McDonalds in Hong Kong

McDonald's in Hong Kong

McDonald's opened its first Hong Kong restaurant in 1975 and due to the views about food in Hong Kong, McDonalds had a huge success. Questions rose, as people wondered how the introduction of fast food would affect the local culture that had been established. Many anthropologists wondered if the establishment of the same global culture would suit the demands of the capitalist world, as an American restaurant like McDonalds could affect the rise of the market, make a dietary change as people demanded American food, and finally make a change in the children's culture.

Nevertheless, time is money, and in Hong Kong, just like every other place in the world, money is the top priority for before the arrival of McDonalds, thousands of street vendors produced snacks or simple meals to be delivered to any workplace, day or night. After the rise of McDonalds, after its arrival, it turned a humble manufacturing economy into to commercial and technical market which in turn gave Hong Kong hope perhaps changing the local culture might benefit them. The introduction of American food led to a class of literate, affluent customers which accepted McDonalds as a regular meal and in turn resulted in the rise of the market and the McDonald's company as local dinners competed to produce American food.

At this point, a man that was responsible for the rise of McDonalds was Daniel Ng, as his management skills benefited Hong Kong as twenty years later every McDonalds are packed wall-to-wall with people whose ages range from babies to grandparents. Mr. Ng helped boost the economy as instead of competing with local cuisines, he exploited the American food through Hong Kong as this form of cultural diffusion attracted many consumers, and in turn they made dietary changes in order to adapt to something different. Mr. Ng method worked as it got people to wonder what McDonalds was like, and the customers came for more as they wanted to get a taste of America, which would in turn help blend McDonalds into the urban landscape.

One outcome of McDonalds in Hong Kong was how it affected the rise of children's culture, for, in Hong Kong, children don't have freedom when it comes to food. Until late in the 1970s, children were expected to eat what was put in front of them but as McDonald's way of ordering food spread a major change happened in the children's culture for they were permitted to make their own choices of the food they wanted rather than having to eat what their parents wanted for them. This led to McDonalds influencing children to have money in their pockets as they were more liberal to order anything they wanted without parent consent. As the children's traditional customs broke apart, McDonalds changed their menu to the point where they were making it possible for even the youngest customer to choose their own food.

McDonald's