Reinvention concepts and applications

Brand Reinvention: The New, Old McDonald's

The name McDonald's is virtually synonymous with the idea of 'branding.' The idea of McDonaldization seems to imply the standardization and Americanization of both culture and food. However, the brand image of McDonald's has in fact gone through a number of reincarnations, over the company's long history. One of the most notable shifts occurred when the company shifted from its slogan of "You deserve a break today," or "It's a good time for the great taste," to "Mmm...I'm lovin' it."

During the 1970s, when more and more women were becoming 'liberated' from the stove, and going to work in record numbers, the idea of being not having to slave over a hot stove was seen as a positive benefit of eating McDonald's hamburgers. The idea that it's always a good time to eat burgers and fries similarly stressed the ease and convenience of fast food. During the 1970s and 1980s, the fact that fast food was hot, cheap, and relatively inexpensive was a good thing. Fast food, according to McDonald's, was also family-friendly, because it enabled communication rather than diverted time to food preparation. McDonald's commercials often showed children and parents bonding over Big Macs or cheeseburgers. One commercial showed an adorable, slender, winsome young girl fearful before her piano concert. She gets through her experience by fantasizing about going to McDonald's after her recital, as promised by her doting parents.

Children were openly courted in other advertisements that depicted Ronald McDonald and his friends, or kid-friendly Happy Meals, complete with toys. Ads aimed at older consumers stressed the tastiness of the 'two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, on a sesame seed bun,' or the fact that they were liable to have a Big Mac attack if they didn't indulge their craving. One commercial called "School is Hard," showed happy, healthy teens finding comfort in eating hamburgers and fries after a long day at school.

However, in the wake of the burgeoning obesity epidemic, and negative publicity about the fast food chain, including the documentary "Super Size Me," and lawsuits waged by customers who blamed the chain for making them obese, McDonald's began to shift its strategy. Now, making a hot meal at home was seen as a good thing, not something families wanted a 'break from,' so teens seeking a snack were courted with the hip "I'm lovin' it campaign." But rather than showing healthy, white-bread American athletic teens, eating large portions of food, more African-Americans were featured in advertisements, given that a larger proportion of McDonald's core consumer base was made up of minorities than in the past, and music and dancing, rather than eating came to the forefront. Although Happy Meals still existed, they too were featured less prominently in advertisements.

McDonald's has always stressed, hypocritically or not, its connection to sports, whether by featuring healthy, athletic young people in advertisements, or through celebrity endorsements, or endorsing an entire athletic event like the Winter Olympics. In one recent commercial, entitled "Dreams," a young boy in a go-cart is shown mastering a series of difficult athletic endeavors, and then giving himself a medal. The boy is fit, but at no point during the advertisement is he seen consuming McDonald's food. This stands in sharp contrast to a 1996 Winter Olympics McDonald's endorsement advertisement, where ordering Extra Value meals are depicted as Olympic events, as 'called' by an observing sports announcer.