McDonald’s — Monopoly on Families?

The previous post touched on the subjects of cultural and emotional exploitation in regard to training up children to be McDonald’s customers so that they, in turn, will habituate their children to Happy Meals and plastic toys. So let’s continue onward, chronologically, and see what else they have been up to in the more recent past.

In 2019, McDonald’s was identified as one of the top five companies whose advertising “targeted” the young Latino population, and who were specifically blamed for childhood obesity. Jessica Ravitz wrote for CNN,

Obesity rates for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanic youth far outpace the rates for white and Asian youth, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 26% of Hispanic youth and 22% of black youth were deemed obese…

The following year saw the publication of a self-congratulatory post from a professional translator who congratulated McDonald’s for its “genuine understanding” of Hispanic customers. Aaron Marco Arias wrote on his blog,

[T]he Culture Marketing Council […] has celebrated McDonald’s for its comprehensive and intelligent approach to Hispanic marketing […] with 360 marketing initiatives per year, grassroots activations, Spanish-only social media accounts, and a website.

McDonald’s was one of the first American companies to create culturally targeted campaigns for minorities within the US… The results have been spectacular, with Latinos being one of the brand’s most loyal customer segments.

What a wholesome and benign way to describe what is, essentially, psychological warfare. Earlier this year, TheCounter.org warned,

On a given day, one-third of children and teens eat fast food. And fast-food consumption is higher for Latino and non-Latino Black teens, who also face greater risks for “diet-related diseases” compared to non-Latino white young people.

Writer Yasemin Nicola Sakay noted that, in 2019, the total fast-food corporate spending on Spanish-language TV was $318 million, which could also be expressed as a 33% increase in the seven years since 2012. Among Spanish-language TV watchers, the preschoolers were seeing more fast-food advertisements than the older children. The little kids were absorbing an average of 342 ads every year. Sakay wrote,

These results are consistent with a 2011 report from Northwestern University, IL, which states that children from marginalized groups spend 1–2 additional hours watching TV when compared with their white peers.

As Childhood Obesity News mentioned before, McDonald’s seems to want to refurbish its reputation. Apparently, the world owes a grudging nod to McDonald’s for being the only quick-serve chain that spent more than 1% of its ad budget to promote nutritious kids’ meals. In his article for Vox, Steven T. Wright points out some things that could maybe counteract the idea that McDonald’s is the epitome of evil in regard to childhood obesity. He quotes Mark Moeller, who is both chef and restaurant consultant:

The original thought with restaurants like McDonald’s was to aim at a family audience, so you could get customers for life… Over the past few years, they’ve decided to become more adult… They try to make it comfortable so older adults from 30 to 60 can go in and feel comfortable enjoying the fast food they grew up on but in a more welcoming environment.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Black and Hispanic youth are targeted with junk food ads, research shows,” CNN.com, 01/15/19
Source: “3 Brands that Understood the Latino Market (and 3 that Didn’t!),” DayTranslations.com, 02/28/20
Source: “Fast food ads continue to disproportionately target Black and Latino youth,” TheCounter.org, 07/07/21
Source: “Fast food’s equity problem: Black and Hispanic youth unfairly targeted by ads,” MedicalNewsToday.com, 07/02/21
Source: “Why McDonald’s looks sleek and boring now,” Vox.com, 11/01/21
Image by Mike Mozart/CC BY 2.0

McDonald’s History en Español

It has been known for years that young people of color differ from their white counterparts in being more receptive to ads, and more brand-conscious, which solidifies into brand loyalty, one of the brass rings in the advertising merry-go-round. Said an uncredited writer at DigitalAds.org, in 2013,

Unfortunately, food and beverage marketers target these young people with some of the least healthful products on the market. Because marketers know that Hispanics and African-Americans are more likely than white consumers to befriend brands and share opinions on social networking sites, many campaigns actively encourage these behaviors.

So here ya go, kids — eat this, drink that, and be sure to spend plenty of time sitting around engaging with social media — the obesity trifecta! Oh, and just to shove you along the path, there is neuromarketing. The writer pointed out how the industry leader, the Advertising Research Foundation, had learned to focus on “emotion marketing,”

[…] to target ethnic groups and drive purchasing behavior based on subconscious emotions rather than conscious decision-making.

Shortly afterward, journalist Matthew Diaz noted that “Many large universities even offer Hispanic marketing as a major these days.” One of the goals is to fine-tune recognition of the differences between the cultural norms in various Spanish-speaking countries. He pointed out that Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s shared a special ability to “capture the essence of Latino culture and successfully push the correct message.” A large component of that message is:

[T]here are indeed universal themes that connect the Hispanic community: a passion for life, family and music.

How ironic. “Hey, see those people over there who have a passion for life and family? Let’s figure out the best way to sell them stuff that will shorten their lives and their families’.”

In a 2018 article in Media Post, Parker Morse delineated “3 Lessons Learned From McDonald’s Latest Hispanic Ad Campaign.” Using the professional jargon for consumer brainwashing, he praised ad campaigns that have done “a particularly good job in reaching out to the U.S. Hispanic audience.” He particularly praised McDonald’s for “an impressive show of cultural fluency” thanks to the company’s decision to make use of an existing fictional character from a popular superhero parody TV show, El Chapulín Colorado:

The decision to use a character with particular resonance for Hispanic audiences is particularly important, because it shows that McDonald’s cares more about creating a campaign that is deeply relevant to one audience than slightly relevant for multiple ones.

Spin doctoring at its finest! Don’t mention targeting an audience, talk instead about relevance and caring. