OMGT 5133
Lindsey Johnson and Joel Garza
Paper 1: Compare and Contrast
November 12, 2011

McDonald’s vs. Subway – The supersized fast food fight Who would have ever thought that our lives would become so complex and time starved that we would have to choose between two all-beef patties or five dollar foot long. McDonald’s and Subway are some of the first things that come to mind whenever you’re in a rush for work, school or for any other urgent matter and hungry at the same time. They both have a diverse variety of ready-to-go foods that you can bring along in the car, bus or as you make your way through the crowded sidewalks of any urban jungle. The difference between McDonald’s and Subway is not as obvious as people might think. They are totally different in terms of food offering so people with different palettes have to decide whether to frequent the golden arches for their famous hamburgers or visit the establishment that Gerard made famous for its submarine sandwiches. One similarity is their exponential growth in recent years, both in the United States and abroad. While both of them are scrumptious enough to get confused about, what is even more confusing is who will win the battle to become the leader of the quick service restaurant category?
Quick service restaurants (QSR’s) are establishments where patrons generally order at a cash register or select items from a food bar and pay before they eat. They typically have limited service, drive-thru windows and can be further defined by being able to serve their customers in 5 minutes or less. These outlets tend to specialize in a few menu items: hamburgers, pizza, sandwiches, and/or chicken. Another trait of fast food outlets is that they generally do not serve alcohol. As reported by the National Restaurant Association, the “QSR industry accounted for nearly $160B of the $400B that U.S. consumers