﻿It is not just the world’s biggest burger chain; it is also a global emblem of American consumer capitalism. But, these days, the golden arches of McDonald’s are looking a little tarnished. After a decade of expansion, customers around the world don’t seem to be 'lovin’ it' any more. McDonald’s has revealed that worldwide sales dropped by 3.3% on 2013 in a set of results that were described as atrocious. 
Problems are piling up almost everywhere. In China, sales plunged by 23% after a food scare when local media showed workers apparently caught on camera at a local supplier claiming to use out-of-date beef and chicken in products destined for McDonald’s and KFC. In Europe, sales are down by 4%, mostly because of unrest in Ukraine and the sour anti-western mood in Russia. Around 200 of McDonald’s 450 restaurants in Russia are being investigated by health inspectors in apparently politically motivated food-safety checks. Ten have been closed. 
But it is in the US, where McDonald’s has around 40% of its restaurants, where the crisis runs deepest. Almost 60 years after Ray Kroc opened his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, consumers are losing their appetite for a Big Mac and fries. 
McDonald’s has seen 12 straight months of declining sales in its massive home market, with sales down 4.1% in the latest quarter. Younger diners are deserting the restaurant in droves to eat out at rivals such as Chipotle Mexican Grill. The number of 19-to-21-year-olds visiting McDonald’s once a month has fallen by 13% since 2011, according to food analysts Technomic, while the number of 22-to-37-year- olds visiting has not grown. 
To add to the company’s problems, McDonald’s hamburgers were recently named the worst in America in a poll of more than 32,000 American diners, who said they would rather eat a burger at Five Guys, Smashburger or Fuddruckers. Fast-growing US-only chain Chick-fil-A was considered to be best for chicken. McDonald’s is also widely perceived as less healthy than most of its rivals, especially Chipotle, which trumpets its antibiotic-free meat and “locally sourced, seasonal produce” – although 'local' for Chipotle can mean 350 miles away.