Latest news with #GaryHe
Wall Street Journal
04-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
‘McAtlas' Review: McNuggets the World Over
Rare is the book that makes the brain tick, the heart soar and the mouth water. But 'McAtlas,' by Gary He, pulls off that sensory trifecta with aplomb. Subtitled 'A Global Guide to the Golden Arches,' his book is 'a visual social anthropology' of McDonald's, the largest restaurant chain in the world. It is also 'a snapshot of globalization and capitalism,' of which the company is an incomparable paradigm, with nearly 42,000 stores that serve a combined 65 million customers a day across more than 100 countries on every continent bar Antarctica (where its absence cannot, surely, last forever). Annual sales 'systemwide' in 2024 exceeded $130 billion. 'Not bad for a franchise,' says Mr. He, 'that started as a humble hamburger stand on Route 66.' Mr. He is a Brooklyn, N.Y., photographer whose Chinese-immigrant parents worked as a day laborer and a sweatshop seamstress. They still wonder, he writes, what he's doing with his life, 'instead of being a doctor or a lawyer.' Those are eternal questions for old-fashioned Asian parents, a breed notoriously hard to please; but the rest of us will marvel at the fact that Mr. He spent three years, until the spring of 2024, conducting 'fieldwork' in more than 50 countries, an impressive feat not only because his research involved the all-too-frequent ingestion of McDonald's food but also because his book is self-published on a shoestring budget.
CBC
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Fast food is local food, says journalist who took pictures of McDonald's all over the world
A few years ago, Gary He was standing in a McDonald's in a Moroccan village during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when he had a eureka moment. The New York-based writer and photojournalist noticed the fast food joint had a special menu item for Iftaar, the period when Muslims break their daily fasting during Ramadan. "I saw this meal that involved a lot of local sweets and dates and a harira soup and a milk yogurt drink. And I just said to myself, like, OK, this is very localized," He told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "I couldn't find anything about it online. And as a food journalist, I just said, how is this possible that the largest restaurant chain in the world did not have this documented somewhere? And so I just took it upon myself to start documenting it." Thus was born McAtlas, He's new self-published photography book showcasing the ubiquitous fast food chain's locations and menu items around the world, from a serene Japanese tea garden, to a drive-thru only accessible by skis high in the Swedish mountains. "I don't have an exact count, but I've definitely been to hundreds of McDonald's across 55 countries and six continents," He said. "There's a lot of walking involved when you do that much travelling. So, thankfully, it balanced out." Using a brand to tell a human story He wants to make one thing clear: His book is neither funded, nor endorsed, by the McDonald's corporation. "As a journalist, you want to tell stories that are meaningful and relatable, right? And there's really no more relatable brand in the world or restaurant in the world than McDonald's," he said. Americans, he says, make the incorrect assumption that if you've seen one McDonald's, you've seen them all. But in reality, he says McDonald's caters to different culinary cultures. There's McPoutine in Canada, McSpaghetti in the Philippines, McAloo Tikki in India, and the McBaguette in France, just to name a few. "I think a lot of people say, yeah, when I'm overseas I want to try the local food. Well, that's kind of the point of the book, right? That this is local food," He said. "Without these very localized menu items — some of these rice dishes, macaroni dishes, or what have you — around the world, [McDonald's] would not have been able to survive and thrive the way they have. I mean, they're the largest for a reason." 'Starbucksing' and other globetrotting adventures Alex C. Park, a California-based journalist who has written extensively about the global fast food industry, recently argued in the New York Times that fast food is the best way to have a truly authentic local dining experience when travelling. "Often, you know, when we kind of go very deliberately looking for that kind of authentic experience, we end up at a place that we're kind of surrounded by people like ourselves," Park told CBC. But at a Dairy Queen or a Tim Hortons, he says, it's local people living their everyday lives. "There isn't this kind of a performance element. It is kind of a place that is by and of that country, as strange as that sounds," Park said. There are other globetrotters who take He's and Park's approach — YouTubers who travel the world trying different McDonald's menu items, and travel blogs that review KFC locations around the world. One blogger who goes by the name Winter documents his mission to visit every Starbucks in the world — a pursuit he calls Starbucksing. He claims to have visited more than 15,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and another 5,000 overseas. Winter argues the coffee chain is usually located where people people live and work. So what better way to really see a place as it is? Winnipeg is famous for its Fat Boy burgers. This man is on a quest to try them all Tourists, especially from the U.S. and Canada, have a fantasy about what life is like in other parts of the world that doesn't hold up to reality, Park says. "I think that it's too easy to start exoticizing people in foreign countries and kind of thinking they have different wants and desires from us," he said. "Not everything about, like, everyday life in [another] country is kind of exciting and fun and interesting and different and there for our amusement. Sometimes it's just kind of prosaic and ordinary in a way that is maybe recognizable to us." The costs of globalization While Park says fast food can show us what we all have in common, that doesn't mean it's all sunshine and roses. He has concerns about global capitalism creating a monoculture, and the way the rise of global fast food affects local economies and environments. Brazil, for example, has become the world's largest producer of soybeans, at great environmental cost, all so that it can supply massive poultry, pork and beef farms in Europe and Asia. "I certainly don't mean to glorify fast food," he said. Still, Park says countless people in different countries he's visited have told him that eating in fast food chains makes them feel connected to the world, allowing them to step outside the local cuisine that tourists seek out with enthusiasm, but which is mundane and normal for them. For He, working on McAtlas has taken him to some truly unexpected — and even magical — places. One memory that stands out was his December trip to the McSki, billed as the world's only ski-thru, at the Lindsvall ski resort in Sweden. "The snow was still fresh. It was like crunching on the ground, and you had to ski to a window," he said. "I really love that one." Then there's the McDonald's nestled in a Japanese tea garden in Singapore. "It will be the most peaceful McDonald's meal that you'll ever have in your life, you know, watching this koi pond with fish and turtles swimming around while you're eating a McSpicy sandwich." Asked about his experience trying a McPoutine in Canada, He hesitated.
