Before you comment "But McDonald's is red in country XYZ", hold your horse. Here's proof you're wrong: www.patreon.com/posts/mcdonalds-really-110395670

I was going to comment that in Norway all McDonalds are red. Then I googled pictures of them. And they're all green!!! When did this happen? I have a McDonalds less than 2 km from me and never noticed.

If you think that is weird, I noticed for many years the primary colour branding for Honda worldwide is red but in America, it is blue.

The EU get wooden spoons at McDonald's? We get paper spoons in the UK.

Very informative. In the UK we actually seem to have a 3-colour system. On the roads they are still red/yellow. In suburban areas they are moving to green/brown. But in the most sophisticated city centre areas, they are black. But as you say, the food is still presented in red packaging, which seems odd. Interesting that unlike most fast food chains they are adaptable without apparently diluting the brand. I'm not a fan of the company, but it seems that the devil has all the best tunes. As for health, in Europe the veggie and vegan menu is far more extensive than in the US, where new offerings are only being tested and haven't yet been rolled out nationally.

I think I might actually have to add something. The green design change might actually come from even earlier than 2009. Because my local McDonalds in Hillerød, Denmark, opened in early 2008, and was the first new McDonalds in Denmark after several years of stagnation, and from the very start had the green branding, new logo, and design elements that are now commonplace across Europe. At the time McDonalds was also getting a lot of public backlash in Denmark as an increased public awareness was put on health and obesity, which hit McDonalds especially hard, making them take a hard diversion into appearing as a healthier food option with stuff like greens and veggies, salads, carrots, juice, and spring water coming onto the menu alongside a corporate rebrand from Red to Green. Interestingly though we didn't get McCafé until very recently. Since this seems to be the earliest I could find on the McDonalds rebrand, it actually makes me wonder if my very local one might have been the guinea pig for the whole Europe-wide transformation of McDonalds. Your point on McDonalds being incredibly effective at tailoring marketing to a local market is also very much on point. Here in Denmark they have some very peculiar ads. Like for getting young adults to start work there. McDonalds actually has a program here where a job in a McDonalds restaurant for a few years can actually give a diploma which matches a formal education in the hospitality and restaurant schools. They've also had ads showing some of the store managers, trying to break myths of working at or running a McDonalds restaurant, and more recently they've had ads claiming how sustainable they are, like using frying oil for their french fries that could be reused as biodiesel, or showing the quality and nurture that the potatoes for their fries come from.

Literally it's just greenwashing

McDonalds: Green is a commitment to the environment. Germany: How so? McDonalds: We need 25% fewer polar bear spleens to make the dyes for our signs.

I think you hit the spot The difference is in culture and Europeans like to sit and enjoy a restaurant

Mc Donald's green??? Live in the Netherlands, wood design yes but never ever saw a green yellow mc Donald's sign. Always saw it red and yellow.....until I googled it and discovered that in my own hometown they all are suddenly green and yellow ...and we have four of them. I have no idea when this happened😅. Either I really don't pay attention to my surroundings or...and I like to think that is the reason ...I started eating healthier and didn't go there that often...:-)

As an American, one thing I always try to impress on people from other countries is exactly how much capitalism has infiltrated our day-to-day life. A lot of people would love to get rid of plastics, but the various chemical companies and producers won't have it. We also have briber...I mean lobbying.

Interesting that it's mentioned that blue is 'poison' and not something associated with food. In Israel there's blue McDonald's restaurants, which indicate Kosher.

I'm happy that you keep answering all the important questions in life. Jokes aside, I really like this content. Good job!

In Canada McDonald's colours are brown and grey, with red and yellow. Like a depressed adult longing for their childhood. Also our McD's food went from being standard takeout, then adding salads, wraps and delicious toasted deli sandwiches and premium burgers...then back to standard garbage again. Canada is so weird.

