McDonald's facts for kids
Golden Arches logo used since 2006
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Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Fast food restaurants, real estate |
| Founded | May 15, 1940 in San Bernardino, California, U.S. |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Number of locations
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 40,031 restaurants (2021) |
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Area served
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Worldwide (119+ countries) |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue | US$23.223 billion (2021) |
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Operating income
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US$10.356firstbillion (2021) |
| US$7.545 billion (2021) |
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| Total assets | US$53.854 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | −US$4.601 billion (2021) |
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Number of employees
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c. 150,000 (2022) |
McDonald's is an American corporation that operates one of the largest chains of fast food restaurants in the world.
McDonald's has over 36,000 stores in 119 countries and territories, the second-most stores out of all fast food chains worldwide behind only the submarine sandwich chain Subway. They serve almost 54 million people each day.
The first McDonald's restaurant was opened by Richard and Maurice (Mac) McDonald in 1940. It was located on Route 66 in San Bernardino, California. The McDonald brothers later sold their company to Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Contents
Products
McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, shakes, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald's offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald's offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal. During March of each year, McDonald's offers a Shamrock Shake to honor Saint Patrick's Day.
In addition, the chain also sells some items within the United States on a regional basis; for example, the Hatch Green Chile Double Cheeseburger, which is topped with New Mexico green chile, is only available in the southwestern state of New Mexico.
Products are offered as either "dine-in" (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant) or "take-out" (where the customer opts to take the food off the premises). "Dine-in" meals are provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. "Take-out" meals are usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald 's-branded brown paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate.
Since Steve Easterbrook became CEO of the company in 2015, McDonald's has streamlined the menu which in the United States contained nearly 200 items. The company has looked to introduce healthier options and removed high-fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns. The company has removed artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets, replacing chicken skin, safflower oil and citric acid found in Chicken McNuggets with pea starch, rice starch, and powdered lemon juice.
In September 2018, McDonald's USA announced that they no longer use artificial preservatives, flavors and colors entirely from seven classic burgers sold in the U.S., including the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Big Mac. Nevertheless, the pickles will still be made with an artificial preservative, although customers can choose to opt out of getting pickles with their burgers.
In November 2020, McDonald's announced McPlant, a plant-based burger, along with plans to develop additional meat alternative menu items that extend to chicken substitutes and breakfast sandwiches. This announcement came after the successful testing of Beyond Meat plant based meat substitutes. In late 2022, McDonald's announced the addition of the Double McPlant at all restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting January 4, due to the success of the McPlant.
The company often introduces items temporarily or brings them back after long absences.
McDonald's Menu is customized to reflect consumer tastes in their respective countries. Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in Singapore and Japan). McDonald's restaurants in China include fried buns and soybean milk on their breakfast menus.
In Germany and some other Western European countries, McDonald's sells beer. In New Zealand, until 2020, McDonald's sold meat pies after local affiliate McDonald's New Zealand partially relaunched the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996. In Greece, the signature hamburger, Big Mac, is changed by adding Tzatziki sauce and packaging in a pita.
In the United States and Canada, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald's began offering in 2015 and 2017, respectively, a partial breakfast menu during all hours its restaurants were open. All-day breakfast was phased out from menus at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
History
Siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California (at 34°07′32″N 117°17′41″W / 34.1255°N 117.2946°W) on May 15, 1940. The brothers introduced the "Speedee Service System" in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier. The original mascot of McDonald's was a chef hat on top of a hamburger who was referred to as "Speedee". In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal mascot. The mascot, clown Ronald McDonald, was introduced in 1965. He appeared in advertising to target their audience of children.
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On May 4, 1961, McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "McDonald's" with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services", which continues to be renewed. By September 13, McDonald's, under the guidance of Ray Kroc, filed for a trademark on a new logo—an overlapping, double-arched "M" symbol. But before the double arches, McDonald's used a single arch for the architecture of their buildings. Although the "Golden Arches" logo appeared in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company was favored a U.S. trademark.
The present corporation credits its founding to franchised businessman Ray Kroc on April 15, 1955. This was in fact the ninth opened McDonald's restaurant overall, although this location was destroyed and rebuilt in 1984. In 1961, Kroc purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and began the company's worldwide reach. Kroc was recorded as being an aggressive business partner, driving the McDonald brothers out of the industry.
Kroc and the McDonald brothers fought for control of the business, as documented in Kroc's autobiography. The San Bernardino restaurant was eventually torn down in 1971, and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo chain in 1998. This area serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, and a McDonald's and Route 66 museum. With the expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has made it a frequent topic of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics, and consumer responsibility.
