Fast-Food Restaurants: Comparison and Contrast

The fast-food industry is growing fast, and the business trends therein are also advancing. The firms in this industry are facing criticism and continuous controversy as consumer trends, behavior, and preferences change. The industry is not free from political influence, and it becomes a real fight to remain a performing firm. Chick-Fil-A and McDonalds are two firms that are thriving in the fast food business. Fast food stores should offer adequate information about their products to consumers, which is not always possible and convenient. However, fast food chains are thriving, some through compromising circumstances, while the others are trying to make things straight for their customers. McDonalds has more than 35000 outlets in 119 countries (Ferdman). The expansion of Chick-Fil-A is rather slow, but it is aggressive on upgrading its services. This essay will compare and contrast Chick-Fil-A and McDonalds fast-food restaurants in the light of revenue, advertisement, menu flexibility, and ethical responsibility.

Notably, fast-food stores aim at making revenues. Both Chick-Fil-A and McDonalds are top fast-food restaurants regarding revenue. In 2014, Chick-Fil-A was at the top of the KFC revenue list. It had revenue of 2.7 million per month and was ahead of McDonalds, which had revenue of 2.4 million per month (Carla). Both restaurants capitalize on sales increment through different approaches. Although the two have different business models and are founded on different principles, they aim to increase their sales at every stage. The high sales are evident from their high revenues beyond the other fast food restaurants. Over the years, McDonalds has been earning the highest revenue among fast food restaurants. Since 2012, Chick-Fil-A has taken this top position in revenue earning. The two restaurants seem to be thriving regardless of the controversies they have been facing.

Another asset to fast food stores is menu flexibility. Both restaurants are slightly flexible to accommodate cultural diversity in different locations. Although the fast food menu is limited, the restaurants try to make adjustments to satisfy local preferences. This feature is more common with McDonalds, which has outlets in culturally diverse localities. However, even Chick-Fil-A slightly changes its menu to accommodate different preferences. McDonalds has outlets in Asia, where religious and cultural beliefs advocate for vegetarian diets. To accommodate these beliefs, the menus in such locations include vegetarian meals prepared with discretion from the non-vegetarian ones (Gasparro and Jargon). McDonalds has faced charges of misrepresenting some of its menu items as vegetarian despite the fact that they contained meat. To keep sales high, it is inevitable for fast food restaurants to consider consumer beliefs and diet preferences specific to different cultures and regions. Moreover, the knowledge of different preferences saves the restaurants from trouble with the communities. Similarly, McDonalds’ menus are more flexible than those of Chick-Fil-A. McDonalds’ menu consists of chicken, lamb, and beef meat, while that of Chick-Fil-A consists of only chicken meat. This narrow scope limits Chick-Fil-A from diversifying.

In addition, advertisement forms the base of every business. Both Chick-Fil-A and McDonalds have the same advertisement approaches. The two restaurants major on TV advertisement as they also venture in sponsorship for further sales strategies. The two restaurants have been sponsoring sports events. In particular, McDonalds ventures in sponsoring big sports events, such as the FIFA World Cup games. Chick-Fil-A holds one advertisement slogan, “EAT MORE CHICKEN.” To maintain the intellectual aspect of this slogan, Chick-Fil-A has been into confrontations with different corporations (McWhirter). McDonalds has been using different slogans over the years. For both restaurants, advertisements have played a big role in increasing their sales and revenue.

Ethical responsibility defines a business’ morality and commitment to the community. Chick-Fil-A is more ethically responsible than McDonalds. After concerns from health organizations that fast food menus are problematic and serve as a source of obesity, Chick-Fil-A has been working on reducing every chemical, fats, and products that adversely affect health (Choi). The CEO of Chick-Fil-A says that the restaurant is based on Christian principles, which do not allow devious behavior and irrational way of earning. Therefore, the restaurant will abide by all laws and everything that supports health of the consumers. In connection to that, it plans to be serving chicken raised without the use of antibiotics that lead to some health problems. However, McDonalds is less committed to ethical responsibility (Gasparro and Jargon). The restaurant’s management focuses on reducing cost and increases profits. Therefore, they plan to be serving meat from animals raised using genetically modified foods, which puts health of consumers at risk. This is a poor moral approach for the restaurant, since it prioritizes profit over the ethics of business.

In conclusion, fast food restaurants have many similarities in operations. However, there are also many differences, which narrow them to different performance and individuality. Every restaurant has principles governing conduct and operations, which it holds dearly. These principles define each restaurant. As it is evident, McDonalds focuses on expansion and profit-making, while Chick-Fil-A concentrates on upholding Christian morality. It is important for fast food stores to consider the responsibility they have to their consumers and employees before pursuing profits. Every stakeholder, employee, and consumer is important for the perpetuity of the fast food stores; therefore, their welfare should come first. A store is thriving if it cares for its most valuable asset ‑ human beings ‑ and still managers to make considerable revenue.

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