McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD [archive]) is a fast-paced American fast-food chain founded by businessman Ray Kroc in 1952 after buying the rights to a small hamburger chain operating from 1937 onwards. by Richard and Maurice McDonald6.
A McDonald's fast food restaurant is operated by a commercial network, an affiliate or the company itself. The company's revenues come from renting, royalties and fees paid by the commercial networks, as well as sales from restaurants operated by the company. McDonald's revenues increased 5.5% in the two years ending in 2007 to $ 21.6 billion accompanied by earnings growth of 36.2% of operating income to $ 3.5 billion. dollars7.
McDonald's sells mostly beef, chicken and fish burgers and fries, breakfast menus, sodas, milkshakes and desserts. The company has expanded the offer with salads, wraps and fruits8.
It is said to be the largest fast food chain in the world in terms of meals served with some 69 million customers a day in 20139.
In the early 1960s, the company was renamed McDonald's Corporation. As early as 1961, the McDonald brothers agreed to sell their company's rights to Kroc for $ 2.7 million, which Kroc had obtained from several investors (including Princeton University). The contract allows the two brothers to keep their original business but they lose the right to post the McDonald's name. It was renamed The Big M, and remained open until Kroc opened a McDonald's just down the street to the north. If the brothers had retained the previous agreement which offered them 0.5% of the annual income of the chain, they would have today accumulated with their families more than 100 million dollars a year. One of Kroc's marketing strengths was his decision to sell McDonald's burgers to families and children. A franchisee from Washington sponsored a children's show called Bozo's Circus. Bozo was a franchise character, played in Los Angeles by Willard Scott. After the show was canceled, Goldstein hired Scott to represent McDonald's new mascot, Ronald McDonald in the first three television commercials including the character. The character will eventually air on the rest of the United States through an advertising campaign. Although later, it was decided that both Scott and his original costume were unsuitable for the role. A whole troupe of characters from McDonaldland was developed.
In 1963, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich was first introduced in Cincinnati, Ohio, at a restaurant in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood that practices abstinence on Fridays. This was the first addition to the original menu, which became national the following year, with fish provided by Gorton's of Gloucester. McDonald's went public two years later in 1965. The first McDonald's outside of the United States opened in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada in 1967. In addition, the establishment project for the chain opened in a building with own, with a garret roof and indoor seating is presented. In 1968, the Big Mac, similar to the Big Boy hamburger, and the apple slipper are on sale. They will be followed closely by the Egg McMuffin (Egg McMuffin in Canada).