Why McDonald's has been able to sell their products successfully

1212 words

100% beef! Made with real milk! Big, beefy, bliss!  All these claims announced in big bold letters on billboards, television commercials, advertisements in the magazines, radio stations and the array of social media notification that make McDonald’s menu look as if it is of great quality and value.  McDonald’s marketing plan to separate their menu items so it appears easier and affordable to order.  There is the dollar menu they created for individual small items like a hamburger, small french fries or small soft drink.  Everyone can afford something for only a dollar, even young teenagers.  McDonald’s also created a meal package so the adult consumer can simply be satisfied that they are getting a burger, french fries and a soft drink.  The consumer now believes they are fully satisfied because not only are they saving money but they are getting a full delicious meal as well. 

What the consumers do not know are these types of advertisements draw customers in, making them think and feel like there is no guilty pleasure to chomp down on the BigMac because they claim it’s 100% real beef.  It is always good to hear that you are not consuming some fake meat but has the consumers ever thought about why McDonald’s feel the need to advertise that it is 100% real beef.  Do customers really need reassurance that what they are eating is made from real food or is there a slight change that there is a percentage that the food is not 100% real beef.  McDonald has been very successful in their advertisement to try and show their customers that their product is of high quality and of value. 

McDonald’s has an incredible marketing scheme to express all the goodness in their food product so it is safe and healthy to eat.  One example is their advertisement for their famous Artisan Grilled Chicken Sandwich.  In a simple TV Commercial called 'Simple', they claim, “this commercial is just as simple as the sandwich.  No preservatives, no added colors, no artificial flavors, and juicy 100% chicken breasts”, is what is all in the sandwich.  The word “Artisan” gives the sandwich a little fancy ring to it that lead the consumers to think that their savoring something special.  Artisan means a food or a drink made in a traditional or non-mechanized way using high-quality ingredients.  By adding the word artisan in the title of the sandwich, the customer assumes that this handcrafted sandwich is one of a kind, with the best selection of tomatoes, lettuce, and 100% real fresh chicken.  McDonald’s is definitely not going to advertise the artificial ingredients or byproducts they use as they do not want customers to think that they are buying a low quality meal.  Another advertisement that is thrown around a lot is 100% beef or real chicken.  When customers hear or see this, they automatically assume that they should not worry about the meat they are eating.  When you hear 100%, you believe that there is nothing else a part of the recipe, unfortunately, we all know that is not the case when we look in depth at what other chemicals there are. Most customers are not going to give much thought to what type of beef or chicken they are getting when they go through a drive thru.  If it is advertised as 100% beef or real chicken, there should not be a single doubt in our minds what we are eating. 

According to thankyourbody.com, McDonald’s and other food chains like Burger King, Carl’s Jr., etc., actually buys their meat from concentrated agricultural feeding operation (CAFO) cows.  A CAFO is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as an animal feeding operation (AFO) –which is a farm in which animals are raised in confinement, that has over 1000 “animals units” confirmed for over forty five days a year.

Not only is this horrible for life conditions the animals and the environment, but eating meat from potential bacteria infected animals will also make humans sick.  When eating one of McDonald’s 100% real beef hamburgers, a customer might be getting a mouth full of antibiotics, hormones, and dangerous bacteria’s.

McDonald’s aim is to sell their products by using different marketing schemes to constantly remind their customers that their products are healthy and worth eating.  One evidence is that in Washington State, the McDonald’s ads use a technique called “localwashing”.  Localwashing is a marketing term that promotes the idea of selling their products locally to attract buyers because buying locally has many positive connotations to it.  The many encouraging connotations give off the impression that their products is fresher, that it is organic, and that it is overall a safer and more trustworthy route than if their company were to get their products from across the country, or even from across the world.  McDonald’s new ad campaign title“We-Buy-Local” claims the following:

·       that 88% of apples served at McDonald’s in western Washington are from Washington State

·       95% of French fries and hash browns served at McDonald’s in Western Washington are from Washington

·       95 out of every 100 Filet-O-Fish sandwiches served here comes from the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest

·       McDonald’s purchased over 497,000 gallons of Washington milk from Darigold, a Northwest cooperative owned by over 500 dairy farmers. It gives the customers comfort in the idea that they know where their food is coming from. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine what truly defines “local”.

Another technique McDonald uses to sell their products is by the color schemes they use.  Many food franchises use the colors red, yellow, orange, and/or green as a part of their food campaign and logo because all these colors can stimulate an appetite.  The exposure of the colors red and yellow increases blood pressure and heart rate, which rises hunger.  The color orange causes excitement and is used to draw people’s attention towards the color.  As for the color green, it gives the idea of health and nature.  All these colors are utilized by food companies in order to stimulate hunger, draw attention to their business, and to give off the impression of good, healthy food.  All of these colors automatically make you crave that specific drive thru menu when you are driving down the road and see a huge sign with these stimulating colors because the colors and food are shown together.  Many other food franchises use this color scheme to increase people’s cravings besides McDonald’s; they are Pizza Hut, Popeye’s Chicken, and Subway to name a few.

In conclusion, people who consume fast food need to become better educated and aware to the campaigns and all the positive ways food companies sell their food. We need to gain more knowledge on our food industries and the effects they have on us as a human race. We need to not just look at the surface level facts that the food industries present, but look more in depth at why they feel the need to advertise for what we should already be eating. People need to realize that the food that talks to you the most, is the most unhealthy because they want you to believe it is better than what it seems.