Does McDonald’s Really Care About Your Community?
Over the weekend, McDonald's ran a very interesting advertisement. The one-minute commercial featured messages posted to the "Golden Arches" signs throughout different communities throughout the United States.
The messages were vastly positive, and extremely personal in some cases. Whether they were congratulating a local couple on a milestone anniversary, or welcoming home members of our Armed Services, the messages appeared to hit home.
But why run this ad? By all intents and purposes, an ad is supposed to be a self-promoting tool, but was this commercial too self-involved? It seems McDonald's was patting themselves on the back for caring so much. Do they really care? I've never seen such personal messages posted on local McDonald's restaurants. All I've seen on those signs is "Over 1 Billion Served."
My hunch: This is some sort of a stint to recoup from a media disaster in early 2014. A manager was fired from a New York McDonald's after buying breakfasts for firefighters that had just battled a blaze in freezing temperatures. This ad was to show us how warm and fuzzy a corporation can be.
What about you? Do you think the ad was sincere, or was it a little too self-serving?