Uniformity

Another term that comes up in Fast Food Nation is “uniformity.” Schlosser relates how JR Simplot, one of America’s most successful farmers and businessmen, introduced the idea of frozen French fries to Ray Kroc of McDonalds. At the time, Kroc was having trouble ensuring that the food at the rapidly spreading franchise locations would always taste the same at every restaurant. By processing the fries at a central location and then freezing them for transport to the restaurants, it is possible to ensure uniformity of taste and quality. This uniformity is important because consumers always want the same product and experience when they visit the same business. Uniformity allows corporations to not fear randomness or local variation upsetting customers. However, with the spread of franchises, uniformity has spread from the product to every aspect of a franchised retail location. The food, packaging, architecture, and even the way the employees act and address their customers has been rendered uniform. The corporations do this in order to produce a single, unified image of their brand, relying on people’s comfort with familiar things to draw in more customers.

Encroachment

In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser relays a concept known to franchisees as "encroachment." Franchise companies seek to open as many outlets as possible, potentially over-saturating an area. While this does improve sales for the franchise overall, the individual outlets suffer from the increased competition, even, perhaps especially, with businesses under the same banner. This also shows how little the franchises care for their franchisees; they are seen as every bit as disposable as an individual burger flipper. Subway in particular is cited as the worst possible example by both Schlosser and Dean Sager, a former economist for the House of Representatives. Subway employs sales agents to aggressively spread franchises, and imposes harsh standards on them. They are forced to open as many new franchises as possible, in a constant flow, completely ignoring any consequences this might have for existing stores. However, Subway is just one example of this form of excess, and a symptom of the thought patterns that drive the fast food industry: more shops, more sales, at any cost - the workers are expendable.