MaDonal

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MaDonal
MaDonal

MaDonal is a restaurant located in the town of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. It purposely resembles McDonald's, both in appearance and menu;[1] [2] [3] [4] for instance, MaDonal's menu includes "Big Macks." [5] [6] It is one of two McDonalds-like restaurants in the town; the other one, Matbax, claims that MaDonal is "cheap quality". [7] The quality of the food has been criticized by some bloggers as well. [8] [9] [10]

The owner, Suleiman Qassab, was a fighter in the Kurdish resistance during the 1970s. He became a refugee in Vienna, Austria, where he got a job as a cook at McDonald's. In the 1990s, he applied for permits to create a McDonald's in Iraq, but the McDonald’s Corporation turned him down. [11] [12] [13] In response, he established MaDonal Restaurant, which became a successful business.[14] [15] [16] Since establishing MaDonal, Qassab has offered free food to U.S. forces, been threatened by suicide bombers, [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] and has become a "Kurdish celebrity." [23] Qassab hopes to one day turn MaDonal into an actual McDonald's restaurant. [24] [25]

MaDonal is popular with Sulaymaniyah's youth, [26] [27] and the upper middle class. [28] It is open even during Ramadan. [29]

Sociologist George Ritzer sees MaDonal as part of a trend of other countries developing their own regional variations of McDonald’s. [30] [31] Journalist Christopher Hitchens said it was "reassuring" to see signs of progress like MaDonal "in an atmosphere that only a few years ago was heavy with miasmic decay and the reek of poison gas." [32]

Qassab is just one of many who have requested permission to open up a McDonald’s in Iraq. [33] [34] Should this happen, there has been speculation by some about whether McDonald's will eventually take legal action against MaDonal. [35] [36] [37] [38] However, MaDonal appears safe for now, as one journalist notes: "The flow of applications to open an Iraqi McDonald's stopped as quickly as it started, and the corporate lawyers never came to Sulaymaniyah." [39]


