McDo (McDonald’s nickname)
McDonald’s fast food restaurants have been called “McDo” in French-speaking areas (the city of Paris probably originated it) since at least the 1980s. McDonald’s has offered an item called the “Croque McDo,” but “McDo” does not appear to have been trademarked. “McDo” has been infrequently used in the United States.
McDonald’s has also been called “Mickey D’s” and “Maccy D’s” (mostly in the United Kingdom).
Wikipedia: McDonald’s
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.
A McDonald’s restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporation’s revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald’s revenues grew 27 percent over the three years ending in 2007 to $22.8 billion, and 9 percent growth in operating income to $3.9 billion.
McDonald’s primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, wraps, smoothies and fruit.
Wikipedia: Maxime, McDuff & McDo
Maxime, McDuff & McDo is a 2002 documentary film by Magnus Isacsson that shows the attempt of unionizing a McDonald’s restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were successful, but McDonald’s quickly shut down the franchise after the union won.
Google Books
French Today:
Language in its Social Context
Edited by Carol Sanders
New York, NY: Cambridge University Press
1992
Pg. 164:
McDo (McDonald’s) has come to mean ‘banal’, ‘functional’ (‘un design ‘McDo’ - fonctionnel, aseptique’, L’Express 19 February 1988)
Google Books
Insiders’ French:
Beyond the Dictionary
By Eleanor Levieux and Michel Levieux
Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press
1999
Pg. 135:
McDonald’s Become a household word since the late 1980s; the most visible exponent of le fast food, also called la restauration rapide. Maintenant on peut petit-dejeuner aussi chez McDo (pronounced “Mac dough”); “Now you can have breakfast, too, at McDonald’s.”
Google Books
Strategic Market Management:
Global Perspectives
By Damien McLoughlin and David A. Aaker
Chichester: Wiley
2010
Pg. 224:
However, one of America’s most iconic brands, McDonald’s, known in France as McDo, has been in France since 1979 and has more than 1000 restaurants around the country; France is its most profitable market in Europe.
Google Books
The Unofficial Guide to Paris
By David Applefield
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Pg. 318:
FAST FOOD AND FRENCH CHAINS
YOU CAN’T HELP BUT NOTICING that “McDo,” as Parisians call McDonald’s, is everywhere, from the Champs-Élysées to the Latin Quarter.
Google Books
Contemporary Marketing 2011
By David L. Kurtz
Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning
2011
Pg. 201:
The French enjoy a McDonald’s concoction known as a “Croque McDo,” a sandwich made from ham and melted Swiss cheese on toasted bread.
CBS News
April 19, 2012 8:36 AM
McDonald’s rolls out McBaguette in France
By Mark Phillips
(...)
But the French have a dirty little secret: They love McDonald’s or “McDo,” as they call it. The chain does more business in France than it does in any country outside the United States - more than $5.5 billion worth last year.
Google Books
Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization
By Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland and Robert E. Hoskisson
Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning
2013
Pg. 211:
In France, McDonald’s was fondly referred to as McDo, pronounced McDough.