By Ben Colmery
MIA 2009

After spending time in a redeveloping country like Ukraine, I am afraid I have to say that McDonald’s is not
entirely evil. There. I said it. McDonald’s isn’t entirely evil. And Ukraine provides a great case for such a conclusion.

Before I go into why, I need to explain this “evil” tag I’ve put on
McDonald’s. It’s not that I really think the company is evil. But some people do, and sometimes I agree. However, after my
experience in Ukraine, I feel as though I should present another way of
looking at this global empire.

It’s true that McDonald’s promotes a number of undesirable things in
the world. Most of its menu might better be classified as a dessert,
given its relative lack of nutritional value. It may actually be a
borderline crime that it passes its food off as food at all, implying
that one can sustain oneself on its products. Morgan Spurlock
thankfully has since proven it not to be food in that sense.

But it isn’t just that the food isn’t really food. It’s so many other
things. Pushing more and more animal-based products on a market in a
world that cannot sustain constant growth in these types of products.
Environmental degradation. Health degradation. Quantity over quality.
Complete bastardization of traditional cultures and cuisines. Sprouting
up on every corner, in every strip mall, engendering an almost Soviet
dream of a world of standardization and uniformity bereft of true
choice or variety. So many things to complain about.

And yet, McDonald’s serves what might be considered a very important purpose in a place like Ukraine.

Before independence, Ukraine was defined by the strong influence of a
Soviet-style economy. As a result, in the marketplace, certain
behaviors dominated. For example, customers were often treated harshly,
as if they were a nuisance, or getting in the way. The person behind
the counter had the power, and in having so little power elsewhere in
this communist system, this power was abused at the expense of the
customer’s dignity. Customers could expect to be treated with contempt,
grumpiness, and disinterest, rather than a smile and a “How are you
doing today?” enthusiasm.

That person behind the counter was not the only worry for the customer.
One could reasonably expect
that just because something appeared on the
menu, it wasn’t likely to be available. Add to that that even if the
product was on the shelf, it might not be made with the same
ingredients or quality as one remembered from the last purchase. The
whole store experience was a roll of the dice every time, and most of
the time you came away with snake eyes.

The Ukrainian marketplace still struggles with these hangovers of the
Soviet planned economy. Fortunately, companies like McDonald’s are
helping to change all of this.

McDonald’s provides Ukraine with many market behaviors we might take
for granted in America. Everything on the menu is actually available,
and is cooked the same way, with the same ingredients, every time.
Workers are required to show up to work on time (another crapshoot that
remains), but more importantly, they are required to be friendly, and
provide prompt, diligent customer service, perhaps even with a smile.
There are strict standards of hygiene—the bathrooms probably won’t be a
place of nightmares.

In Ukraine, it can be very hard to find a restaurant that isn’t dark,
dank, gloomy, full of cigarette smoke, bottles of vodka, and stumbling
drunks. For those who wish to avoid this, there’s McDonald’s. Well-lit,
no smoking, no alcohol.

A place where you can take your kids. McDonald’s restaurants in Ukraine
are so nice, by comparison to the standard “café”, that people actually
get dressed up to go to them. They are places to be seen, and not
harassed by drunks. You cannot underestimate the value in this in
Ukraine.

Personally, I believe that this example that McDonald’s sets for
Ukraine is a good thing. It shows the benefits of good customer
service, accountability and transparency, providing positive
alternatives. It instills in its workers important behaviors that are
likely to leech out into the marketplace, becoming part market
institutions in Ukraine. As this happens, Ukraine will become
friendlier to tourism and Foreign Direct Investment, stimulating
economic growth, while Ukrainians behind the counter become friendlier
to other Ukrainians. In short, increased economic activity,
reliability, and dignity. What’s not to like?

Of course, there are drawbacks to having companies like McDonald’s
become powerful players in the world, particularly in countries with
relatively weak market institutions, like Ukraine. But, companies like
McDonald’s also serve to strengthen some of those market institutions.
This is certainly a greater good toward market freedom and
self-sustainability in a country that is still recovering from decades
of market dictatorship.

McDonald’s may be “evil” in many respects. However, before we doom it
as evil, we should consider the “good” it might bring to developing and
redeveloping countries.