I'm familiar with their business model, but obviously McDonalds will always want to a) protect their brand and b) optimise the earnings of franchisees, since th

I'm familiar with their business model, but obviously McDonalds will always want to a) protect their brand and b) optimise the earnings of franchisees, since that is where THEY get their revenues. His argument is that "big businesses protect each other", but that obviously doesn't make sense unless McDonalds owns Taylors.