&host=www.rt.com&uri=/news/mcdonalds-russia-20-years/&via=1.1 204.160.103.7:80 (Footprint 4.8/FPMCP)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
McDonald’s in Russia: 20 years of “loving it”
Published: 01 February, 2010, 06:30
Edited: 11 October, 2010, 14:57
TAGS: Anniversary, Russia, Russia and the global economy, History
McDonald’s came to the USSR as a first sign of freedom two decades ago.
Long lines for fast food. And a taste of freedom in a locked country. When McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Moscow twenty years ago, the Soviet Union was waning but still standing. The borders were closed, the choice was dismal. So to many Soviet people, French fries tasted more like Freedom fries.
“Back then, in order to travel to a foreign country one needed to get all sorts of permissions,” says Viktor Loshak, an editor for the Ogonyok magazine. “So for many, walking through McDonald’s door was like crossing the border control. It was like another world for us…”
Natalya Kolesnikova was among those who endured hours in subzero temperatures to try her first Big Mac. And while she is no fan of junk food, she says, in 1990 the McDonald’s menu offered a host of delicacies.
“It was like going to a major premiere,” she says. “People were coming here from all around Moscow. Some had even driven from beyond the city. When guests came to visit, taking them to McDonald’s was just as important as showing them around the Kremlin.”
It took McDonald’s 14 years of intense negotiations with Communist Party bosses to open its first outlet. But once the Golden Arches appeared in Moscow, it meant far more than just business expansion.
“McDonald’s was not so much a fast-food chain but rather a symbol of freedom”, says Loshak. “A symbol of Western values coming to Russia. No wonder the Communist Party objected so fiercely, but at the end it didn’t have a choice.“
With more than 230 outlets across Russia, McDonald’s now controls about two thirds of Russia’s quick service restaurant market – all thanks to its first-come, first-serve strategy.
And while McDonald’s in Russia has long stopped being a cultural phenomenon and became what it is throughout the world – a fast food-chain – it still delivers what it promised two decades ago. Food, folks and fun.
It all started in 1976, in the heart of the Cold War, and it took 14 years to bring McDonald’s to Moscow, remembers George Cohon, one of the team that brought McDonalds in the USSR.
“We just said [to the Soviet government]: trust us, we’re here for a long time, we’re going to come in and go out right away, we’re going to build, we’re going to grow with Russians. It took a few years, but over a period of time we delivered on what we promised: great food, great surroundings and a price people can afford.”
31.01.2010, 21:35
“I wish the day was longer than 24 hours” – PatriarchRussia’s Orthodox Church marks a year since the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill. Speaking to Russian TV channel Russia-1, Kirill confessed that the past year was a time for spiritual disquiet for him. |
01.02.2010, 07:06
“Lost souls” finding home in small Russian townA Catholic Frenchman in search of spiritual enlightenment found it in an unusual place. In a remote Russian town, 13 years later he is now an Orthodox priest and a Russian citizen. |
Thanks for the great report. It's not about the food, but about the freedom. McDonalds is a symbol of the U.S. For the folks that think this is about the food. Too much of any thing is not good. You will die no matter what. So enjoy life and do everything in moderation.
FUNNY!!!!!!!!!! These are the funniest comments I have ever seen in RT......EVER!...lol Especially the comments from Americans.....lol I have visited some McDonnalds resturautnts in Russia and Ukraine and people love it and they are always packed with kids, teenagers ...well, people of all ages I can say...at any time of the day and nigh. So I guess it is safe to say that the comments here represent a very very small group of people...lol.... Thank you RT
The above comments only give proof of american ignorance. In many other nations McDonalds is different, healthier (yet not healthy to say). Nevertheless, half the people that commented did not even notice the point of the article--McDonalds represented culture, America and a new opportunity to those in the Soviet Union for so many years.