Full transcript
0:03On November 19th 2022,
0:05Juan Buis tweeted
0:06this picture:
0:13The reusable packaging
0:14went viral,
0:15like really viral.
0:17Emmanuel Macron,
0:18the president of France
0:19retweeted him
0:20and said something French.
0:22We saw all of this and
0:23had a lot of questions:
0:25How come McDonald's is
0:26introducing this type of packaging?
0:27Why in France?
0:29And why does it look
0:30so good?
0:34In the following months,
0:35we went down
0:36a rabbit hole
0:37and ended up
0:37modelling the entire
0:38dishware collection.
0:40As it turns out,
0:40sleek fry containers
0:42tell many stories:
0:44How the European Union is
0:45bringing conglomerates like
0:46McDonald's
0:47to their knees,
0:48not just in France, but
0:50all over the continent.
0:51How a country,
0:52known for everything fancy,
0:53developed a truly unique relationship
0:55with fast food
0:57and a completely different
0:58type of McDonald's:
1:00"McDo".
1:02McDonald's in France,
1:03you don't understand how
1:04popular it is.
1:05And
1:05of course
1:06how good design can
1:08transform experiences.
1:10Have you ever been to a McDonald's
1:11in Paris?
1:12No, why?
1:13Mhm.
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1:27on researching
1:28McDonald's packaging
1:29for YouTube videos.
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2:12Life is short,
2:13but what you do
2:14with your decreasing time,
2:16is up to you.
2:17Anyways,
2:18it all started
2:19with a simple message:
2:22He was!
2:23There is something there,
2:24the whole ad campaign around it
2:26and I think people's reactions to it
2:28are quite good.
2:30But then also maybe like
2:31questions like:
2:32"Are people gonna steal this?"
2:34When Juan is not
2:35going viral,
2:36and getting featured in Drew Gooden videos,
2:37he is a UX writer
2:38for some of the biggest
2:39brands out there.
2:40Oh and Juan also lives in Paris.
2:43To get a better look
2:44at this weird
2:45new packaging,
2:46we needed a man on the ground.
2:47Juan was that man.
2:54The design is truly spectacular,
2:56we will get to that in a minute.
2:57First,
2:58we need to understand
2:59why this is happening.
3:01As we reviewed Juan's footage,
3:03and dug deeper,
3:04we realised that
3:06it's not just the packaging
3:08that makes French McDonald's
3:09special.
3:16Fast food and France
3:18do not seem like a good match.
3:19It's the country of fine dining,
3:21Michelin stars,
3:22and long-lasting dinners in cosy bistros.
3:25When McDonald's came to the country
3:27in 1997,
3:28the French were sceptical.
3:3070, 80 top chefs in the country
3:33took out a newspaper ad
3:35in the country's biggest newspaper,
3:37saying
3:38that they thought it was
3:39preposterous
3:40that McDonald's was coming to France.
3:43And they were like:
3:44"This is absolutely ridiculous,
3:44we need to stop this fast food thing."
3:47But they could not help
3:48but indulge,
3:49like everybody else on the planet.
3:56Nonetheless,
3:56the company remained controversial
3:58for decades.
3:59In 1992,
4:01it launched a poster campaign
4:02showing the French chef
4:03and absolute superstar
4:05Paul Bocuse
4:06secretly dreaming about
4:07a BigMac,
4:08while examining a pile of plum chickens.
4:10The chef sued right away,
4:12for 2.7 million dollars.
4:16When I found out
4:16these were real BigMac advertisements,
4:18I immediately contacted my lawyers
4:20and instructed them to seek damages.
4:22How can I be seen promoting this
4:24tasteless, boneless food,
4:26in which everything is soft?
4:28His lawyer added
4:29the ad would be:
4:30"An intolerable insult
4:32to the pope of world cuisine".
4:33Seven years later,
4:34it got much worse for the fast food chain.
4:36At the time,
4:38the World Trade Organisation and the US
4:39were trying to force Europe
4:41to accept imports of
4:43hormone-induced beef.
