recognizablerestaurantempireanda formidablerealestate
venture—itsfranchisingmodelhasearnedthecompanya for-
tunebyacquiringandsubsequentlyleasingthelandbeneath
storestotheiroperators.
Fora half-century,McDonald’sgreaseditswayontoevery
continentexceptAntarctica.Itstayedaheadofscoresof
copycats,butthebabyboomerloyaltythatproppedit uphas
steadilywaned.It’salsobecomesomethingofa culturallag-
gard.ThesuitabilityofMcDonald’sina loomingAgeofKale
wasaggressivelyponderedinSuperSizeMe, the 2004 docu-
mentaryfilminwhichdirectorMorganSpurlockattemptsto
subsistontherestaurantchain’sfoodfora month.Hecast
thecompanyasanabhorrentpeddlerofheartburnandsub-
standardbowelmovements.
There’salsothe inevitable
discomfortofbeingoneof
theworld’slargestpurchasers
ofbeefandpoultry.Younger
generationsconcernedabout
the environmentalcost of
industrializedmeatareopt-
ingforplant-basedalterna-
tivessuchas BeyondMeat
andtheImpossibleBurger,
whichis now available at
BurgerKing.Animal-rights
activistsregularlyerectgiant
inflatable chickens with
bereavedexpressionsonthe
sidewalkoutsideMcDonald’s
newheadofficeindowntown
Chicago.
The company boasts a
marketvaluationof$159bil-
lionandanimmenseglobal
reach, feeding about 1%
of the human population
daily.But eveninthefast-
foodrealmit dominates,its
shareoftheU.S.markethas
shrunkto13.7%from15.6%in
2013,accordingtodatafrom
EuromonitorInternational,cedinggroundtoPreta Manger
andPaneraBreadCo.Intheburgerwars,it’sbeenbesieged
bycoolercompetitorswithcultfollowings,includingShake
Shack,FiveGuys,andIn-N-Out.Earningsbegantostagnateat
McDonald’sin 2013 andcrashedbyalmosta fifth,to$4.7bil-
lion,thefollowingyearasdinersdeserted.Fourmonthsbefore
steppingdowninMarch2015,DonThompson,Easterbrook’s
predecessor,lamentedthatthecompanyhadfailedtoevolve
“atthesamerateasourcustomers’eating-outexpectations.”
Asinsurgentsclaimedanever-growingshareofthemarket
McDonald’shadcreated,themoraleattheoldheadquar-
tersinOakBrook—atranquilif uninspiring1970samalgamof
graycubiclessetina parklandinIllinois—begantosap.The
45Bloomberg Businessweek September 30, 2019
company’s strategic quagmire
took on a superstitious quality
when the estate itself became
a hiveofbadomens,with
partsoftheofficecomplex
flooding on an annual basis.
Easterbrook became
global chief brand officer in- The following year, he
traveled to Cupertino, Calif.,
to sit down with Tim Cook,
Apple Inc.’s CEO, to discuss
being a launch partner for
the Apple Pay mobile pay-
ment system. The card read-
ers McDonald’s used lacked
the necessary technology,
so Easterbrook had a digi-
tal add-on installed on every
machine at its 14,000 loca-
tions in the U.S.
Easterbrook first joined
McDonald’s in the finance
department in London in 1993, and spent the majority of his
career there. After graduating with a natural sciences degree
from Durham University, where he played competitive cricket
alongside the future England captain, he worked as an accoun-
tant for the partnership that would become PwC. He later
worked as a restaurant manager for McDonald’s before being
named to head its U.K. division, which he turned around in the
2000safteryearsofwaningsales.Inthatrole,hemounteda
defenseagainstfast-foodcriticsbydebatingthemonlivetele-
vision.Herevitalizedthecompany’simageasa family-friendly
outlet by introducing organic milk, cutting the fries’ salt con-
tent, and offering free Wi-Fi. He also tried unsuccessfully to
get the Oxford English Dictionary to amend its definition
“IT waS PrET Ty
obvIouS wE wErE
oPEraTI ngand
movIng SLowEr
Than ThE
ouTSIdE worLd”
New touchscreen
soda machines;
cups promote the
McDonald’s app