An important point about owning the franchise real estate: a rental agreement is far stronger for the landowner than a franchise agreement is for a franchiser. The McDonald's franchise agreement specifies the address the franchise must be located. In effect, McDonald's can cancel a franchise agreement by ending the rental agreement. This gives them enormous power to enforce company-wide standards on cleanliness and mandate suppliers. Other chains (eg: Burger King) do not own the majority of their franchise properties and have had more significant problems with enforcing franchise standards.
Source: McDonald's: Behind The Arches, John F. Love (July 1, 1995)
Edit: changed ie to eg, thanks for the correction all
Source: McDonald's: Behind The Arches, John F. Love (July 1, 1995)
Edit: changed ie to eg, thanks for the correction all