Mcdonalds Ethnography

"McDonald's" Ethnography TO: NGNMO SZQUEL, COMMANDER STAR CRUISER XTL FROM: IAN CINNAMON, FIELD AGENT SUBJECT: Our on-going study of the enemy MISSION STATUS: COMPLETED. I recently completed my expedition to the planet called “Earth.” I visited a feeding facility with the name “McDonald’s.” My mission was to study the earthlings to prepare for our invasion. I anticipate invasion will be a success due to a reoccurring weakness in the human character - even though the earthlings know how bad the food is for them (figure 1), they continue to eat it.

The report is broken up into eight sections: food, values, gender/age/division of labor/status and role, families, use of space, staff/guest relations, the social class, and language.

FOOD . This feeding facility mostly serves three types of food. They are: fried ground-up cow served on overly-processed bread (a.k.a hamburgers), fried potatoes (a.k.a French fries), and sliced-up chicken on bread (a.k.a chicken sandwiches. Amazingly, humans flock toward this type of nutrition-free food. The site visited in this report serves about one thousand hamburgers a day. In order to serve that many hungry humans, the management needs to keep the crowd moving. To do this, they have a drive-through window (figure 2 ) and pre-made hamburgers.

VALUES . “McDonald’s” wants its customers to be happy and feel involved. They appeal to what they think their customers value. Key words are used in advertisements and brochures throughout the restaurant. “Happy”, “Smile”, “Fresh”, “Our Community”, “Our Commitment” surround the hungry diners. The word “community” makes people think that “McDonald’s” cares about them. Some other values include cleanliness, quality, and service. “McDonald’s” supports many charities – such as Ronald McDonald house for sick and needy children. However, it was my impression that what motivated most of the customers was the cheap, stomach-filling food!

GENDER/AGE/DIVISION OF LABOR . There were only two male workers and eight female workers, all aged between 30-40 years old. (This older population might be due to the time of my visit – 8:00 on a Friday night). There are six types of jobs: cashier, food packer, food maker, drive through person, and the cleaning lady. The four managers did

not have full responsibility. When asked if a party could take place, they responded, “You would need to ask the owner.” The guests were both male and female. The age range was wide. There were teenagers, kids (seven to twelve years old) with their parents (thirty to forty years old), some thirty to fifty year olds, and an old, crazy person who was talking to himself (seventy to eighty years old) (figure 3).

FAMILIES . Many guests come to eat at “McDonald’s” as a family. The average family size is three to four people. Most of the families only had mothers with their kids; not the fathers. The families were seen talking and having fun together. Children seem to influence the parents’ behavior and therefore have the most control in this environment. Some were seen on line ordering and paying for their meals with money provided by the parents. “McDonald’s” is very child-friendly. There are special children’s meals with toys (a manipulating factor) and the play structure is inviting and fun.

USE OF SPACE. It is obvious “McDonald’s” put millions of dollars into designing the restaurant (figure 4). For example, the plastic seats are uncomfortable so that diners eat and leave as fast as possible. The trash cans are hidden so people didn’t have to look at ugly trash while eating. The tables are colorful and easy to clean, there is piped-in music, and there is neon lighting (figure 5) to make people feel happy. When entering the feeding facility, the first thing you notice is the bright neon menu. The store is also full of artificial flowers (figure 6) to make the people feel welcome. Most importantly, the large play structure is in front of the building and takes up a third of the entire lot. It is another manipulative tool to get children to see the structure and ask their parents to stop and eat there. It attracts more customers.

STAFF/GUEST RELATIONSHIPS . The staff is friendly to the guests, but they aren’t flexible. One can only order the way it is listed on the menu. There wasn’t an obvious display of great manners. For example, while people were eating, the cleaning lady made them move their feet to mop the floor. The staff seemed friendly with each other. The guests mind their own business; they don’t talk to other guests.

SOCIAL CLASS . “McDonald’s” does not appear to attract the highest social class. Most customers looked like working class or lower. The dress was casual, there were some homeless people (one homeless person had a backpack with a fake shrunken head). The guests and the staff appear to be of the same social class.

LANGUAGE . The primary language of staff is Spanish. The customers spoke Spanish and/or English. For example, when asked a question, one of the staff replied, “No comprendo.” The nutritional facts card was available only in Spanish (figure 7).

In a way, ”McDonald’s” has already invaded this society by influencing the most vulnerable part, the children. They see toys and play structures and make their parents take them there. They are not aware of the poor quality of food.

Even though the adults know that they are eating artery-clogging, life span-shortening food, they continue to eat it. They don’t care what they’re eating as long as it tastes good… and the price is right. And their children are satisfied.

FIGURE 1 (earthlings are warned about what they’re eating):

FIGURE 2 (the drive through):

FIGURE 3 (the guests):

FIGURE 4 (“McDonald’s” layout):

FIGURE 5 (the neon lights):

FIGURE 6 (the fake flowers):

FIGURE 7 (the Spanish nutritional guide): NOT AVAILABLE, SORRY!

OTHER: After running images of “McDonald’s” propaganda through a special scanner created by scientists from our planet, we came up with the following results: Before Decoding:

After Decoding: