Advertising coursework (McDonalds)

McDonald’s coursework

Target audiences

The text: ‘every day’ is suggesting to the McDonalds customers that they can have this type of food every day and that there is no problem with them doing that.

The fact that this food can be sold at a constant price of $1 (not just for a limited time only) without McDonalds losing money and profits raises questions about how much it costs to make this food and subsequently the quality of the ingredients.

For example one the products in the dollar menu is the double cheeseburger. It consists of two beef burgers, two slices of processed cheese, the bun and various slices of pickle and tomato. If we assume that the value of one beef burger is around 30cents then we can conclude it is poor quality beef, the worst parts of the animal and that the animal may not have been kept in very good conditions.

McDonalds claims that all of the animals used in their food are kept in humane conditions, this may be true in America but in less economically developed countries (where McDonalds import most of their meat from) I would be surprised if similar conditions were maintained.

Ronald McDonald and children meals

The character of Ronald McDonald has been built up since 1963 and has been a way of targeting young children and convincing them to eat McDonalds. He now fronts whole advertising schemes worth millions of pounds a year which are now targeted at just children. On the McDonalds sit (in the history section) he is described as ‘second only to Santa Claus in terms of recognition’.

There is not a clear section for working out the nutritional info in a happy meal, you will have to go back to the nutrition section and work out every individual part of the meal.

The children’s site has a lot of hidden references to burgers via games, characters, jokes, colouring In etc.

Children can have parties at McDonalds and their birthdays listed on the site.

In most countries there is also a dedicated children’s site full of games food and cartoons. This is the homepage of the US children’s site. (www.ronald.com)

There are a variety of characters on screen engaging in various activities. There is also what appears to be smiling chicken nuggets bouncing across the screen. There a criminal with a hamburger, a purple blob pulling a tray of happy meals and a chicken playing football. The characters are inconsistent, rather than having 5 clowns or a family of 5 birds there are a group of random, shady looking characters congregating in an American backyard.

If I was a parent I must admit I would rather have my children playing on the McDonalds site than searching for unsuitable material but there are hundreds of more valuable sites that children could visit. The McDonalds site contains some educational information (counting, dinosaur facts) but it is full of references to the McDonalds menu. The games section is also packed with burgers and fries. The child is so busy enjoying the games that they do not notice just how many different food images are being flashed in front of their eyes. This is also true of the ...

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To McDonalds this is a perfect way of attracting child customers:

The child plays games on the site and gains interest in Ronald McDonald
The parent then takes the child out to the park or the shops, etc.
When they are out it is very likely that they will pass or be nearby a McDonalds
The child then hassles their parent into going to McDonalds
The child gets a free toy
The child wants to collect all of the toys so they keep returning
The parent does not mind because it is so cheap to keep their child happy

This occurs all around the country as more children see the adverts on television, posters and the internet.

The toys

A free toy in the happy meals is a way of taking advantage of children. The toys that are given away are usually related to the latest children’s film or range of new toys.

The toys are normally part of a collection of about 5, with a different toy in the happy meal box every week. This is a marketing scheme to get the same children to return again and again in order to complete the collection. As soon as one toy collection ends a new one begins, for a parent who is struggling with their children it will be almost impossible to avoid a weekly trip to McDonalds.

Although the toys are only suitable for children over three, McDonalds have not missed the opportunity to make as much money as possible. They achieve this by providing an alternative for children under three.

From this we can conclude that McDonalds do not mind serving a happy meal (cheeseburger, fries and a coke) to a toddler as long the toy is safe for their age group.

Adverts for these toys are frequently on television (mainly during children’s programmes after school and on Saturday mornings). With vast amounts of money McDonalds can afford to advertise as often as they want to gain the maximum attention. With around 95% of homes (in the UK) having at least one TV, McDonalds attracts hundreds of thousands of children.

The Food

Key facts regarding the website:

All of the figures are apparently dependent on federal rounding regulations. This means that the customer is not getting all of the necessary information or any exact details.

The website says that all daily allowance comparison is based on a 2000 calorie diet. 2000 calories is the RDA for a 12 year old girl. This is not useful at all to the majority of McDonald’s customers.

Nutritional information

Below is an example of a nutritional information table that is available on the website and can be used to calculate the values.

The information is not very ‘user friendly’ and to most people is just a mess of numbers. This information is not useful to parents or children who are looking for a quick, cheap meal. It is not accessible in the store (unless it is one of the new McDonalds restaurants which have internet access). If McDonalds really wanted people to view these statistics then they should have it in store and perhaps the nutritional values in comparison to other food types (apples, cheese sandwiches, whatever).

I have a feeling that McDonalds do not want this information to be particularly clear or easily accessible to the public because it would put some people off eating at their restaurant.

There is also a section on the site that goes through the different ways to include McDonalds into a balanced diet.

This is helpful but most people who wanted an English muffin, yoghurt and juice for breakfast wouldn’t visit McDonalds. However if they wanted sausage, egg and bacon in the muffin with pancakes on the side it would be very different.

The separate breakfast menu is another money making way of making people in certain circumstances (their school/ place of work is near a McDonalds, it is cheaper and quicker than making your own breakfast) eat unhealthy food before 10:30am in participating restaurants.

Employment

According to McDonalds the reason that they are one of America’s biggest employers is because working there is about the freedom to be yourself, the opportunity to learn and a sense of community. Then again it might be the fact that they are willing to employ anyone regardless of their age, lack of qualifications or their criminal record. These days pretty much everyone lives in reach of a McDonald’s restaurant; it is also an easy way to make some extra money.

Franchising

If you have enough money and the motivation to run a McDonalds for 20 years then you can purchase a franchise which will allow you run a McDonalds restaurant and sell their products. This is the real reason that there are so many McDonald’s restaurants worldwide, with 70% of restaurants belonging to franchisees.

Background information and facts

McDonalds has successfully conquered the globe, they have restaurants on every continent (except Antarctica) in 119 countries and have developed new menus for many of the different countries where there is a McDonalds restaurant.

In foreign countries there are certain differences in the menu names. E.g. in Australia the hamburger is called the junior burger.

It is also very ironic that McDonalds of all companies sponsor so many sporting activities for adults and children with their advertising splashed out everywhere in sight.

Teenagers can obtain student education packs from the site which will teach them about how brilliant McDonalds is.

In overseas countries (e.g. Malaysia) McDonalds do their own versions of local dishes which are described as ‘Just like mum's cooking!’

By far the most developed menu is the Indian menu. They have managed without any beef or pork items and developed new alternatives, e.g. the chicken maharaja Mac and the mcaloo tikki.

It is clear that McDonalds has successfully conquered the globe, both adults and children consume their food on a regular basis. It is also clear that unless governments introduce new laws or someone bankrupts McDonalds there is no way of stopping this expansion. Yet although the food is highly unhealthy there is no denying that the food is cheap, quick and above all it does taste nice.

McDonalds does well in taking advantage of lower income families and young children they do not force it down anyone’s throat. No matter how much advertising there is we can all say no to McDonalds it is just harder for some than others.

I think that the people who complain about McDonalds should not be sitting about complaining, building anti-McDonalds sites or demonstrating but should be looking to create cheap, healthy alternatives to McDonalds. No amount of moaning will destroy a billion dollar corporation like McDonalds.

I personally think that there is nothing wrong with the occasional visit to McDonalds and I must admit that they are trying to become healthier.