Facts and figures
McDonald's restaurants are in 120 countries and territories and serve 68firstmillion customers each day. There are 37,855 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 210,000 people as of the end of 2018. There are a total of 2,770 company-owned locations and 35,085 franchised locations, which includes 21,685 locations franchised to conventional franchisees, 7,225 locations licensed to developmental licensees, and 6,175 locations licensed to foreign affiliates.
More McDonald's food is sold in the United States than in any other area, which means that it is McDonald's largest market. Europe is McDonald's second largest market.
The restaurants are either operated directly by McDonalds or more often by a franchisee, where the business is owned and operated by someone else to the standards set by McDonald's and with support from the McDonald's company. The company provides a central source of supply for food items and standardized menu.
Restaurants
There are over 36,000 McDonald's restaurants globally. Over a third of these (14,146 restaurants) are in the United States alone—the second highest number is in Japan with 2,975 restaurants, followed by China with 2,700. These three countries make up a majority of global McDonald's stores.
Types
In the United States, most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or "McDrive" as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders while the customer remains in their vehicle; it was first introduced in Sierra Vista, Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986.
In 1994, McDonald's attempted Hearth Express, a prototype specializing in homestyle takeout meals. Among the fare offered were meatloaf, fried chicken, and baked ham. This experiment started with a single location in Darien, Illinois, but closed in only one year.
McDrive
In some countries, McDrive locations near highways offer no counter service or seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service. There are also a few locations, mostly in downtown districts, that offer a "Walk-Thru" service in place of Drive-Thru.
McCafé
McCafé is a café-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants. The concept was created by McDonald's Australia, starting with Melbourne in 1993. As of 2016, most McDonald's in Australia have McCafés located within the existing McDonald's restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafés in every restaurant, with the rest of the states quickly following suit. After upgrading to the new McCafé look and feel, some Australian restaurants have noticed up to a 60 percent increase in sales. At the end of 2003, there were over 600 McCafés worldwide.
"Create Your Taste" restaurants
From 2015 to 2016, McDonald's tried a more flexible burger service and restaurant concept based on other restaurants such as Shake Shack and Grill'd. It was rolled out for the first time in Australia in early 2015 and expanded to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Arabia, and New Zealand, with ongoing trials in the US market. In dedicated "Create Your Taste" (CYT) kiosks, customers could choose all ingredients including type of bun and meat along with optional extras. CYT food was served to the table on wooden boards, fries in wire baskets, and salads in china bowls with metal cutlery at a higher price. In November 2016, Create Your Taste was replaced by a "Signature Crafted Recipes" program designed to be more efficient and less expensive.
Other
Some locations are connected to gas stations and convenience stores, while others called McExpress have limited seating or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonald's are located in Walmart stores. McStop is a location targeted at truckers and travelers who may have services found at truck stops.
In the United Kingdom, McDonald's restaurants can be found in service stations, petrol stations, McDrive Thru, Asda Superstores & Supercenters and shopping malls and town centres. Other McDonald's locations named 'McExpress' or 'McDonald's & Go' have limited seating and can be found more commonly in railway stations and airports.
In Sweden, Happy Meal boxes can be used as goggles, with the game Slope Stars. In the Netherlands, McDonald's has introduced McTrax that doubles as a recording studio; it reacts to touch. They can create their own beats with a synth and tweak sounds with special effects.
On the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany is the world's only "McBoat", a float-through service (similar to drive-through) for people on the river.
Special diet
The first kosher McDonald's was established in 1997 at the Abasto de Buenos Aires mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There are many kosher branches in Israel. McDonald's in Dearborn, Michigan, offered Halal menu items as late as 2013.
PlayPlaces
McDonald's playgrounds are called McDonald's PlayPlace. Some McDonald's in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the US, with many more being constructed soon after.
McDonald's Next
McDonald's Next uses open-concept design and offers "Create Your Taste" digital ordering. The concept store also offers free mobile device charging and table service after 6:00 pm. The first store opened in Hong Kong in December 2015.
2006 redesign
In 2006, McDonald's introduced its "Forever Young" brand by redesigning all of its restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s. It resembles a coffee shop, with wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and muted colors; the red was muted to terracotta, the yellow was shifted to golden for a more "sunny" look, and olive and sage green were added. The warmer look has less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights for a softer glow. Many restaurants feature free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. Other upgrades include double drive-thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red roofs, and fiber glass instead of wood. Instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants feature "semi-swooshes" (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh.
2023 redesign and new concept
In July 2023, the company announced it was working towards a new fast-food brand called CosMc's that would be tested at ten sites. The first location was opened in December 2023 in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and the company is working to open nine restaurants in Texas by the end of 2024 as a test. The outlets will have a smaller real-estate footprint than regular McDonald's restaurants and are focused on selling coffees and other drinks to afternoon customers.