New York Times
28-01-2025
- New York Times
Fries With Your McBaguette? For Some Travelers, McDonald's Is a Destination.
When in Morocco, one might visit the El Badi Palace, walk the grounds of the Koutoubia Mosque or enjoy a meal of dates and chebakia at … McDonald's? For some, dining at McDonald's has become part of the fun of traveling abroad. With distinctive locations — a 'ski-through' restaurant in Sweden, a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 aircraft in New Zealand — and vastly different menus, the chain has adapted to a host of cultures, drawing in locals and tourists alike. Across TikTok, YouTube and Reddit, travelers have marveled at the options: poutine in Canada, jamón Ibérico sandwiches in Spain, fried chicken in Malaysia, macarons in France and McSpaghetti in the Philippines, to name a few. Though some seasoned travelers may look down on dining at McDonald's in Paris or Bangkok, the brand's fans say it's worth seeing how the chain adapts to local cultures. It has become an entry point into an unfamiliar cuisine or a way to mix the comforts of home with something new. That's how Gary He, a photographer based in Brooklyn, sees it. He recently released 'McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches,' a 420-page self-published book of photos documenting the global McDonald's experience. Mr. He, whose project was not authorized by McDonald's, said it showed the vast difference between McDonald's locations in the United States and those abroad. 'McDonald's is known for its consistency, but as you go around the world, you realize that really isn't the case,' he said in an interview. 'It goes against everything you believe or know or assume about the brand when you're sitting in the United States.' The book features photos Mr. He took at McDonald's restaurants in 50 countries, showcasing local menu offerings, distinctive architecture and stunning settings. The images speak to an experience that has increasingly piqued interest among travelers. Christopher Sze, 35, and Stephanie Round, 36, recently sampled five different kinds of vegetarian burgers at a McDonald's in Mumbai, including the McSpicy Paneer and the McAloo Tikki Burger, for their food and travel blog, Hungry Two Travel. 'It is very interesting just to see how McDonald's adapts to these cultures,' Ms. Round said in an interview. 'If it didn't, people just wouldn't go there,' she added. 'You can tell they do their research.' For McDonald's, which has nearly 42,000 restaurants in about 100 countries, it's an important part of its business abroad. In a statement, McDonald's said it was 'passionate about our connection to and understanding of our communities.' While it's possible to grab a Big Mac or French fries at any location, roughly a third of the menu items in each country are customized, incorporating local ingredients, flavors, customs and traditional dishes, the company said. (Capitalizing on that sense of novelty, a McDonald's in Chicago has started offering a rotating selection of international menu items.) Mr. He, 40, said he ate 'tons of McDonald's' as a child growing up with 'immigrant parents who were just getting by.' He cherished the chain's cheeseburgers and happy meals, and continued to eat there as he traveled as a working photographer. About six years ago, while on a trip to Marrakesh, Morocco, during Ramadan, Mr. He sampled the McDonald's spin on an iftar meal, which is eaten to break the fast after sunset. 'I said, 'This is just so different than what I would ever expect,'' Mr. He, recalled, adding that it made him wonder: 'What else is out there?' After pandemic travel restrictions lifted, Mr. He began documenting the global spread of McDonald's and photographing its more idiosyncratic locations and menu offerings. He visited the 'McSki,' at the Lindvallen ski resort in Sälen, Sweden, which provides a 'ski-through' window at the base of a slope. He traveled to a location in a Japanese-style community garden in Singapore complete with ponds and foot bridges. And in Taupo, New Zealand, he ate inside a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 airplane. Mr. He said he hoped his photographs 'open up people's eyes' and show that, with McDonald's, 'it is not just globalization, there is a lot of localization going on.' Mr. He is hardly alone in his fanaticism. Jaya Saxena, 38, a correspondent at frequented the McDonald's below her apartment when she was studying in Rome in 2007. It was a budget-friendly option for a college student, and she said she was amazed by the pastries and beer and wine offerings. She particularly loved the Baci McFlurry, featuring a popular Italian hazelnut chocolate. She has since visited McDonald's locations across the globe — the ones in India are among her favorites — and always makes sure to check out what local delicacies appear in the McFlurries, like Cadbury chocolate in Ireland. 'I'm getting something that they absolutely would not have in the U.S.,' Ms. Saxena said in an interview. 'And that just sort of lights something up in your brain.' Drew Binsky, 33, a popular travel YouTuber, has eaten at McDonald's in more than 80 countries. He ranks locations in Rome and Porto, Portugal, among his favorites. 'A lot of time the culture takes me to McDonald's, because people are like: 'Have you tried our McDonald's? It is so good.'' he said. Not even decorated chefs are immune. Johnny Spero, 39, the chef at Reverie, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Washington, D.C., stops at McDonald's when he travels abroad for work, as he did recently in Brussels and Kyoto, Japan. Mr. Spero also proudly displays a copy of 'McAtlas' at Reverie, where the tasting menu runs around $300 per person. 'It is not something I eat regularly here,' Mr. Spero said in an interview, 'but for some reason, when you're abroad, I just want to see how different it is.'
