abuse a product. McDonald's in particular responded to Spurlock's film by arguing that it does not recommend that people eat there every day in the way shown. In recent years McDonald's has been one of many fast food restaurants targeted by the labor movement for its business and hiring practices. The Service Employees International Union has led multiple strikes against fast food locations around the country, frequently including McDonald's restaurants.
While McDonald's has not taken an aggressive stand on the issue, it has slowly begun rolling out automated ordering kiosks at some of its restaurants. Then, in , it acquired the artificial intelligence company Apprente. This acquisition is generally seen as a signal that McDonald's intends to further emphasize a low-employee, high-technology and self-service business model to cut down on costs. Considering that the McDonald brothers opened their hamburger restaurant by firing all 20 of their waitresses in favor of self-service, a move which allowed them to offer hamburgers for only 15 cents apiece, this would represent nothing new.
While McDonald's stock has fluctuated over the course of , the year has shown a general trend of overall growth. Arguably more important, this takes place in a context of strong historic growth. McDonald's has shared in the stock market's boom in the years since , and in the past 15 years has seen a significant growth in share price.
The years since then have seen that grow nearly tenfold. According to a previous report by Business Insider , a Wall Street Journal article claimed that McDonald's tolerated partying and inappropriate conduct between senior managers and employees at the company's headquarters under the leadership of Easterbrook and former Chief People Officer David Fairhurst.
Easterbrook was then forced to step down as CEO after it was revealed he was involved in a relationship with an employee. Easterbrook was replaced by Chris Kempczinski in November , and he has since attempted to rehabilitate the McDonald's image with his new Instagram account. It's now an operating museum. By , McDonald's had sold million burgers. He now owned the exclusive brand name rights and operation of all McDonald's locations. The first international franchise location opened in in British Columbia.
Later that year, another opened in Costa Rica. The chain is not only widespread , but it's also been called the "most valuable" fast-food restaurant chain and the biggest quick-service restaurant in the world.
The McDonald brothers wanted the design of their franchised restaurants to be eye-catching and highlight their "Speedee Service System," a predecessor of the drive-through model and fast food as a whole. Architect Stanley Meson designed a red-and-white exterior that appealed to the brothers. However, Dick McDonald felt that the roof looked too flat, and added the now-famous yellow "golden arches. The oldest operating restaurant still featuring the original red-and-white design is located in Downey, California.
The roof no longer features golden arches. Instead, some locations feature a yellow accent piece on otherwise modern buildings. Speedee, a chef with a hamburger for a head, appeared on the signs alongside the brand's original logo of two interlocking golden arches.
Ronald McDonald was first introduced in during a Washington, DC-marketed advertisement for the restaurant. His hat was a tray with a styrofoam hamburger, fries, and a milkshake on top of it.
McDonald's considered changing the character of Ronald McDonald to a cowboy or spaceman, but those ideas were quickly thrown out. His signature costume included a red-and-white striped shirt, yellow jumpsuit, and red hair. Ronald McDonald also became the primary symbol for the Ronald McDonald House , an organization founded by McDonald's in that provides housing for parents of a child with cancer near to the hospital, as well as medical care. In regards to Ronald McDonald promoting unhealthy eating habits in children, Skinner claimed , "this is about choice.
In , McDonald's announced that the brand would be revamping Ronald's look. He would now wear a red and white striped rugby shirt, yellow cargo pants, and a vest or jacket instead of the signature jumpsuit. Despite Ronald McDonald being featured less frequently in McDonald's advertising nowadays, the chain has yet to officially retire the character. Future locations would switch to the walk-up model. In , a franchisee in Arizona had an ingenious idea to introduce the drive-through window to his location after seeing competitors utilize it.
Customers could now pull up and receive their food from their cars. In , Forbes reported that by , self-service kiosks would be available in all US McDonald's locations. McDonald's said it still has cashiers, but that the company found people take more time to browse and sometimes order more when using the machine. In late , it announced that it was removing all preservatives, fake colors, and other artificial ingredients from seven of its burger selections.
Fast food should be as stable an industry as any. People need to eat and they want their food fresh and fast without having to spend unnecessarily. That said, the industry does face challenges relating to a shift in demand towards healthy eating. A restaurant chain that sells familiarity and consistency needs to recognize that those qualities themselves are enormous assets.
Even when McDonald's has an under-performing year, it's still profitable. When operating at its peak, it's a must-have stock in any comprehensive portfolio, especially since it has similarities with REITs as well. The New York Times. PR Newswire. Stock Analysis on Net. Accessed May 14, Wall Street Survivor. Top Stocks. Company Profiles. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.
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