Globalized Childhood? Kentucky Fried Chicken in Beijing
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Transcript Globalized Childhood? Kentucky Fried Chicken in Beijing
Globalized Childhood?
Kentucky Fried Chicken in Beijing
Eriberto P. Lozada, Jr.
As presented by Naomi Wente
Focus:
Transnationalism: the flow of
ideas, products, people, capital,
and technologies across national
boundaries
Growing power of corporations –
sometimes considered a major
cause of cultural disruption in
developing countries
Examine US-based Kentucky
Fried Chicken
Success of such fast-food
restaurants
What children eat is a
fundamental part of their
socialization
Localization
Argument
“There are now many visible markers of homogenization
because of a more integrated global system of production and
consumption, there has also been a dramatic expansion in
particularism, as competing claims for cultural identity and
authenticity have become more strident.”
Transnational Corporations
Provide institutional support for the movement of people,
goods, and ideas across national boundaries
Have existed for as long as there have been nations
Gained influence over the years
Created a global system of interdependence
Must understand these connections to understand the social
fabric of everyday life.
KFC + Transnationalism
KFC in Beijing as an entry point of
transnationalism
Requirement: to see KFC as a socially
constructed locality of consumption
Opening of first branch in 1987
Operations since then have become more
“domesticated”
Formerly exotic, imported food transformed
into a familiar and intimate type of cuisine
Forced “localization”- innovations and
modifications made by KFC in reaction to
local competition and to a growing
understanding of the place of children in
China
“Chicky” (or Qiqi)
Rejected old Colonel Sanders
New icon: “Chicky”
Introduced in 1995
Fun, kid-oriented
Marketing technique
Kids love eating at KFC restaurants:
regular customers
Fun and exciting place to eat
Kid-friendly
Birthday party introduction (1995):
consumers
Chicken Politics
“Results with integrity”- no
standard way to cook chicken,
flexibility to mold to local market
and work with government
KFC launched its operations from
the political power center of Beijing
vs. other economic centers
Decentralized operations
In order for KFC to succeed in any
given society it must be firmly
grounded in that society.
Local managers draw on support
service of the corporation
“Cock fight”
Competition- Ronghaji demonstrated that Chinese
entrepreneurs could employ Western technology and create
an industry with “Chinese characteristics”
KFC did not obliterate China’s culinary traditions- instead it
stimulated a local discourse on national heritage
1987- 40% of food imported
1991- 3% of food imported (11 secret herbs and spices)
Origin of fast food in China
Thousands of years ago as stuffed buns and rice rolls
Street food venders
Idea wholly imported from US
Growth of fast food
Want for modernization = desire to eat
Western food
Spread of KFC and also McDonald’s,
Pizza Hut, Brownies, etc
Marketing increases
Standardized, mechanized cooking,
concern for hygiene, uniformed staff
member mopping floor
Food poisoning scare outside of fast food
= safe haven
Catering for government/other
institutions
Ability to choose different types of food
Also growth of fast life style pace
Localization
Most telling: KFC company loosing status as
a “hot topic”
Novelty fading
Patrons eat there for more of a convenience
Being Western wasn’t enough- need to offer
more variety- uniqueness of products
(offering spicy chicken sandwich not offered
in US)
Young consumers
Important role in
stratification of the Chinese
childhood
Partnerships with schools,
teachers, and parents
Single child policy- parents
willing to spend more money
Toys and décor attracts kids
Spread of TV watching +
advertisements
Conclusion: Globalized Childhood?
Kids draw parents in to KFC to eat fast
food, taste modernity, and to have fun. By
doing so, they are drawing their elders into
an intersection of local society and
transnationalism.
Not a passive relationship in which a
transnational organization like KFC
dictates lessons to be mastered by the
natives.
Both local residents and KFC are linked in
a network of social relations.
KFC has had to adapt to expectations and
demands of customers in non-standard
ways
Domesticated and localized through the
input of local people (managers and kid
consumers)
Conclusion: Globalized Childhood?
Continued
Kids live in a deterritorialized space that can be viewed as a sort of
globalized childhood culture
Resulting culture is not a single, homogenized global children’s
culture--- there is not a vacuum
Culture is embedded in particular networks of social relations and
historical contexts.
Particularism becomes possible due to specialization
KFC restaurants may appear as one of the hallmarks of
globalization, but on closer inspection, the success of KFC has
depended on the ability to become local, as an integral part of
Beijing children’s social life.
Success = ability to become intelligible to people in their local
social context.
The End…. ?
Satisfying?
What about the pros and
cons?
No passionate conclusion
Is a globalized childhood a
good thing?
Many missing puzzle pieces