Wednesday, April 19, 2006
THE SPURLOCK EFFECT
Morgan Spurlock came up with the idea for his anti-McDonald’s documentary on Thanksgiving Day, 2002—three and a half years ago. Seems like Spurlock has delivered the same happy result for McDonald’s as Michael Moore did for George W. Bush in 2004:
Just three and a half years ago, McDonald’s was struggling mightily. Its stock had tumbled 56 percent in 10 months and the company had reported its first quarterly loss. Sales at existing stores in the United States, by far McDonald’s biggest market, were not growing and in many instances were declining.
Stung by obesity lawsuits and criticism from books like “Fast Food Nation,” the company’s brand seemed passé and the high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium cuisine appeared poised for a long decline.
But that did not happen. Today, McDonald’s business, both in the United States and globally, is growing; the chain gets some one million more American visitors a day than it did just a year ago.
Since 2003, according to the NY Times, revenue for McDonald’s “has increased by 33 percent and its shares have rocketed 170 percent.” The burger chain has, you might say, been supersized.