I never noticed the green in the logo until this video, and I used to eat McDonald's way too often

I was going to comment about how I live in the Netherlands and never noticed a green McDonald's sign, even had a little witty "steamed hams" reference all typed up, until I decided to look at photos of McDonalds restaurants in Amsterdam and found that there are indeed a few green ones - alongside a few that still retain their red logo. So it's kinda mixed over here, it seems. Anyway, since I didn't want to outright delete the joke I made before this discovery, here it is anyway. "Your McDonalds signs are green?" "Yes! It's a regional logo." "Uh-huh. Eh, what region?" "Uh... Europe?" "Really? Well, I'm from the Netherlands and I've never seen a green McDonald's sign." "Oh, not in the Netherlands, no. It's a German alternative." "I see."

Dairy Queen's logo has blue in it because their original products were frozen foods like ice cream. They then added hot foods. So their tagline was Hot Eats, Cool Treats. The red symbolizing hot foods and blue symbolizing cold foods.

Many upscale suburbs demanded changes decades ago. They would not allow bright garish colors on the exteriors of buildings, so many companies had to modify and tone down in those wealthier areas. Also a few years ago McDonald's made a strong move to try to rebrand as a coffee shop on top of fast food. McDonald's went with the McCafe promo by pushing coffee drinks and pastries. Many areas, especially the franchisees, backed off of that to a minimum but the company as a whole is still pushing to compete with Starbucks on that front. So you were very close with that comparison to Starbucks colors.

I agree with the idea that the dark green is a themed architecture look designed to match the cafe culture that they are targeting.

Packaging at US McDonald's has changed since I first worked there as a teenager many decades ago. While the burger boxes were less sustainable then (Styrofoam), the cups were waxed paper instead of the plastic that you find today. While the cutlery was always plastic, I remember when it wasn't presented wrapped in yet more plastic. It really bothers me to throw away these plastic cups so I find myself taking them home and finding ways to reuse them until I can find a way to recycle them. Unfortunately for me, it seems unclear to me whether my local recycling program will accept these cups or not.

I like the new design in Europe. The old style was dated and looked very cheap. The new design with the wood looks more premium and fits European dining culture better and it fits well with their expanded menu options.

Personally in the UK where I live the big tall signs for McDonalds are red like in the US but the rest of it is like the other images he showed

McDonald's adaptability to the desires of their various customers is why I hold stock in the company.

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What was not mentioned at all in the video is food quality (yes, you touched on the salads and vegetales on the burgers). All modern (ie most, since corporate heavily subsidises this) McD stores make food "made to order". Meaning, nobody will make food unless it is ordered. There is no pile of bigmacs, because "hey somebody will probably order them in the next minutes". If its not ordered, it's not made, period. This includes everything, even fries if I remember correctly. Coffee is one of the best you can find, food quality is very good. Literally night and day.

In my country Philippines, McDonald's take their CSR towards the environment seriously. The newer branches, built from 2022, have solar panels, bike lanes (in some branches), and concrete pavers infused with mixed plastic waste to minimize plastic waste in the waters.

Correction: Dunkin' Donuts is orange and pink. The signs make it more obvious than the image you used. In fact, Orange is also common in fast food logos.

In Poland there was a short period when McDonalds were in both red and green versions. The green version had heavy focus on ecology and sustainability (for example they asked you to turn off engine while waiting in drive thru). This shows there were some procedures tested at this period ;)

Have to admit, I never noticed that before viewing this video... 😅Greetings from Italy

Für alle die es vermissen am Anfang 👉 Freunde

Awesome as always. Ziemlich gut gemacht. Es macht Spaß deine Berichte zu sehen, auch gerne weiterhin in Englisch 😊

In Thailand, Fast Food Shack outside the mall usually uses have black buildings, whether it's KFC, Mc or Burger King, even Domino's (if not black then dark brown), whether they will have café zone or not, and nah they don't have salads like you do Matz

Packaging goes even further in France, because of regulations fast foods are required to serve food in reusable packaging and avoid cardboard when eating on site. So your fries come in a rigid plastic cup, so does your soda and ice cream, only burgers are allowed to be packaged in paper.

McDonald's in the United States used to use paper cups for all beverages except the largest drinks until only a few years ago.