The name for the new brand comes from CosMc, a McDonaldland mascot that appeared in advertisements in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Automation
Since the late 1990s, McDonald's has attempted to replace employees with electronic kiosks which would perform actions such as taking orders and accepting money. In 1999, McDonald's first tested "E-Clerks" in suburban Chicago, Illinois, and Wyoming, Michigan, with the devices being able to "save money on live staffers" and attracting larger purchase amounts than average employees.
In 2013, the University of Oxford estimated that in the succeeding decades, there was a 92% probability of food preparation and serving to become automated in fast food establishments. By 2016, McDonald's "Create Your Taste" electronic kiosks were seen in some restaurants internationally where customers could custom order meals. As employees pushed for higher wages in the late-2010s, some believed that fast food companies such as McDonald's would use the devices to cut costs for employing individuals.
In 2017, McDonald's launched an app in the United States that allows customers to skip the ordering line inside or drive through and order online. Many McDonald's locations have special parking spaces for such orders.
In September 2019, McDonald's purchased an AI-based start-up Apprente to replace human servers with voice-based technology in its US drive-throughs.
In early 2023, McDonald's opened its first largely automated restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas. The restaurant in question would de-emphasize human contact when ordering, with employees available if there were problems but who would otherwise be absent from the ordering process (along with others working in the kitchen or other back-of-the-house roles). There was no seating in this restaurant.
Criticism
In 2014, McDonald's in Europe used chicken meat which was produced by using genetically modified animal feed, which it had not done since 2001. Greenpeace states that McDonald's saves less than one Eurocent for each Chickenburger and goes down a path not desired by its customers.
Also, McDonald’s menu has now become a semi-icon as in a menu that has like a chicken burger. If that chicken burger looked different from the menu’s picture, that menu would be called “An McDonalds menu” as McDonalds has a small but strong reputation on having pictures on the menu that looks completely different from the actual thing.
Mascot
The McDonald's most well-known mascot is clown Ronald McDonald. He lives in the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, The Fry Kids and other less-known mascots of the food chain.
COVID-19 pandemic
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald's closed most seating and all play areas in its United States restaurants.
Restaurants in a number of countries including France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland were temporarily closed. Some of these closed restaurants have now re-opened for drive-thru/delivery service only with menu limitations and spend caps. In other countries including Australia, Germany and Canada restaurants did not close but were limited to providing drive-thru, takeaway and/or delivery only.
McDonald's Australia was forced to close 11 Melbourne restaurants temporarily after staff came into contact with a delivery driver who tested positive for COVID-19.
The re-opening of McDonald's restaurants for drive-thru in the United Kingdom generated significant queues of traffic throughout the country.
Locations
McDonald's has restaurants in the following countries:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium¨
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland (Changed to Metro)
- Italy
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Peru
- Paraguay
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Samoa
- Saint Lucia
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
- Tibet
Charity
McHappy Day
McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald's, during which a percentage of the day's sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for Ronald McDonald House Charities.
In 2007, it was celebrated in 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Uruguay.
According to the Australian McHappy Day website, McHappy Day raised $20.4 million in 2009. The goal for 2010 was $20.8firstmillion.
McDonald's Monopoly donation
In 1995, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald's Monopoly game piece. McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler's eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and made the annual $50,000 annuity payments for the full 20-year period through 2014, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald's.
McRefugee
McRefugees are poor people in Hong Kong, Japan, and China who use McDonald's 24-hour restaurants as a temporary hostel.
Images for kids
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McDonald's at the Itis Mall in Itäkeskus, Helsinki, Finland
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An American McDonald's in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in June 2008; this is an example of the "new" look of American McDonald's restaurants.
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Fast food workers on strike outside of a McDonald's in St. Paul, Minnesota
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The McDonald's in Northport, Alabama commemorates U.S. President Ronald Reagan's visit.
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Ray Kroc joined the chain in 1954 and built it into a global franchise, making it the most successful fast food corporation in the world.
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The McDonald's-sponsored car of Jamie McMurray in 2016
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Orlando, Florida, United States
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Markham, Ontario, Canada
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Pop-up restaurant at the Olympic Park in London, United Kingdom
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São Paulo, Brazil
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Lugano, Switzerland
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Tallinn, Estonia
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Sargodha, Pakistan
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Tampere, Finland
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Paris, France
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Dubai, UAE
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Kosher-McDonald's in Ashkelon, Israel
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Busan, South Korea
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Tokyo, Japan
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Shenzhen, China
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SM Mall of Asia, Pasay, Philippines
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Vilnius, Lithuania
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Sydney, Australia
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See also
In Spanish: McDonald's para niños