4:44Europe resisted and
4:45and the US, in turn,
4:46imposed heavy duties
4:48on certain luxury products,
4:49as a retaliatory measure.
4:51One of the items targeted
4:52was Roquefort cheese
4:54from France.
4:55French sheep farmers were angry
4:58and they found a symbol of
5:00American global capitalism
5:01and trade doctrine like no other:
5:03McDonald's.
5:04So wait,
5:05French hoard went
5:06and utterly wrecked
5:08a restaurant of the chain,
5:09which was currently under construction
5:11in the small French city, Meaux.
5:12The hoard was led
5:13by the activist and sheep farmer
5:16the Frenchest looking man of all time.
5:18I mean what...
5:19What even is this pipe?
5:21The McDonald's incident
5:22made Bové a national hero
5:24and leader of the French
5:25anti-globalisation movement.
5:27He published a best-selling book
5:29two years later.
5:30And in 2007,
5:32he ran for president.
5:32Later, he went into European politics,
5:35all on the back of really hating McDonald's.
5:38José Bové rose to global fame
5:4115 years ago after he
5:43demolished a half-built McDonald's.
5:46However, despite Bové's crusade,
5:48McDonald's could not be slayed.
5:50Off the bat, it had a
5:52competitive advantage over
5:53brasseries, bistros, and cafés.
5:56The restaurants were
5:57designated as take-out joints.
5:59This meant the Value Aded Tax
6:01was just 5.5%,
6:02versus the 19.6% at gastronomic restaurants.
6:06The food was cheap
6:08and the French economy was bad,
6:10like always.
6:10Another factor played a much bigger role though.
6:13McDonald's always has been good
6:14at inserting itself
6:16into the local culture of the country it operates in.
6:18But nowhere has it succeeded
6:20on such a scale
6:21as in France.
6:22The company realised that
6:24French customers were drastically different
6:26from American ones.
6:27Americans visited McDonald's more often,
6:30at any time of the day,
6:31frequently alone,
6:32opting for take-out
6:3470% of the time.
6:36In contrast, the French came in groups,
6:38spent more money per visit,
6:40and significantly more time in the restaurants.
6:4270% of them dropped in
6:44during regular lunch and dinner hours.
6:46French McDonald's
6:47was not treated like a take-out place
6:49by customers,
6:50but like any other bistro.
6:52As NPR puts it:
6:58So, the chain adapted.
7:01In the US,
7:02its restaurants are designed to
7:04attract people from afar.
7:06The golden M glooming high,
7:07calling you to that sweet sweet drive-in,
7:10in a car.
7:11The interior is often a little uncomfortable,
7:13intended to minimise customer visiting time,
7:15and maximise purchasing turnover.
7:18In France,
7:19the restaurants are often sleek,
7:21modern, and comfortable.
7:22You can find relatively cosy corners,
7:24designated specifically for larger groups of people.
7:27Sometimes, there is even table service.
7:30On the outside, the golden M is often
7:32subdued on the facade.
7:34The architecture is regionally diverse.
7:37McDonald's in France almost
7:40doesn't feel like fast food.
7:42That is so apparent,
7:43even the dumbest show on the planet,
7:45'Emily in Paris',
7:46noticed:
7:56Products are locally sourced
7:57and there are unique offerings,
7:59like the obvious McBaguette,
8:00but also a Croque McDo.
8:02McDonald's does this everywhere,
8:04of course,
8:05but they do it very well in France.
8:07There is a funny
8:08little review of the world-famous
8:10Laduree Macarons in Paris on TripAdvisor.
8:13The reviewer concludes:
8:21You see, this person from London
8:23is not just angry,
8:24they are onto something.
8:26The macarons at McDonald's
8:28are indeed manufactured by the same company.
8:34Today, McDonald's is universally called
8:36'McDo' in France.
8:38It is a cultural institution
8:40and even has it's own slogan.
8:44It is considered to be one of the biggest
8:46and most profitable markets for McDonald's
8:49in the world.
8:51So, McDo is special,
8:52but why would they come up with
8:54reusable dishware?
8:55It seems like quite the hassle.
