Look for the Golden Arches! (1960)

Household Names and the People Behind Them

​Check out our next series via Curricula & Co blog page, Household Names and the People Behind Them. We have some extraordinary entrepreneurs who have founded some of the  world best household products…… Over the next few weeks we will be going behind the scenes to discover more about these visionaries  Read More Stories

McDonalds is another one of those iconic brands that, ironically, we don't notice or question because it's everywhere, and always has been.....

Who doesn't have childhood memories of Happy Meals, desperate to get your hands on The Toy? McDonalds has always been there when we need it. It's the first place you go when you get the munchies after a night out.

​It's where we all hung out with our mates as teenagers. It's open at the crack of dawn for lorry drivers and road workers coming back from long night shifts.

Richard and Maurice McDonald - Founders

What memories did you make at McDonalds?

McDonald’s advertising slogans across the decades

Look for the Golden Arches! (1960)
You deserve a break today (1971)
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun (1974)
It's a good time for the great taste of McDonalds (1984)
It's what I eat and what I do (2005)

Today, I'm curious about the backstory of McDonalds. Where did it all begin? Who dreamed it up? Why and how did it become so popular?

Let's find out…

• In the late 1930s, Richard and Maurice McDonald relocated to Hollywood from New Hampshire to start handyman jobs at Motion Picture Studios. Their father, Patrick McDonald set up a food stand called the Airdrome on Route 66 in California, selling hotdogs. Later on, hamburgers were added to the menu, along with orange juice.
  
• In 1940, the brothers moved the business  to San Bernardino, California, renaming it McDonald’s Bar-B Que, with 25 items on the menu, with a barbecue theme.
  
• By 1952, the brothers had dramatically improved the appearance of the restaurant, as well as introducing a smaller, more specialised menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, coffee, soft drinks and apple pie. They introduced an assembly line inspired approach to the way the kitchen was operated,  which made it more efficient.
  
• Ray Kroc, the business man whose milkshake making machines were used by McDonald’s restaurant, initiated a franchising initiative, and offered to take the main responsibility for overseeing this endeavour.
  
• By the early 1960s, as a result of the successful franchise project, McDonald’s was booming! This coincided with the growth of suburban culture, as the economy thrived, and people could afford more luxuries.
  
• Kroc bought the business from the McDonald brothers, with plans to expand it to become the USA’s most popular fast food chain.
  
• Soon after, it became a public sector corporation.
  
• The great and powerful giant, McDonald’s, owes its success to skilful marketing and a quickness to adapt to the needs and desires of customers. From the 1980s onwards, the business spread worldwide, and continues to do so.​
  

All great things have to start somewhere…
It's amazing how powerful good marketing and knowledge of customer base can be…
#mcdonalds #imlovinit #familybusiness #enterprise #inspiration #bignames #curriculaandyou