McDonalds and Starbucks in China

A big part of our discussion on Monday was on cultural imperialism and how many supposedly "American" brands are actually owned by foreign individuals or corporations. Personally, I think what matters more is the perceived ownership of a cultural icon than who actually owns it. We may not realize it, but these brands give people in other countries unrealistic expectations of what life in America is like, all the while destroying their native cultures in favor of fast food and Mickey Mouse. In China, the distinction between American products and culture and traditional Chinese products and culture is very distinct and everywhere in everyday life. I speak of China because it is the only society besides America where I have spent enough time to really explore and begin to understand the culture.




These are two pictures of American I brands in China. The first is of a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. This Starbucks has since been removed (it wasn't there when I visited the Forbidden City in April 2009), but before that it was seen as an embarrassment in China, a symbol of Western imperialism. Here was one of the greatest wonders of China, a palatial city that had been the home of emperors for hundreds of years, and a Seattle coffee company that has only been around since 1971 was selling foreign products (while changing, the more traditional drink is tea--and not Starbucks tea) to tourists, many of whom are Chinese from the countryside exploring their capital. What kind of message did this send? It's kind of as if we suddenly decided to turn the national mall into a stip mall or something. It's unfathomable.

The second photo is of the McDonald's that was right outside the school I went to in Beijing. That stone dragon in the foreground is actually the property of the school, so you can see just how close this McDonalds was to the entrance. Because it was so close, it was constantly full of Jingshan students. Every time we went inside there were always at least a few students lining up to buy their fat filled sandwiches and fries. Not only does this encourage obesity, but these kids are learning to expect that all Americans eat this kind of food. Not to mention the fact that McDonalds in China is not accessible to the poorest of the poor because they raise the prices to account for the weakness of the yuan compared to the dollar, so when you do the math it's just about as expensive as it would be in America (same goes for Starbucks. A tall caramel frapuccino goes for 30 yuan in Beijing, even more than it is in America).

American cultural imperialism is changing the world. It's unifying cultures, but at the same time it's destroying them. It may be years before we can know the full extent of these changes, but they are beginning to destroy thousand year old traditions, not just in China, but around the world. It remains to be seen what becomes of these native cultures in the face of McDonalds and Starbucks.