Caroline Halburian
January 14, 2015
Red and yellow signs with the trademark golden arches resembling the McDonalds fast food chains show on television during the NFL playoffs and Golden Globes in a commercial. But these signs didn’t display the normal “I’m Lovin’ It” slogan, the signs featured messages of support after devastating events.
Highlighting the loving in the “I’m Lovin’ It” slogan and associating it with a positive motion, “We Remember 911” and Boston Strong” are a few of the messages that McDonalds has displayed. Other messages thanked veterans, or were more personal and wished individuals in the community a happy birthday.
These messages provoked strong reactions, with some saying they were moved by it and others saying it's tacky for a company to use tragic events to burnish its image. Being the world's biggest hamburger chain and fast food provider people saw this as mediocre.
Devon Edwards an eighteen year-old who has worked at McDonalds before, “knows the intention was to portray McDonalds as a community loving restaurant, but for those who have lost loved ones in tragedies such as 911 and the Boston Massacre, these people will take this motion from the fast food chain supplying unhealthy food negatively.”
Other companies have faced even sharper backlash for trying to incorporate national tragedies into their marketing. In 2013, for instance, AT&T was criticized for an ad that featured New York's recovery after the September 11th attacks while showing off its new smartphones. AT&T was trying to sell their new merchandise by capturing their viewers’ attention with this
horrible event.
McDonald franchises delivered messages about more than Happy Meals and the latest toy you’ll receive inside of each box. The company is working to strengthen their ties in communities and redeem themselves from their reputation as the food chain that distributes unhealthy food.