I studied color theory in art school, red stimulates the appetite. Meat and berries are red, so it appeals to our caveman brains. In the USA, bright green is the color of poison and spoilage not blue, so it may be different for the USA than the UK. In the USA, blue connotes loyalty and trustworthiness (think of "blue chip companies")

Another great video Matthias. And I do like the little "in between the lines humor" of you.

The change of target group seems to be supported by the fact that there is no dedicated room for children birthday parties anymore in McDonalds (at least in Poland).

McD had salads on their menu in the US a few years ago, they just removed it recently. Those salads were amazing, tastier than in Europe and also bigger portion. I like the red, traditional McD design more though...

been to europe 3 times and it never crossed my mind to take coffee-flavoured desserts at starbucks or eat at the de-glorified mcdonalds ..There is just so many delicious food to even consider that a choice.

Wealthier neighborhoods in America sometimes have zoning restrictions for external store signage. No garish designs or bright colors. That’s why those McDonald’s branches have such different external signage.

I always thought the blue in logos for US companies was to associate it with the US flag.

By law restaurant must serve food to the table in some parts of Europe so McDonald's bends to that rule as well offering table delivery just to wash off fast food aura in favor of being a 'restaurant'

they're red here in finland

As someone who worked at a McDonald's for... quite awhile, this is fascinating. It's interesting that you say that compared to the States, McDonald's in Europe look modern, and not like a fast food restaurant anymore. The reason that's interesting is because McDonald's in the US underwent a change TO its current look within the last couple of decades, with the objective of looking more modern, more cozy, more like a place you want to relax and spend time at. Every McDonald's you showed has the "new" "modern" design. I've noticed on the Internet complaints about fast food places all looking the same now, how they're all boring, minimalist, an corporate looking. People have a lot of nostalgia for fun, cartoonish look of McDonald's from their childhood.

The list of ingredients of fries in american McDonalds are different then those in Europe. UK: Fries Ingredients: Potatoes, Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed), Dextrose (predominantly added at beginning of the potato season). Prepared in the restaurants using a non-hydrogenated vegetable oil. Salt is added after cooking. USA: French Fries Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural Beef Flavor [wheat And Milk Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (maintain Color), Salt. *natural Beef Flavor Contains Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk As Starting Ingredients. Contains: Wheat, Milk. Datas from McDonald sites

They have different prices from store to store here in Europe, too... Small Coke 250ml in Slovenia $1.60, Italy both $3.30 and $4.20 depending on stores. Large Coke 500 ml $2.50, $3.80, and $4.80... Menus are also different. Slovenia has burgers with more ingredients and a larger variety than Italy.

We take care more about aesthetic and ingredients. EU has more food restrictions, so our fast food is healthier (but still unhealthy for everyday diet) than in US. About aesthetic, well, we like to surround us by nice environment, and we do not like if some building affects on aesthetic of cities. If Mc Donald's would look like in US, probably wouldn't survive, because we would choose different restaurant. Notice, that our menu is also more vibrant in colours, has healthy positions, and more variety than US. You say Big Mac taste the same, maybe, but a list o ingredients is a bit different and slightly shorter in EU than US.

Quite interesting channel, good job, I will definitely stay for longer. All the best from Poland.

McDonald's has the Big Mac, but McDowell's has the Big Mick. They both have two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions. But McDonald's buns have sesame seeds. McDowell's buns have no seeds.

Well as i Finn i have only visited McDonalds in Finland and Sweden where i usually travel if i travel. As long as i remember we´ve had cartboard mugs for sodas and drinks. Only the lids and straws were plasticthere were a short while as there were some new milkshakes that had plastic mugs for one summer season, but the original milkshakes came in same cartboard cups as sodas. If you go here inside of the restaurant and eat there you don´t usually even get the lid for the drink, but if you take the food with you there is allways plastic lid. Straws are these days cartboard too becouse of EU laws. Before those laws came it was customers own desition do you take the straw or not.

As an American When i got to France and ordered a quarter pounder i was disappointed it wasnt labeled a “royal with cheese” 😢

Red and yellow are associated with ketchup and mustard 🔴🟡

Red is a signal color, used in many important/vital road signs (like STOP). It stands out clearly in the distance so ideal for use in fast food joints next to a highway or stroad. The green used in European cities looks much classier. The old red color looks cheap and tacky.

