Compare McDonalds's and Starbucks

In the world of coffee, Starbucks can be considered the king, and McDonalds has long been the king of fast food, so, there has been a nice understanding between them. We can compare McDonald to Starbucks in terms of environment, history and last and most important, variety.

First, we can compare McDonald to Starbucks in terms of environment. Most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or McDrive as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined. Also, some McDonald's in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds, called "McDonald's Play Place"(McDonald’s). “McDonald’s Play Place” is a place in-restaurant play area that features interactive game zones designed for children aged 4 to 12. It is well equipped with stationary bicycles attached to video games, dance pads, basketball hoops, monkey bars, an obstacle course, and many other games.

McDonald's introduced its "Forever Young" brand by redesigning all of their restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s. The new design will include the traditional McDonald's yellow and red colors, but the red will be muted to terra cotta, the yellow will turn golden for a more "sunny" look and olive and sage green will be added. To warm up their look, the restaurants will have less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow. Contemporary art or framed photographs will hang on the walls. The exterior will have golden awnings and a "swish brow" instead of the traditional double-slanted mansard roof (McDonald’s).

On the other hand, Starbucks envisions local outlets as a "third place" (besides home and work) to spend time, and store design is intended to achieve this. The cafÐ"© section of the store is often outfitted with stuffed chairs and tables with hard-backed chairs. Most stores provide free electricity for customers, and many stores also provide wireless internet access. The company is noted for its non-smoking policy at almost all of its outlets, despite predictions that this would never succeed in markets such as Germany, which used to have few restrictions on smoking. This has changed in 2007 when many German states issue smoking bans for restaurants and bars. Outlets in Vienna and Mexico City, which have smoking rooms separated by double doors from the coffee shop itself, and a smoking room upstairs in the Largo do Senado, Macau, branch are the closest the company has come to making exceptions (Furritus).

Second, we can compare McDonalds’s coffee to Starbuck’s coffee in terms of history. McDonald’s is begun in 1940, with a restaurant opened by siblings Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California. Their introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant (Kroc). The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 15, 1955, the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion. With the successful expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has also made it a frequent topic of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics and consumer responsibility (Kroc).

In 1970s, the first Starbucks opened. The name comes from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, a classic American novel about the 19th century whaling industry. The seafaring name seems appropriate for a store that imports the world’s finest coffees to the cold, thirsty people of Seattle. In 1980’s Howard Schultz joins Starbucks in 1982. While on a business trip in Italy, he visits Milan’s famous espresso bars. Impressed with their popularity and culture, he sees their potential in Seattle.

Last and most important, we can compare McDonald’s to Starbuck’s