On the other hand, Euros will constantly denigrate American food by appeal to the most unsophisticated examples of our cuisine, all the while pretty much every corner of their continent imports McDonald’s by the kiloton. Revealed preferences.
Europeans denigrate the American food they are exposed to, which is the “unsophisticated” stuff that they import the most of. It would be weird if they spent their time ripping into gumbo and fried rattlesnake.
Regular consumers of McDonalds in Europe are not the same people who also denigrate American food. The people who denigrate American cuisine are usually also a little sneering towards domestic consumers of McD.
Many consumers (in US and Europe) see McD cuisine as an inferior product, but it has obvious benefits beyond taste (convenience/ speed/ child-friendliness/ toilets/ wi-fi).
On the other hand, Euros will constantly denigrate American food by appeal to the most unsophisticated examples of our cuisine, all the while pretty much every corner of their continent imports McDonald’s by the kiloton. Revealed preferences.
A few points:
Europeans denigrate the American food they are exposed to, which is the “unsophisticated” stuff that they import the most of. It would be weird if they spent their time ripping into gumbo and fried rattlesnake.
Regular consumers of McDonalds in Europe are not the same people who also denigrate American food. The people who denigrate American cuisine are usually also a little sneering towards domestic consumers of McD.
Many consumers (in US and Europe) see McD cuisine as an inferior product, but it has obvious benefits beyond taste (convenience/ speed/ child-friendliness/ toilets/ wi-fi).
Am I a pretentious food critic if I say “it’s popular because it contains a lot of sugar”?
Though, to be fair, Asian food is popular because it contains a lot of sodium glutamate, etc.
*
Perhaps more importantly, fast food has the advantage that you can just grab it and go, so people also choose it for reasons other than taste.