The Menu-Speak of McDonald's

In exploring the menu as a genre, I was curious to see how much McDonald’s–a familiar, all-American fast-food chain that would presumably wish to bank on consumers’ nostalgia and need for “comfort” food–has been “continentalized,” or made to sound to more, well, chic.  When I went to the McDonald’s website to explore, I was greeted with a picture of softly-lit oatmeal, apple slices, and yogurt with the subtitle “Wholesome” in cursive letters.  Continentalized?  Absolutely.  A look at the menu, however, shows McDonald’s menu to be more in transition than the website suggested: it contains many familiar items with simple but accurate names (“Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese”) as well as branded items with the prefix “Mc-” (“McDouble, “McChicken,” etc.).  Yet the menu also contains items with more complex names, some of which incorporated foreign flavors, such as the “Angus Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap,” or used descriptors common to menus across America (e.g. “Premium Crispy Chicken Classic Sandwich”).  Speaking of chicken, McDonald’s makes a distinction between “grilled” chicken and “crispy” chicken, which is battered and fried (an appetizing adjective that comes across as more neutral than, say, “fried,” to people watching their cholesterol intake).  The food names also suggest when the foods are intended to be eaten: small chicken nuggets are called “Chicken McBites,” and small wraps are called “Snack Wraps,” suggesting that these foods are consumed in between meals.  

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To see if this kind of menu-speak translated into other languages, I consulted the McDonald’s France website.  The homepage features not a bowl of oatmeal, but a picture of a farmer (“McFarmer”) and a lumberjack (“McTimber”)–apparently the “Mc-” prefix is common to McDonald’s in other countries.  Although the farmer and lumberjack don’t appear very “continental,” in portraying rural, picturesque America, they might appeal to the French consumer who expects to get the “American” experience at McDonald’s.  As for the menu, much detail is given to descriptions of ingredients: we are told the diet of the chickens used to make the “McChicken” sandwich, and the various regions of France from which the wheat used to make the bun is gathered.  (This is similar to the American website, which has a link, “What We’re Made Of,” devoted to information about ingredients).  Items on the whole are similar to those on the American menu, often carrying the prefix “Mc-”, and distinguishing between “grilled” and “crispy” chicken; however, there are some differences.  The menu has a few items made clearly à la française: “Le McWrap Chèvre,” for example, or “Le Croque McDo,” a sort of round, simplified croque monsieur.  McDonald’s France thus is offering consumers an experience that is both delicious and nutritious, both all-American and yet also familiarly French.