BFA715 Introduction to McDonalds

McDonalds is the most popular fast food chain of the world and has its branches spread over various nations. McDonalds has been operating in Australia from a long time but in the recent time there had been certain controversies surrounding it. It raised many questions on the working and trust of this chain and there were various questions inflicted on it for the same.

As McDonalds was in news for importing cheaper raw materials like potatoes (which is the main ingredient for their patties and the fries they make), there had been many questions raised by the farmers of the country. As the potatoes were imported at a cheaper price the news was raised that whether McDonalds was dumping the local farmers of Australia and importing the cheaper stuff. The second question which was in news was that whether McDonalds was planning to import beef and orange juice to Australia or no. and lastly, the last of the allegation put was the treatment of farmers by McDonalds. The fast food chain was asked to tell whether it treated its farmers in a fair manner or no.

These questions were addressed by McDonalds itself of their official website for the world to know. Asked and answered by McDonalds itself, this way of answering openly was something to capture the market on the whole. There are certain theories which can be attached to this whole incident.

Legitimacy theory- It brings forth the extent the disclosures the organization gives or the boundaries which the company has and the information it wants to give to the economy in the environment of which it works. It is because the company does not want to be penalized or punished by the society for not disclosing the information fully or hiding certain facts from the people of the society. In the case of McDonalds, through their disclaimer on website, it told the public how it was not deceiving the farmers of Australia and it was not treating them unfairly (Friedrich, 2017). It made it a point to make the people of the economy aware that they were not importing the cheaper products from the other countries and not letting their farmers grow the produce. Hence, the legitimacy theory of media falls in place in the McDonalds case (Chew, 2015).

Media agenda setting theory- It is the theory which depicts the ability of the media to place the topics of great interest and importance in front of the public. It also shows that the news which is shown again and again is of utmost importance as it is covered quite frequently. So as these topics of treatment of farmers, the issue of imports of beef and orange juice, etc. rose, McDonalds made it a point to place these topics and issues on their social media platform in order to be discussed and be in the light of the people always so that they can be shown as the topics of utmost important for the organization and something which needs to be in the eyes of the people. (Blasio, 2008)

The second question which arises is the scope of ‘legitimacy’ in the entire thing. Legitimacy means the ability to prove that what disclosures and witnesses you have provided are valid. Proper justification and logical arguments are needed to be given along with the things told so as to prove them to be ‘legitimate’ (Cain, 2018). McDonalds was asked to give disclosures for the treatment of farmers and the questions regarding the beef imports and all and it could be given just by head of the fast food giant. (Gould, 2010)Hence the reasons why McDonalds can be taken as ‘legitimate’ while disclosing about all the disclosures are as follows-

• McDonalds came out open about all the issues and allegations inflicted upon it in front of the entire world and openly addressed all the issues pertaining to the topics which were all over the news.
• The fast food giant, on its official website, mentioned the entire havoc of the news and itself posted the questions which were floating all over the news and answered the entire news over a platform open for all the people to see(Jayaraman, 2016).
• As McDonalds was a well established fast food giant by that time and also had many competitors which were ready to take the spot of McDonald on the top, hence putting any lie or fake news which could be challenged by anyone would have been a risk factor as any of the competitors would have come out in the open about it. Hence, the news portrayed by McDonalds would be cent percent true(DeRose, 2012).
• Another reason to trust the company was that because of being a highly known and popular food giant, the organization had built a reputation for itself in the market. by lying upfront and in front of the entire crowd would just losing the entire reputation which McDonalds had built all those years across the world.
• The fair financial statements and all the news flashed over their sites was enough to prove that McDonalds was not lying and whatever it was portraying was true as no organizations can take the chance of lying on its organization’s official website.

Hence, McDonalds fit both the above mentioned theory by opening about it over the social media and official website by putting in front all the rumors going about it openly. It made sure that the best way to reach out to the public and to gain their trust and not let it deter is by the way of letting them known what is true. As the negative news of McDonalds was over the news and there were various questions asked about their take on the farmers of Australia and the case of importing the cheap potatoes form the other countries and also beef and orange juice, it decided to take that negative limelight and put their point open in front of all. This kind of audience capturing theory helped McDonalds to reach out to the public at large, in a legitimate way, and gain their reputation in market.

Bibliography

Cain, A., 2018. 

Chew, J., 2015. fortune.com. 

DeRose, C., 2012. Judgment on the Front Line: How Smart Companies Win By Trusting. London: Wiley Publications.

Friedrich, B., 2017.

Jayaraman, S., 2016. Forked: A New Standard for American Dining. New York: Cengage Publications.