Does the World Hate US Brands Now?: Beth Kowitt

For 66 years, Lenin’s tomb ranked as the most visited spot in Moscow. Then in 1990, McDonald’s Corp. opened.

That year, some 10 million people stood in line for hours to get their first taste of a “Big Mak” and American culture, dwarfing the 3.2 million who waited to see the embalmed remains of the founder of the Soviet Union. “At least you can get something to eat here,” one Muscovite queued up outside the Golden Arches told Fortune Magazine at the time. “Who wants to stand in line to see some dead guy?”

There may be no better example of ...