Impact Of Popular Culture On Fast Food

It is first important to establish what is meant by culture. Culture is constantly changing and it is not something static that is inherited from parents in the same way that hair or eye colour is and Watson points out the growth of ‘third cultures’, heavily linked with popular culture, where things are no longer associated with a particular country but stretch beyond their place of origin . These cultures along with the traditional Asian cultures influence the consumption of fast food. The effect of popular culture on the consumption of fast food, especially Western fast food when first introduced in Asia cannot be doubted. Watson talks about “the transnational bonds of empathy and shared interest” that younger people form due to popular culture and how fast food, among other things such as shopping malls, are everywhere now to accommodate this new global culture. At first the association with America was a selling point for McDonald’s which was considered an experience and a way to connect with the rest of the world, particularly for teenagers in Hong Kong who wanted to pretend that they lived somewhere other than a small colony in the edge of Maoist China . Traditional values also have an effect on how fast food is consumed,

This is the case in Taiwan where eating food from China is considered a political statement on whether there should be reunification with China or independence. And in Korea, eating American brands, especially McDonalds, is seen as a political statement tied up with the fear that because many children prefer foreign food that Korean identity is being lost though there are generational differences, many kids in Korea have birthdays at McDonald’s and consider it Korean food . This shows a political element in the consumption of fast food which means that it cannot be seen as solely determined by