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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ leonsparx.com: "From Suleimaniya," August 20, 2003: http://web.archive.org/web/20050208165843/http://leonsparx.com/Iraq2003/From_Suleimaniya.html
  2. ^ Fam, Mariam: "Grateful Kurds in Iraq's north embrace Americans and their culture," Associated Press 3/20/04: http://www.brothersjudd.com/blog/archives/2004/03/thank_u_falletme_b_maself_agin.html
  3. ^ "Iraq's "McDonald's"", Nanfang Daily, 2003-06-09. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. (Chinese) 
  4. ^ Wheeler, Tony. "Iraq: A foreigner in the axis of evil", The New Zealand Herald, 2007-05-08. Retrieved on 2007-05-11. 
  5. ^ Constable, Pamela: "Kurds Adapt to a New Order in Iraq; Leaders Give Up Dream of Statehood, Urge Federalist Rule to Protect Status," The Washington Post, August 12, 2003 Tuesday, Final Edition, A SECTION; Pg. A08, 1268 words. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46236-2003Aug11?language=printer
  6. ^ Serchuk, Vance: "Erbil Remedy Federalism is not a panacea for Kurdistan," The Weekly Standard, January 19, 2004, Monday, Articles; Vol. 9; No. 18, 1987 words. http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.social,pubID.19708/pub_detail.asp
  7. ^ Goodman, Peter S.: "Familiar Logo On Unfamiliar Eateries in Iraq Kurdish Entrepreneurs Bring In a Taste of the West," washingtonpost.com, Monday, May 26, 2003; Page A01: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A38941-2003May25&notFound=true
  8. ^ Rosebaghdad (2004-09-11). I’m Back (part 1), http://rosebaghdad.blogspot.com/2004/09/im-back-part-1.html
  9. ^ Totten, Michael J. (2006-02-28). The Utah of the Middle East, http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001066.html
  10. ^ Re: Pictures of my recent trip to Kurdistan. aliraqi Community (10-25-2005, 11:57 AM). Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  11. ^ Goering, Laurie: "Kurds offer troops a holiday haven from rigors of Iraq," Chicago Tribune, July 5, 2003. Edition: Chicago Final, Section: News, Page: 1.
  12. ^ Associated Press and Bloomberg News reports: "McDonald's approached about chains in Iraq," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Aug 15, 2003: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20030815/ai_n10904655
  13. ^ "A FAMILIAR LOOKING RESTAURANT IN NORTHERN IRAQ", NEW YORK TIMES, 2002-12-26, pp. Section A; Page 22, Column 3, 40 words. Retrieved on 2007-03-21. 
  14. ^ Leithead, Alastair: "Kurdistan diary: Day Three," BBC News, January 22, 2004: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3418473.stm
  15. ^ McDonnell, Patrick. "Outside Baghdad, Oases of Calm", The Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. 
  16. ^ McCarthy, Terry. "WHERE THEY DON'T SHOOT AMERICANS", ABC News Blogs, March 14, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. 
  17. ^ Xulamm Kani: "Striving for Cultural Acceptance: the Kurdish Experience," Keynote Address, School of International Training (SIT), Brattleboro, Vermont, August 17, 2004: http://www.kurdistan.org/Current-Updates/sinclair081704.html
  18. ^ Rothwell, Nicolas: "Kurdish rebel cooks up Big Mac’s little brother," The Australian, 7/23/2004: http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=5286
  19. ^ Daragahi, Borzou: "Guns And Burgers," CNNMoney.com, May 1, 2003: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2003/05/01/341305/index.htm
  20. ^ Daragahi, Borzou: "Iraqis in north eager to display feelings and enthusiasm for GIs," The Washington Times, April 1, 2003: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-99435041.html
  21. ^ Saulnier, John M.: "Time flies, french fries, American pie and haven't we had enough boycotting already?," Quick Frozen Foods International, April 2003, http://www.allbusiness.com/wholesale-trade/merchant-wholesalers-nondurable/542554-2.html
  22. ^ Daragahi, Borzou. "In Kurdistan, an abandoned checkpoint", The Anniston Star, March 30, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-04-21. 
  23. ^ Rothwell, Nicolas. "Key piece of Iraq jigsaw wants out of picture", The Weekend Australian, July 24, 2004, pp. 14. Retrieved on 2007-04-24. 
  24. ^ Wright, Robin: "Kurdish Enclave May Lead Way for New Iraq," Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2002: http://old.krg.org/docs/articles/robin-LA-times-dec-2001.asp
  25. ^ McCarthy, Terry: "Golden Arches With a Twist: Iraqi Burger Joint," ABC News, Aug. 16, 2006: http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2319431&page=1
  26. ^ Al-Marashi, Ibrahim: "Battle of flags," Al-Ahram Weekly, June 17 - 23, 2004, Issue No. 695: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/695/re5.htm
  27. ^ Rothwell, Nicolas: "Coming To Suleimaniyah?" Critical Tolerance, Jul 22nd, 2004: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:RUiXha47ZxcJ:criticaltolerance.org/story/2004/7/22/214939/476+madonal&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=67&gl=us
  28. ^ Boag, Michael. "From Iraq with Love: Michael Boag traces his journey from Istanbul to Suleimaniya", The McGill Daily, 2003-10-27. Retrieved on 2007-04-08. 
  29. ^ Odenheimer, Micha. "Such fragile threads", WorldSecurityNetwork, 2003-11-21. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  30. ^ Ritzer, George: “The McDonaldization of Society” (Revised New Century Edition), page 4. Pine Forge Press, 2004. (Limited Preview Available on Google Books)
  31. ^ Sakkinen, Riiko. "Madonaldization", 2007-05-30. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  32. ^ Hitchens, Christopher. "Holiday In Iraq; Over Christmas Break, The Author Took His Son To Northern Iraq, Which The U.S. Had Made A No-Fly Zone In 1991, Ending Saddam's Chemical Genocide. Now Reborn, Iraqi Kurdistan Is A Heartrending Glimpse Of What Might Have Been", Vanity Fair, April 2007, pp. 130. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. 
  33. ^ Hawkes, Steve: “McDonald's swamped by offers to open in Iraq,” Evening Standard (London), Aug 14, 2003: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-2342681.html
  34. ^ Docena, Herbert. "Dying for a McDonald's in Iraq", Asia Times, Oct 24, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. 
  35. ^ Ritzer, p. xi-xii; http://www.pineforge.com/upm-data/4039_Ritzer_McDonalization_Preface.pdf
  36. ^ Sundström, Eric (2005-07-15). "Everyday observations in Iraq," http://ericsundstrom.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html
  37. ^ Scott (2003-05-01). "What's Next -- Kurdish Idol on Fox?" http://dclawstudent.blogspot.com/2003_05_01_dclawstudent_archive.html#94992257
  38. ^ Schwan, Ben (2003-05-27). MaDonal und Matbax (German). NETBLOG. NETZEITUNG. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  39. ^ MacKinnon, Mark. "In the shadow of real war, a burger war", The Globe and Mail, March 23, 2007, pp. B8. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.