Cultural Imperialism

In these modern days, all goods spread out all over the world. Imports and exports are necessary to keep the globalization and commercialism. The two main examples are the United States’ McDonalds and Starbucks. There are so many McDonalds and Starbucks over the world, and most of people would have heard of and consumed them. This proves the U.S’s cultural imperialism, trying to penetrate into other cultures and instill their own culture in other foreigners. However, McDonalds are not all the same; they are different in each country. In order to succeed in foreign countries, McDonalds had to follow foreign cultures as well. For example, in Korea, there are many McDonalds, and they are very popular. They are fast food restaurants and are not familiar to Koreans who enjoy sitting down with a group of people and spend a long time during meals. Also, as foods are all American styles, McDonalds create some Korean style of burgers in order to attract and get close to Koreans. Thus, what they created is “kimchi bulgogi burger” which has kimchi and bulgogi, one of traditional Korean foods, in burgers. These burgers are still very popular and succeed in collecting consumers and profits. Also, for Starbucks, Koreans seem to follow America’s style. In the past, Koreans rather enjoy drinking teas than coffee. Also, they did not take out coffees. However, in these days, many people, most of whom in young age, take out coffee and enjoy it as if they were New Yorkers. Moreover, in order to raise more profits and consumers, they have made “smoking areas” in coffee shops. These areas are for smokers. This outstandingly attracts consumers who think it is comfortable to drink and smoke at the same time, without going outside only to smoke and coming back again. Also, not only Starbucks but also other coffee shops start to provide some sort of “leisure place” where consumers can both drink coffee and have leisure time there with computers and books provided. Thus, even though McDonalds and Starbucks came to Korea and Korea is affected by the U.S’s culture, Korea has its own style to attract more people.