The Genius Way McDonald's Held Its Own In France
The Golden Arches cast a very large shadow. McDonald's has long been one of the biggest names in the fast-food game. To be fair, it isn't the top revenue-earning chain in the entire world – that's actually Starbucks, somewhat unsurprisingly. However, McDonald's is ultimately the one chain with perhaps the most significant cultural reach. This dominance extends to the international realm, as well, with McDonald's locations in about 100 countries worldwide. It's almost easier to show the countries on a map that don't have McDonald's, rather than the ones that do – at least, excluding most countries in Africa, a continent where the chain has very little market penetration.
One of McDonald's' earliest targets, however, was also one of its trickiest: France. Unsurprisingly, one of the culinary capitals of the world took some convincing to get on board with McDonald's hegemony. Shockingly, though, it's now quite popular there, all because McDonald's eventually embraced French culture.
McDonald's took a unique approach in France
The French were initially extremely skeptical of McDonald's; the company's history from the opening of its first store in the 1970s up through the 1990s was not one of sustained success. There were bonfires lit in front of company locations, and one guy drove a bulldozer through a restaurant under construction.
McDonald's didn't have success in France until the turn of the millennium, when executives decided to really lean into McDonald's becoming French. It made numerous changes, including running an ad campaign with a beloved French cartoon character called Asterix, but the biggest change was making heavy use of local ingredients. More importantly, it made sure French customers knew this, investing in a booth at the Salon de l'Agriculture — a huge agricultural trade show in Paris.
All of this has led to McDonald's becoming firmly entrenched in France, where the chain is now colloquially known as "McDo's." There was even a local campaign to save a struggling location on the outskirts of Marseille in 2018.
Local menu items helped matters
As is also the case for McDonald's in many other countries, local menu items had a hand to play in the company's unexpected success in France, too. The McBaguette from Netflix's "Emily in Paris" might sound made up, but a real version of it exists, consisting of beef, lettuce, Swiss cheese, and mustard on a baguette. Other menu items you can find at McDonald's' French locations include the Ovaltine McFlurry, Caesar salads, way more vegetarian options, and a whole bevy of baked goods including croissants, donuts, pain au chocolat, and French macarons.
Some of the same items we're familiar with still appear in France, but with different names. That famous "Royale with Cheese" scene from "Pulp Fiction"? That's totally real: A Quarter Pounder with Cheese is in fact called a "Royal Cheeseburger" in France. It must be said: That name is far more fun to say.