[steven]

What MMM is saying is definitely true-- it all comes down to whether or not people choose to buy into a product or tradition like the ones mentioned.

In the case of these big fast food companies, though, they use their money to promote their products through a lot of advertising. It becomes a cultural thing once people start buying into it-- I don't know how it came to be this way, but McDonalds is like the place to go after school. You'd think it'd be fine dining if you heard the way kids around here talk about the place.

Although things are changing-- I think wireless internet in Japan was less common than America for a while. So you get places like McDonalds offering Wi-fi services for free, companies like Nintendo get in on it and put a sign up that says something to the effect of "DS compatable" or whatever and they attract more of that younger crowd to their stores. It's no accident... places like that always try to attract younger people. I think that's why you'll see them around schools. I think if you can get younger people, then you can affect culture. Talking about happy meals brings back memories of when I used to eat McDonalds (it's been over 10 years now). I remember getting toys from different cartoons or movies or whatever. I think that would be a way to help promote American movies or TV shows in foreign countries. I don't know if they do it, but if they play certain music in there, then that helps sell the music (or at least the culture to which the music is connected). If you look at a place like starbucks you'll notice they have CDs for sale and stuff like that.

I think that kind of thing will change the culture of a country. For starters, inviting people to play DS while they frequent your restaraunt might be pushing it for some cultures. It's like eating while playing video games, basically. Your parents might tell you it's wrong, but when you're out in the real world and places are basically inviting you to do it, it's gonna change your outlook on things like that. When those kids grow up, they're could pass that on to their kids. So at the very least certain table manners might dissapear as a result of things like that.

About the promotion of music and movies and what-not, that could take some of the market away from whatever domestic products exist. I think music and movies are very much involved with creating a culture.

I think this is a really cool topic by the way. Your teacher is on to something-- we'll probably see this stuff come up more often in the next 10 years. I think the "McDonalds model" (in quotes because similar strategies could be used by any company I think) will have been around long enough to allow for closer examination on its effects.