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Aah, Bistro! McDonald's set to disguise themselves as Europeans when invading China

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

McDonalds is no stranger to bistro cuisine, it seems

From time to time the IPKat contemplates what people do with their brands and their get-up, which do after all form a significant element of a business plan for any consumer-directed product or service. He was therefore tantalised by a brandchannel headline, "McDonald's Plans Aggressive Expansion in China", this being the title of this short piece by Shirley Brady.  The news, via The Wall Street Journal, goes like this:

"McDonald's is planning its "biggest ever expansion in China," reports the Wall Street Journal. With plans to build up to 200 new locations in the market, where it its upping its investment some 40% next year and swapping out "the old red and yellow decor [which at one time was believed to give the locations a corporate livery that enabled consumers to identify them more easily] for a more relaxed, European-style bistro design." [The Kats look forward to checked tablecloths, fishnets draped across the walls, candles melted into old wine bottles ...] The move will double its footprint on the mainland and include a more health-conscious menu [is this a subtle concession that the existing menu isn't] ...".

To be fair, the WSJ doesn't use the word "aggressive", but this Kat suspects that the Chinese would prefer any activity by a foreign, global, probably intergalactic operation like McDonald's not to be aggressive if at all possible.   Merpel wonders whether, if the experiment works in China, McDonald's might consider introducing "a more relaxed, European-style bistro design" into Europe, particularly in some of those historic inner-city locations where anything that looks like a fast-food outlet looks like an anachronistic intrusion.

Bistro here
Bistrot here
Bisto here
McDonald's: use of the apostrophe here
McDonald's and apostrophe abuse here
Against McDonald's here
Against the apostrophe here

Full post as published by IPKat on December 16, 2010 (boomark / email).