The US Fast Food Industry Colonizes the Middle East
The oil money has made American products—including burgers, fries, and soda—invade the Arabian Peninsula. Kuwait is among the worst exposed to the effects of fast food.
There’s nothing more “American” than a burger, fries and a milkshake. However, over the past few years fast food in the United States has transformed from a staple food for consumers looking for instant gratification, to an industry that, at least in their advertising and promotional material, emphasizes salads, calorie counting, and ingredients. experience. Take McDonald’s, the largest burger brand that has experienced consumer decline in its US locations over the last four years, and is looking to improve burger beef, which means that soon there will be billboards filled with McDonald’s cows massaged a la wagyu. Who knows.
While they are changing business strategies in the US and developed countries, fast food conglomerates are finding new customers with old strategies after opening branches in other parts of the world, where the market is easier to penetrate. Mainly because consumer awareness is very low about the risks of the products they sell. One of the hotbeds for fast food is the region around the Persian Gulf which has the most affluent population in the Middle East.
https://www.leonsoftaylor.com/ interviewed professor of economics Mohsen Bagnied, Head of Marketing Department of the American University of Kuwait. We asked him to explain why the global fast food restaurant business is so popular in Kuwait, as well as other Gulf countries. Here’s a snippet of our conversation.
Mohsen Bagnied: The first hamburger was sold in Kuwait in 1981 by Hardee’s. Then 13 years later McDonald’s came in, in 1994 to be precise. Now every big fast food brand, mostly from the US, is in Kuwait. From McDonald’s, Burger King, Hardee’s, Johnny Rockets, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Nathan’s, Pizza Hut, Subway, Domino’s, Five Guys—it’s got it all. How do citizens, from a cultural standpoint, react to this trend of Americanization?
Since the Gulf War, there has been a cultural invasion of Kuwait by Western, especially American, cultures. Everything that symbolizes America—jeans, fast food, fast cars, liberal values—it’s all here. That’s not to say there hasn’t been resistance by some elements of Kuwaiti society for several years. It’s just that the number is not significant. How mainstream is fast food in the culture of Kuwait and surrounding countries?
Fast food has become rampant. Now there are not only big brands, but also local brands. People generally exchange domestic or local food for Western food or fast food, so there is a hamburger culture. Especially among young people, fast food is very popular. They see going to fast food restaurants as a source of solace for the whole family. And one of the reasons is, fast food is still at a growth rate.
