This story is part of the Iconic Brands series, a USA TODAY network project showcasing the companies and brands that helped shape the nation’s identity, economy and culture. The series celebrates American ingenuity with a deeply reported examination of how brands intersect with history, community and everyday life in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.Find more at https://usatoday.com/usa250/iconic-brands
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Of all the ways McDonald’s has dominated as America’s most famous fast food empire, like how a 1995 survey suggested the chain’s “Golden Arches” logowas more widely recognized than the Christian cross, the burger behemoth also created a universal food language.
That’s thanks to for the culinary giant’s best-selling French fry, according to the company. About 9 million pounds of the crispy, salty sticks are sold daily across the globe, and they hit your tongue identically whether you live in Irvine, Kentucky, or Irvine, California, or whether you ordered the item 20years ago or 20minutesago. They allow you to share the same sensory memory as your mother, grandmother and several million strangers…