2024 Articles

They're Lovin' It: How China and Japan Turned American Fast Food Into Global Phenomena

Zeller, Zachary

Kentucky Fried Chicken arrived in Japan in the 1970s. McDonald’s launched in China in the late 1980s. Both arrived during periods of massive social upheaval, sending shockwaves through the countries and corporations, creating an international and cultural legacy. Through analyzing the tactics and stories of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan and McDonald’s in China, a pattern emerges. Both companies arrived in their respective countries to initial success, riding on the coattails of burgeoning Americana in the mid-late 20th century. However, once they faced respective challenges and potential waning success, both companies decided to focus on shedding some of their American policies to allow their product to better match the East Asian markets. By doing so, they engaged in a balancing act of localization and globalization; by using localization tactics to achieve global success, each ultimately becoming globalized corporations. The success that both companies have achieved, both culturally and financially, prove to be the backbone of their international endeavors, and have ingrained them as staples of the modern East Asian culinary culture.