Sep
12
The Golden Arches: Expansion or Invasion?
Posted by: Lydia Choi | September 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment
THE FACTS:
Everyday, the McDonald’s franchise continues to expand worldwide; recently, the company has proposed the opening of two new franchises in Amritsar and Katra, two of India’s most religious locations. Hindu nationalist group furiously protests that these expansion are an insult to their race/culture, referring to McDonald’s as “an organization associated with cow slaughter,” and still deciding to locate in the land of the sacred cow.
Although both McDonald’s restaurants proposes to have vegetarian menus out of respect for the religious nature of such locations, people firmly protest it as a deliberate insult to their culture.
— View full articles here and here —
THE THOUGHTS:
From a business standpoint, this proposal is a great investment, and could potentially be quite profitable. However, is it necessary to expand the franchise in locations that would potential infuriate a large population? McDonald’s has plenty of other potentially successful business opportunities, so why cause controversy and bad press? Is McDonald’s simply too powerful to even bother with the “minute” problems of these franchises? Although making these restaurants “vegetarian” is commendable, in my opinion, ethics come before money-making, and I believe that religion is a sacred part of life that nobody should tamper with.