"Let's trash McDonald's!"
We can easily interpret the first picture, McDonald's is money-minded and earning too much with its lies. It started off as a chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks, but who would have expected it to be a branding which certain people love most and others hate it. With the successful 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. McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred as the "McDonaldization" of society.
McDonaldisation is often accused of harming domestic jobs. There are also accusations of Americanisation are not too far away. A few years back, anti-globalization protests were taken to McDonald's restaurants in Australia.
Those residing outside the United States, like us, often hear the American cultural invasion. McDonald's, 7-Eleven, Nike all become part of our lives.
Culture is seen as an integral part of national identity and with an increasingly global society, people are concerned that national culture will be dimished. Yet what seems to grow stronger are international brands. They are not necessarily American (Sony, Mercedes-Benz, Nokia are Japanese, German, Finnish) but many are (Coca-Cola, McDonald's), because American companies have capitalized their forces. Everyone is concerned with their own identity being changed.
The second picture saw MacDonald’s as American soldiers attacking Iraq. Since this globalization overrides the interests of individuals, countries and democracy in favour of a global trans-national system and because people are so afraid that their identity will be moulded with America’s, they try to stop these forces.
However, some Americans believe there is a strong eastern influence these days, with Hollywood adopting ideas from Hong Kong Chinese film-making (i.e. Infernal Affairs, The Departed).
In my opinion, Americanisation may not be something great but it is something that cannot be changed easily. It is almost irreversible.
