Who has the audacity to say that ... even think it? Nobody is bigger than McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD). After all, didn't McDonald's change the way we Americans eat? Didn't fast food and drive-thrus become the norm? Didn't McDonald's capture the hearts and, therefore, the appetite of every little kid with its Happy Meals and Ronald McDonald character? Didn't McDonald's even say that the world was ready for their menu and actually expand around the world? Even in France!
The answers to all the above questions is yes. McDonald's set the table (pardon the pun) to the way we view and eat fast food. Its success fostered major competitors like Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC), Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN) and Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC). It boasts a number of celebrities who have worked there in the past.
But McDonald's is still McDonald's. It has tried to be hip and cool by actually offering salads, but do you really go to a McDonald's to eat a salad? The movie Super Size Me did not do anything for its image either; yet McDonald's still marches on.
McDonald's went public in 1965 and a $2,250 investment back then would be worth nearly $2 million today. What a great success story; 31,000 units spread out over 119 countries. It is truly one great American export. The brand name alone is among the world's top 10 most recognizable and worth untold billions of dollars.
So, who is going to be bigger than McDonald's? The answer is Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX).
As I'm a Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) shareholder (a very very minor one), I get an annual "bonus" -- a special-edition Starbucks gift card with a little less than $4.00 in value, good for one grande almond latte (or thereabouts). The gift cards are pretty, and seem special, so when I have a little cash in my bank account and get the urge I'll refill it -- then, when I'm totally out of cash and dying for a sticky-sweet cup of milky caffeine, presto! Starbucks.
Cramer on BloggingStocks: The Fed's push for TARP payback 
Hewlett-Packard reports growth in profit and operating margin in Q4
Before the bell: Stocks futures steady ahead of GDP, housing data
