Health pressures on fast food companies and how this affects McDonalds.
. How should McDonald's respond when ads promoting healthy lifestyles featuring Ronald McDonald are equated with Joe camel and cigarette ads? Should McDonalds's eliminate Ronald McDonald in its ads?
Eliminating Ronald McDonald, who is the brand mascot, is not the solution. Rather many people connect with Ronald McDonald emotionally. According to a survey, Ronald is among top 25 mascots of all times. (Top survey, 2007) Ronald McDonalds can visit to schools for educating students about the importance of health and a healthy lifestyle. This will have the positive image of the mascot and further, Ronald McDonald could involve in charities where the mascot can be seen in giving charities to the unfortunate children. All the above would help in gaining the image of Ronald McDonalds back. McDonald should react to this issue in a calm and positive way as still many kids and parents are in love with the Ronald and would like to see their favorite whenever they visit to the outlet. By making people know that it is the perception which people will need to change. By imbibing healthier lifestyle is the solution, not protesting the mascot.
2. Discuss the merits of the law proposed by France that would require fast-food companies either to add a health message to commercials or to pay 1.5 % tax on their ad budget. Propose a strategy for McDonald's to pay the tax or add health message and defend your recommendation.
The law would make the advertisers to add a health message in their products. By doing so the marketers would think that what health benefits they can provide with their products. All the food companies will have to make sure that their products have some nutritional value attached to advertise. McDonalds can add a health message to save the tax and criticism and to promote its product in healthier manner. For a time period the tag line can be changed to emphasize more on the health message. McDonalds can sponsor events like Olympics and showcase its health message. The advertisements can be designed in such a way that would emote the message by showing the person jogging and enjoying a burger. Or a kid after a participating in school sports enjoys the day with a burger. This will also promote a healthy lifestyle with a chunk of burger or salad.
3. If there is no Evidence that obesity rates fall in those countries than ban advertising to children, why bother?
Obesity among children is a disease and should be minimized. Therefore, as a corporate social responsibility, the company should consider this fact. Therefore, the advertisements should not take the advantage and explicitly show whatever they want to. In fact, the food companies should take the matter seriously and try to include healthy menu and encourage people to have healthy lifestyle and to have healthy food. It may happen that there is evidence of fall of obesity but ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
3. If there is no Evidence that obesity rates fall in those countries than ban advertising to children, why bother?
Obesity among children is a disease and should be minimized. Therefore, as a corporate social responsibility, the company should consider this fact. Therefore, the advertisements should not take the advantage and explicitly show whatever they want to. In fact, the food companies should take the matter seriously and try to include healthy menu and encourage people to have healthy lifestyle and to have healthy food. It may happen that there is evidence of fall of obesity but as discussed it can be the root of diseases and government and the companies should participate in the welfare. As in country like India, there is no such ban for the commercials directed to the kids but companies like Britannia consider it as their responsibility and they try to come up with the healthy choices. The companies like Nestle with the highest selling product Maggi have a tagline of "Taste bhi, Health bhi". This shows that companies do bother even if there is no constraint on advertisements.
4. The broad issue facing McDonald's UK is the current attitude towards rising obesity. The company seems to have tried many different approaches to deal with the problem but the problem persists. List all the problems facing McDonald's and critique their various approach to solve the problems.
Problems: The U.K. government is quite rigid when it comes to food and beverages regulation. The summon had been released in 2004 to enact on the health regulations by 2007. There was the recommendation for the marketing team of the organizations for not to use celebrities and cartoon characters in the ads which incite kids towards high salt and sugar content food.
A report by parliamentary committee had reported that around 22% obesity had rise in U.K. adults and childhood obesity had been tripled in 20 years. (ethicalcorp, 2004)
A release of the documentary "super size me" had enticed the consumer reaction and people had started reacting towards obesity issues.
Reaction by McDonalds in U.K.: To answer the current rage and the issues by vast number of people, McDonalds came up with an ad campaign called "changes" by adding question mark instead of Golden Arch to make people aware about the changes. The changes which was made was to gain the immediate attention, which considered to be the initial right step as people now could not relate themselves with their McDonalds and there was a emotional hitch which was attached to it.
It promoted changes in the menu by adding more salads, fruits, cup of cappuccino. This change for healthier menu was direct mailed to around 17 million people. Its aim was to make people think differently about McDonald. By considering the rise of obesity in the adults and children, their approach towards healthy food was the win ahead stage for them and according to me it bought corporate responsibility as they began to induce physical activities.
McDonalds had released a newspaper ad to defend itself by commenting that if one eats too much and does a little, that can be bad but there is no evidence if McDonalds is bad. The ad also suggested healthy menu items which were added to the menu lately. They have taken the criticism positively by incorporating changes.
McDonalds, U.K. had also launched an ad campaign for healthy lifestyle where Ronald McDonalds, a cartoon mascot, had been shown with the animated fruits and vegetables characters to pass on the message of eating right for staying healthy.
It also has made the changes cautiously to emote the healthy eating keeping its core in mind.
5. Based on your response to question 4, recommend both a short-range and long-range plan for McDonalds to implement.
Short-range: As already implemented by McDonalds the change in healthy menu was a good move to defend itself. The list of nutritional value can further be added in the description of the items in the menu. Further, discount coupons can be added when the direct mail is being sent to its customers. Can introduce a catalogue on balanced diet in the outlet where one can know that if one is consuming a sum of calories then how to work on it. A sport coupon can be given to ones who come fifth -time to outlet in a specified period of time.
Long-range: McDonalds can sponsor health shows to make people know that it cares. It can sponsor MTV shows, which reach is in 162 countries and McDonalds have outlets in almost 119 countries, (Business line, 2008), It can also use celebrities who can talk on health and McDonalds. It can talk to women by showing advertisements in which women eating salads with their kids. The extra salt and fatty products can excluded from the happy meals or else new line can be introduced by giving it a healthy name. An ad can be made which is discussed below. A new extension into the existing product line can happen where a new version of Ronald McDonalds like Ronnie can be introduced to represent this extension. All the above plans will help McDonalds in long-tem to establish the way it was and even in a bigger way.
Advertisement for McDonalds:
An ad can be designed where a mother can be shown who is worrying about her child's obesity of eating at McDonalds and meets up with a dietician, who explains that 1 Burger+Salad+1 game= healthy lifestyle. This will be effective in terms of clear positioning.
Refrences:
* Ethicalcorp (2004), retrieved on 12th Sep from, http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=2119
* BBC News,(2004), retrieved on 12th Sep from,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3532025.stm
* Journals, (2005), retrieved on 12th Sep from, http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijms/article/viewFile/1645/1556
* American Dietetic Association. (2005),Nutritional information, retrieved on 12th Sep from,
http://www.eatright.org
* Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal, (2004), retrieved on 12th Sep from, http://lsr.nellco.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=uconn_cpilj
* The Obesity factfile, (2007), retrieved on 12th Sep from, http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/ObesityBibliography%20Documentation.pdf
[INTERNATIONAL MARKETING 5708]
September 13, 2009
