mcdonaldsMcDonald’s Corporation is the largest hamburger fast food restaurant chain in the world. Since it is a public company, a McDonald’s fast food restaurant can be operated by a franchise owner, an associate company or by the corporation itself.

History
The business was founded in 1940, when brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald opened a McDonald’s restaurant in the area of San Bernardino, California. The brothers introduced the ‘Speedee Service System,’ which became the basis of today’s fast food restaurants. In fact, McDonald’s original mascot was named Speedee who was ultimately replaced by Ronald McDonald in 1967 when the company filed a U.S. trademark for the clown.

McDonald’s filed a U.S. trademark for its name on May 1961 and described the business as one that offers Drive-in Restaurant Services. In the same year in September, the company also filed for a U.S. Trademark on its logo. The original logo of an overlapping double arched “M” was disapproved in 1962. This led to its current double arched M logo which was approved as a trademark in November of 1968.

McDonald’s fast food restaurants were soon operating in the United States, Costa Rica, Japan, Germany, France, Sweden, Canada, Panama, the Netherlands, Australia and El Salvador. The opening of McDonald’s ninth restaurant in 1955, one which was franchised by Ray Kroc, marked the beginning of major expansions for McDonald’s. Ray Kroc later bought the McDonald brothers’ equity and spearheaded McDonald’s expansion worldwide. In 1965, the company became public when it was listed in different stock markets. Kroc was still the leader responsible for this company move. Over time, Kroc and the McDonald brothers quarreled over who should take control of the company. Eventually, this feud led to the brothers’ getting out of the fast food restaurant industry. To date, the original location of the McDonald brothers’ restaurant now stands as a monument of the business that the brothers built.

In 1990, McDonald’s owned Chipotle Mexican Grill, but soon divested itself of it through the stock market. It also owned Donatos Pizza until December of 2003. On August of 2007 McDonald’s sold another of its companies, Boston Market, to its new owners, Sun Capital Partners.

Currently, McDonald’s has become an icon of globalization with the company’s expansion in a number of international markets. The company has also become an instrument in spreading the American way of life in different countries and different cultures. A downside of its fame and reputation however, is that it has become a common topic on debates about consumer responsibility, obesity and corporate ethics.

Stats
Company headquarter address: Oak Brook, Illinois USA
Ownership: Public
No of Employees: around 400,000 (as of 2010)
Geography: Worldwide
Demography: fast food eaters, restaurant eaters, young and old

Brands
McDonald’s, Piles Café

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