Just came from Japan and their McDonald’s still use red. But the interiors definitely have that more dark, cozy, modern look to them. Even with the crowded environment, I felt like I didn’t need to rush outta there.

You got a low salt fry at a McD without asking for low salt. Typically, I would have to ask for low salt fries when going to McD. McD tried to sell Salads a few years back in the USA, back when I worked at one before 2001. Turned out the salad offered was not healthy at all.

I'm German American and I've been to McDonald's in both countries.

my dad used to hate mc donalds, because he felt the portions were small, the place was dirty etc. then when the change came from red to green all the places got an interior upgrade, everything was and felt cleaner, and my dad finally started liking mc donalds. as a child i begged so many times to go, and we never went until the change, so i was super happy and still remember it implemented back then. (from the netherlands btw)

Last time I ate McDonald's salad it tasted like they just used grass. I wonder if it changed.

So essentially european mcdonalds tries to match the starbucks aesthetic?

I believe that the first color logo change for McDonald’s happened in Sedona, Arizona when McDonalds approved turquoise colored arches instead of the usual golden color

Ich finde deine Beiträge immer sehr gut journalistisch aufbereitet!

i ate occasionally at McDonld's when it was cheap now i just go to store,buy saalami or pate some bread and it is much cheaper

I love in Sofia, Bulgaria and I've seen both, but mostly red, though I barely go to McDonalds, so maybe newer locations have more green, but I'm pretty sure old locations only have red in their architecture. I think it looks nicer with the green, but the red is iconic and looks great too

The same type of customer behaviour is in Australian McDonalds. The last time I bought a meal at McDonalds (two years ago) there were no customers eating in. Everyone went through the drive through or ordered takeaway meals. The best thing in McDonalds is the Cafe. I enjoy drinking Soy Cappuccino.

Makes sense. No parent in Europe would feel ok about feeding fast food junk to their children, but they themselves are adults, they can afford the guilty pleasure of a bigmac every once in a while.

The McCafe concept was developed in Australia. The first test location was in Melbourne. Our McDonalds is still red though.

In my country, it's all wooden and cozy as well, but the sign is still red I didn't think about it until now of branding changes.

I always thought that the European McDonalds started in France after one of the restaurant got trashed by activist in 1997(?), because they saw it as the biggest threat to French culinaric culture.

Minor point but the plastic McDonald's cups are actually pretty new. I'm not sure if they're just a branding change, to seem higher quality or something like that, or if it is part of greenwashing efforts since paper cups with wax are not recyclable, but at least at my local stores, it has been since 2022 that all McDonald's drink cups are plastic. They are also smaller than the paper cups were, by a few ounces.

We spoke about this a couple of years befor they went with the green 💚 logo, in university. The topic of the lecture was "What is greenwashing?".

👍 Thank you for the very interesting and informative video. Here in Thailand McDonald’s is also doing a style change. Self service terminals and a more “modern” style inside, but the tables and chairs looks like the most cheap and bad version of furniture that you can find in a IKEA store 😂. It’s almost impossible to sit there more than 15 minutes without getting a cramp or pain in the a**. 🙈 The menu in here is a lot different than in Europe, or in the US. You can buy rice dishes and other strange very not delicious creations of food next to the standard burgers like big Mac or cheese burger. The green washing Thai strategy in Germany is so easy to understand and it’s funny that Mc Donalds nowadays just concealed it. When I visited my home country, I was surprised about the comfortable chairs. But the food is not getting better anyway 😂. Have a nice time in the States. Cheers ☕️🌴

Karen Haller sounds Australian, not British

The Taco Bell logo you show is pink with purple, but that logo was dropped in 2016 (although some locations may still have the old signage). The current logo is two shades of purple with black letters. The original colors though were red, yellow, orange, and green.

I so want 'marketinggag' to be a word in English!

Come to Canada, we've got a maple leaf in the middle of the golden arches :)

Where I live their theme is yellow + dark brown

Simple, in US it's the theory of Red and Yellow or Ketchup and Mustard and this theory believe that this to colours makes people hungry.

