Viable Options

Romano mentions that Ray Kroc started McDonald's, which is not exactly correct. The very first McDonald's was opened in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California; the restaurant was a huge success making $1 million in profits by 1953. Following this success the McDonald brothers began franchising their restaurant opening seven others in California and Arizona. Ray Kroc did not enter the picture until 1954, he was a milkshake mixer salesman that the McDonald brothers bought their machines from, the brothers hired him that year to help expand their franchise locally, Kroc wanted to expand nation and even world wide but the brothers wanted to stay local, which led to disagreements. Unlike the McDonald brothers Kroc was a shrewd business man, he opened his first McDonald's in 1955 (the 9th McDonald's) and started developing his own business model and plans. Kroc was able to take advantage of the McDonald's lack of knowledge of business laws, like not trademarking the name, and bought the company from them in 1961 for $2.7 million (except for the original location); the first thing he did was file a trademark on the name "McDonald's" which forced the McDonald brothers to change the name of the original restaurant they still owned to "The Big M". Kroc may not have started McDonald's but he was responsible for turning it into the most successful fast food corporation in the world.

References Sesame Street (1969)