8:58Well,
8:58the root of it all
9:00is the EU.
9:08Sometimes, people don't realise
9:10how powerful the EU actually is.
9:12The European Union's executive body,
9:14the Commission can issue directives.
9:17These directives are goals, which
9:19must be achieved by all member countries,
9:21but every country can decide on how to get there.
9:24Once translated into national law,
9:26the member states must notify the Commission,
9:29which, in turn, checks if it is okay.
9:31Then, the directive needs to be enforced
9:34in every country.
9:36If a member fails, it may get fined.
9:38A particularly famous directive is
9:46Okay, what... whatever nerds.
9:48Basically, it's a big EU move to reduce
9:51the impact of plastic on the environment.
9:53This includes the much ridiculed
9:55ban of plastic straws and balloon sticks.
9:57But in truth,
9:58it goes much further than plastic straws
10:01becoming paper ones.
10:02For example,
10:03the directive makes
10:04single-use plastic producers
10:06pay to clean up single-use trash.
10:09And finally,
10:10the important point,
10:11it forces member countries to
10:13find ways to reduce
10:15the consumption of single-use plastics,
10:17such as
10:18food containers and beverage cups.
10:21France is always exceeding the extra
10:24and on top of the class in combatting plastic.
10:26They've gone way above what was expected
10:29and banned new single-use plastic packaging
10:32from 2040.
10:32From early 2025,
10:34new plastic packaging has to be made of
10:36100% recycled plastic.
10:39And since the beginning of 2023
10:42single-use packaging is banned from
10:44French fast food restaurants,
10:46which brings us
10:47to this:
10:59When we first chatted with Juan,
11:01he shared our initial fascination
11:03with the French McDonald's reusable packaging.
11:06If you look at the fries basket,
11:08it looks sort of...
11:08you could immediately tell what it is,
11:11a McDonald's fries basket.
11:13It looks kind of modern,
11:14it looks kind of like, you know
11:15'Applefied',
11:17yeah, you kind of know this would be the design.
11:19Juan also filmed how you
11:21ultimately return the dishware.
11:23The process seems a lot more dignified than
11:25the usual dumping of 500 kg of trash
11:28into an oversized,
11:29nasty, overflowing, eat-it-all bin.
11:32We went on to model the dishware,
11:34based on his footage and promotional material,
11:37because... why not?
11:40It's undeniably French.
11:43The design studio behind it is
11:44called 'Elium'.
11:46They picked the plastic
11:47called 'Tritan' for the various containers,
11:50which is similar to glass and ceramic
11:52in its hardness and transparency
11:54and preserves the orga...
11:56organ... organoleptic qualities
11:59of the food.
12:00And graining, striations
12:02have all been designed
12:03to address their functions
12:05in the best possible way.
12:06Greasy hands,
12:07need great grip.
12:10The development of this technology
12:12took over two years.
12:13And surprisingly, it got stolen a lot.
12:16The reuse dishware went viral
12:18with good right.
12:19But it's just one small part of a
12:21much more elegant whole.
12:23For a country, where eating at the restaurant
12:25is the norm,
12:26it makes even more sense
12:28that the food is not needlessly overpacked anymore.
12:30However, it's unclear if relying on
12:33reusable plastic is actually more sustainable
12:36than switching to long-wearing
12:38glass or china.
12:38The French government
12:40promises to remain vigilant
12:42on this question.
12:43McDonald's has been doing very tiny steps
12:46towards improving their packaging
12:48for more than 30 years.
12:50Ironically, we made a video in German
12:52before knowing about all this
12:54criticising the chain for greenwashing
12:56their enormous trash footprint in Germany
12:59and pretend fixing the issue.
13:01Some EU directives
13:02and one chunky national law later,
13:05we get this:
13:09To us,
13:09this is a story of how business,
13:11if set on the right track
13:13through legislation,
13:14can really leap forward.
13:16McDo really did turn around the
13:18French anti-plastic legislation
13:20to their benefit,
13:22simply through introducing a design
13:24so noteworthy,
13:26people talk about it.
13:29Like us.