A new taste strategy for McDonald's
One of McDonald鈥檚 toughest challenges isn鈥檛 food quality; it鈥檚 the widespread knee-jerk negativity that immediately dismisses its food as bad. It isn鈥檛 cool to like McDonald鈥檚, an affliction from which some media outlets suffer. McDonald鈥檚 is an easy and frequent target for snarky tweets and elitist jabs from people who likely have never been there.
So, how does it combat this? McDonald鈥檚 has tried Q&As to dispel myths about its food; it has invited moms, media and community organizations into its kitchens to see how food is prepared; it has built websites promoting its food quality and sourcing, and more. And yet negative bias persists.
Now, rather than fight that bias, McDonald鈥檚 is leveraging it in advertising showing consumers鈥� reactions to blind taste tests. The clear message is don鈥檛 assume; try it.聽聽for its new Buttermilk Crispy Chicken sandwich show a food truck (not identified as McDonald鈥檚) handing out samples to strongly positive reactions. Perhaps overly strong in the case of the young man who says, 鈥淧robably the best sandwich I鈥檝e ever had.鈥� One woman asks incredulously, 鈥淚t鈥檚 McDonald鈥檚?鈥� when given a coupon with the arches logo. 鈥淣o way!鈥� says another woman, rolling her eyes.
The same strategy is being followed in Ireland, where McDonald鈥檚 tomorrow (Sept. 2) launches its upscale聽聽double cheeseburger. A TV spot shows a group of people assembled to taste a new burger. They鈥檙e told that the burger is topped with bacon, Ballymaloe Relish and Charleville Cheddar but nothing more. When the truth is revealed, disbelief once again reigns. 鈥淚t聽is聽from McDonald鈥檚?鈥� asks one fellow quizzically. 鈥淚 really enjoyed that,鈥� says another young man.
In Canada, McDonald鈥檚 is proving the worth of its new Grand Angus burger by letting real cowboys at the Calgary Stampede rodeo dig in. Thumbs up. Alka-Seltzer (and agency Wells Rich Greene) summed up the strategy with its famous 1971 slogan, 鈥淭ry it; you鈥檒l like it!鈥� Many doubters will remain unswayed, surely, but McDonald鈥檚 right now is all about trying every possible remedy for its financial and customer traffic declines.
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