Fast Food Wars

The fast food world use to be small because you only had two or three places to choose from. Now you can drive down a main street in any big city and easily have 10 places to choose from. All of these places are competing for your business, and usually you will go for the best deal you can get. With most of the companies conquering lunch and dinner, the fight for breakfast starts. More of these fast food chains are starting to serve you breakfast the main meal of the day. With each one serving you something different you have a variety to choose from. How do they get your attention and what makes you choose one over the other?

McDonald's has been around for ages and is usually the first restaurant that comes to mind when you think fast food. Over the years McDonald's have learned to adapt with the changes of time. In 1955, McDonald's launched their first drive-thru window. The drive-thru has turned into a huge success with people needing to catch a bite to eat on the run and don't have the time to stop and go in to order. After 20 years since 1975, McDonald's decided to start a new time of the day, breakfast.

Starting with the Egg McMuffin, a sandwich that has everything you need to start your day out. After it was a huge success they added more to their breakfast line, making it your one stop shop for any picky eater you may have. The McGriddle was introduced in 2003 which includes maple syrup infused into pancakes satisfying your maple urge in the morning without having to sit down and eat it with a knife and fork.

Breakfast accounts for about 30% of the store's $2.5 million in annual sales each year. Since McDonald's has started the new darker and stronger coffee line for breakfast, sales has increased 7.5%. With introducing new products every year they continue to be number one in the United States. Their major competitors are Burger King, Starbuck's, and Wendy's, all of whom are trying to get their hands on a piece of the breakfast sales.

McDonald's, however, doesn't limit itself to only one portion of the everyday meals; they pride themselves in having something for everyone at anytime during the day. By setting these goals, they have made themselves the top fast food chain in the United States and have ranked 11th in the top 15 global companies. McDonald's has strived to be the biggest and best in fast food. They have achieved the top spot by being on the cutting edge of food with coming up with bigger, better ideas of getting the food to the people who need it.

McDonald's has become a brand name across the world by getting into households with everyone knowing what McDonald's is. By introducing Ronald McDonald the happy, playful clown, they insure that their customers will know their name at an early age. Starting customers young they know that they will have a customer for life. About 42% of the American fast food hamburger business is done by McDonald's, not surprising being they are number 1 in the country. They have many successful items such as their fries, Happy Meals, Big Mac, Egg McMuffin, and all of the promotions that they do. Even though they keep on coming up with new food ideas every time one is brought into the restaurants it still has that McDonald's way about it. You know if you see someone eating something from McDonald's you can probably tell that they got it from there without having to ask the person. They haven't stopped with America though, more and more McDonald's are popping up all over the world. From Canada to England to Japan, they have made a world name for themselves.

McDonald's has a goal of one hundred percent total customer satisfaction. They do, however, realize that this goal is not always attainable. Therefore, if for any reason they do not meet that goal, they will do whatever it takes to correct their mistakes. McDonald's has a second company goal that sets them apart from most of their competitors, charity. McDonald's was founded on the principle of giving back to the community, and that remains one of their primary goals today. Through their charities, Ronald McDonald's House and Ronald McDonald's Children's Charities, McDonald's has pumped millions of dollars back into the community over the years. McDonald's customer service policy is laid out in the McDonald's Guarantee, "Your

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