McDonald’s had red top and teal top locations in the 2010’s but now most are yellow

Interestingly McDonalds actually did used to push the salads hard here in US too, it just was back when I was a kid/teen they made a big deal about it and their "Healthy" snack wraps, snack wraps have been gone awhile but used to be a staple for us when we took long 2 week road trips, we would bring our own light ranch to put on to make it healthier lol. They had a deluxe version of the snackwraps too that is also gone now.

09:40 linked to the opening of McCafé (McDonald's corporate a few years ago and the project is already happening - some are already working) All McDonald's with parking will have X amount of EV chargers installed.

I can't wait for wooden spoons to really catch on here. I've always loved splinters on my tongue and the flavor of pine while eating a McFlurry.

Here where I live in europe, if the McD has the tall post, the sign with it is red. If they have flags outside, they're red. Other than that, the green & brown building is true, and any other kind of sign is indeed green! I haven't noticed either, pretty cool

Off topic but the most interesting thing to me was that you describe _small_ towns as having only fast food when _obviously_ fast food is a big city thing (swedish flag here)

10:20 hum yes, let's show our dedication to preserving natural resources by refurbishing all our restaurants with those same natural resources Makes perfect sense to me!

That expert seems to ignore that the blue might represent drinks and blue stand for water

15:30 After "Super Size Me" they learnt who and when to answer questions....

When I clicked this video I expected it to be about the contrasting financial situations of the different global operations!

Interestingly, the European McDonald's spokeswoman happily answered a question about colour choices, but in the USA, all of the e-mails with questions were ignored. I am European (Polish), and I have always considered Americans to be more extroverted and open than Europeans, which means they should naturally be more eager to share their thoughts and ideas. But in this case, there was exactly the opposite. The guy in this video said that this is obvious, but it is completely not obvious to me why there was a response in Europe but not in the USA. Was it just a coincidence, or is there a reason for that? Can any American here explain why that happened?

Sehr schönes Video wie immer ich frage mich nur wieso auf English ? Ich meine ich habe kein Problem mit English aber ich hab das gefühl das de Deutschsprachigen Videos hier bei dir auf dem Channel deutlich besser ankommen also was die aufrufe betrifft. Ich kann mich natürlich auch irren xD

Hmm. Where I am in Sweden, two of the McD restaurants have yellow arches on a red sign and one has yellow arches on a dark grey-ish green “bar” that doesn’t contain any text that spells out “McDonald’s. One of the restaurants with the red sign has a yellow M on a green square above the entrance door though. Very messy.

New sub! Very interesting content 👍

Actually, McDonald’s did have salads in the US before but they never got off the same way the Big Mac, or double quarter pounder. You have to understand McDonald’s is designed to cater to lower class and lower middle class mainly people who work every single day and don’t have any time to do anything else.

"Fast food restaurant" is an oxymoron. "Outlet" is better. Red's generally associated with danger, so it's entirely appropriate for fast food joints.

7:59 no blue food...blueberries,plums,blue cheese, blue tomatoes....

Concurrence is tougher in Europe in terms of design and experience.

Arent the ingredients different? A lot of additives in the US are banned in Europe?

I am not an expert on this subject but I think you didn't consider that often times when the mcdonald's restaurants are in urban area and as such they need to adapt their design to not be outrageously outstanding from the rest of the stuff you might find around. Especially in big cities, there are laws that regulate what kind of colour palettes are acceptable to use on the front of your business. You can't just buy a spot in the middle of Rome and paint it all bright red and use that as your main color if the overall color in that area are totally different and has a darker tone. Even if both the business and the building is yours, you still must respect laws about decorum.

I have a simple explanation of red and yellow in fast food logos - it stands for ketchup and fries :D

Maybe a silly question How come you're going to America for your annual vacation?So why aren't there better places? But anyway i love you German man 😂😂😂 we understand each other we are from Europe 🎉

As a joke i could say that In Europe McDonalds stands for eco friendly policy and in US for Trumpism 😂