Under the right circumstances, even the simplest things can become symbolic. An opening of a McDonalds restaurant, for example, sounds kind of mundane, I mean theres already a gazillion of them around the world. But the first McDonalds in Soviet Russia? Thats something else.

The Moscow McDonalds initiative was a joint venture between McDonalds of Canada and the Moscow city council. A plan first envisioned when George Cohon, founder, and CEO of McDonalds Canada, met Soviet Union officials at the 76 Summer Olympics in Montreal. And almost a quarter of a century later, on January 31st, 1990 it became a reality.

At the time of its construction, it was the largest McDonalds restaurant in the world. A venue with 900 seats with a staff of about 600 workers that were carefully selected from 35,000 applicants.

Reportedly, it was expected to serve around 1,000 during the McDonalds opening day. And in the country where the average salary was about 150 rubles per month, a Big Mak was selling for 3.75 rubles. That, however, didnt stop the people from getting their first taste of it. A crowd of more than 5,000 Soviet citizens lined up in Pushkinskaya Square before it even opened and about 30,000 customers passed through the door throughout the whole day.

The summer came, but the lines just kept growing. People from other cities were flocking the McDonalds restaurant just for a single hamburger. We stood under the melting sun for around eight hours, photographer Mitya Kushelevich recalled. That wasnt so much of a problem as we were used to standing in lines for days just to get our monthly ration of sugar and tea.

Once inside we were blown away by the number of young cashiers behind the huge counter, smiling, moving like bees, serving one meal after another. Nothing like our fat old ladies in white gowns sitting in front of empty shelves, pyramids of dusty canned food as window dressing.

I still remember how insanely huge the milkshake looked and I didnt know how to hold a Big Mac with my tiny hands.

Everything tasted more intense than anything Id ever tried before. I ate and drank and chewed like it was my last meal on earth. Around ten minutes and 5,000 calories later, my body alerted me to the fact that it wasnt quite able to digest all the fatty deliciousness and that it was probably a good time to check out how an American toilet looked like from the inside. I wasnt alone: the queues to the toilets, especially the womens, was almost as long as the queues outside.

• Discuss the importance of the role of leadership in this context.