This brings to mind in the 1980's when I "traveled" Brazil that a McDo in Sao Paulo claimed to be the largest in the world......and it certainly was.

I believe I read recently that France is McDonald's most profitable market outside of the US.

In a way it's sad to see so much infiltration of American culture throughout the world, yet other cultures accept and even demand it, and in today's world globalization is inevitable. That said, it's nice to see them adapting the products to the local cultures (which means that the local cultures fortunately have not disappeared!).

As much as they make fun of it, I know plenty of French people who go to McDonald's because it's quick and easy and the prices are hard to beat. While it's true they're offering a variety of healthier foods (I walked past one today that was advertising a salmon salad), I think the burgers and fries are still the most in demand.

I can see where the updating trend would help in Europe and areas where the restaurants have a lot of foot traffic. It simply gives them more curb appeal and makes them more inviting to eat in... I imagine there's also some psychology at work there that says nicer environment = bigger meal purchased rather than a simple burger and fries in a bag to go. In car-based parts of the US, where so many people go through the drive-thru or stop for a quick meal, I don't think updating would make any difference; again, perhaps in certain urban areas where there's a lot of foot traffic, it might attract more customers.

I certainly think there's a lot of room for updating without losing their image.

Al - thanks for the interesting article.

Ellen - how I bet people are fighting for the McDo franchises in the Balkins. It's only a matter of time.
Economists have been known to evaluate differening costs of living based on the cost of a McDo's meal.

I'm sure I was one of the BPers lamenting the Americanization of France and Europe, but at the same time, I think it's inevitable, thanks to worldwide marketing and mega corporations like McDonald's, Starbucks, and others.

Someone told me recently that companies use the presence or lack of McDonald's in a country as a barometer of the economy to determine whether or not to invest in that country. When we traveled through the Balkans earlier this year, we didn't see one McDonald's despite their love for the US and everything American.

I've noticed over the past years a resentment among some BPers of the Americanization of France and all of Europe for thant matter of fact.

An article in yesterday's NYTimes Business section show some updating of the European McDonald which by the way has its European CEO none other than a Frenchman and more interesting is before the updating the growth rate of Big Mac in all of Europe was greater than the growth of its parent in the USA.
This seems to be the case whether it was Le Jazz Hot in the beginning or coffee from Seattle today.

Who is more at fault.....the American enterpreneurs who introduce our culture or the Europeans who readily accept.

What is just as interesting is whether the updating in London (follow the link) will be a trend in Europe and/or the rest of the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/business...amp;oref=slogin