Eating with American fast-food giant McDonald’s may be a bad idea, in terms of consumption, but I continue to be impressed by their schemes for trying to localize their menu.

To wit:

The McArabia, in the UAE.

The American Winter menu, here in France.

This is fairly ingenious.

The French believe in foods for seasons.

In the fall, wild game appears on French menus. In the summer, gazpacho, lots of stone fruit, cakes.

In the winter?

Heavy, substantial fare, meant to prepare the locals for long hours working in the cold.

The concept seems to go back to France’s former agrarian past; few Frenchmen still work the land.

But the food cycle remains ingrained in the culture, and this is the time of year when we see cassoulet (white beans and duck and sausage), aligot (equal parts mashed potatoes and cheese) and tartiflette (cheese, potatoes, bacon). Root vegetables and beans and heavy meat.

McDonald’s in France has riffed on that with the menu (linked above).

Look at what is offered:

–Champignons and Cheddar Fondu.

–Bacon and Cheddar Fondu.

–Burger Fromage Pane’ and Fondant (melted).

Translated? The first is mushrooms and melted cheddar cheese. The second is melted cheddar with bacon. The third is a burger made of breaded (and melted) cheese.

All three come in the middle of oblong buns.

Doesn’t that sound wintry and substantial? That will stick with you for hours, out in the fields.

And French McDonald’s also offers “winter fries” (wedge-cut) and the McWrap Fromage Pane’ (which is breaded cheese served “wrap” style).

The final aspect of the campaign is the name.

“American Winter”.

And what is an American winter, to the French? One that is particularly cold.

France, remember, rarely has freezing temperatures, even in the north. But big chunks of the U.S. have severe winters, with lots of snow and ice and plunging temps. So the name invokes cold, which makes the French think of cheesy, bacon-y meals.

I have not sampled the American Winter menu. It is not inexpensive — the sandwiches cost 5.30 euros, or about $5.65. “The best of” … which seems to be equivalent to “super-sizing” appears to include the American Winter fries and a soft drink, and costs 7.30 euros.

And, well, it’s McDonald’s stuff, and can anything inside the arches really be good for you? (Aside from the free wifi?)

But I think we owe Micky D some credit for imagination.

I can vouch for the fact that the one McDonald’s store in this part of the Languedoc is nearly always packed (60-plus people) during meal times, with the drive-through window also going strong.

Making en effort to fit in with the local culture must be part of the explanation why McDonald’s claims to operate in 119 countries and serve 68 million customers per day.