Merrill 1 Jen Merrill English 1010 Lynn Taylor 24 November 2013 Is Europe Becoming Americanized?

If someone were to travel in Europe, as they tour around they would see castles, museums, and many other historical sites. However, they would also see a McDonalds, an Apple store, a Burger King, a Kentucky Fried Chicken and other American stores. But do you see very many European stores over here? I have only noticed a couple such as H&M and IKEA. I have reason to believe that Europe is becoming like America because they have more of our stores, their obesity rate has gone up a lot in the past few years, and much of their music is becoming similar to ours. I first thought of this subject when we had an exchange student about a year ago. She was from Norway and she had a lot of different ideas than us, but she was also familiar with a lot from our culture because some of it was available in Norway. I couldnt help but wonder whether we were even so different after all. Sure, we speak different languages and come from different cultures, but I also find that we have a lot in common. Because of these thoughts, I decided to do some research on the matter. To begin, I will start by explaining that they have more of our stores. My brother recently returned from his mission to Belgium and the Netherlands and I asked him what stores he saw when he was there. He said that the main source of their shopping is more like the American supermarket instead of the little shops and the street markets that you would think to find there (Merrill). From this, I infer that Europe is finding the American way of marketing

Merrill 2 more appealing. In an article that I read, it said McDonalds actually earned more revenue from Europe (41 percent) than the United States (35 percent) (Rakestraw). This shows that the Europeans have used McDonalds just as much, if not more, as Americans. On the Subway website, they have listed all the countries where they have stores and how many stores they have in each country. It shows that Americans contains a little over half of the Subway stores that exist, but many of the rest of the stores are located ????????????? Next I want to expound on what all of this fast food has been doing to Europe as well as the United States: obesity. In the past several decades, these changes have helped broaden waistlines. The obesity rate in the U.K. more than tripled between 1980 and 2007, and Frances nearly doubled between 1990 and 2006. Almost half of Germanys population was obese or overweight in 2005 (Rakestraw). Usually when I picture a European, I think of them having healthier bodies than Americans. However, according to Aina Hunter from CBS News, more than half of the adults in Europe are obese. True, about 68 percent of Americans are overweight or obesebut Europe seems to be catching up (Hunter). The last thing I want to look at is how much they listen to the same music that we have. According to Paul Sexton, the United States dominated over Europe in the singles charts in the year 2010. This shows that more American music has been bought and listened to than European music. France has a lot in common with America such as hip-hop. America came up with hip-hop, but France was among the first countries to embrace it (Meghelli). It seems to me that it is not only France that embraced it, but it has spread across to other countries as well. Some may say that America is becoming Europe. This is because of the nations debt and the fact that so many Americans refuse to take the crisis seriously. This is a valid reason to come to the conclusion that America is becoming Europe (Smith). But economics isnt

Merrill 3 everything. There are many other factors at which we need to look in order to actually determine which way it actually is. It may be that in different ways, Europe and America are becoming like each other, but Europe is becoming like America more than the other way around. In conclusion, Europe is becoming like America in more ways than one. The have many of the same entertainment and stores that we do. They also are getting much of the same health problems that we have here in America. It is an issue that should be fixed. The factors that contribute to their becoming like us are problems where they should not be following our example. Perhaps America should lead the way again and become healthier and wiser.

Merrill 4 Works Cited Hunter, Aina. Obesity Not Just U.S Problem.: Half of Europe Fat, Report Says. 10 December 2010. Web.
29 November 2013. Meghelli, Samir. Room for Debate. 15 October 2013. Web. 11 November 2013. Merrill, Matt. Interview. Jen Merrill. 29 November 2013. Interview. Rakestraw, Darcey. Fat Like Us: Europes Diet Becoming Americanized Thanks to Soy Feed Imports. 8 February 2011. Web. 20 November 2013. Sexton, Paul. Americans Dominate Europe Music Singles Charts. 10 December 2010. Web. 29 November 2013. Smith, Austin. New York Post. 30 December 2012. Web. 9 November 2013. Subway. Explore Our World. 29 November 2013. Web.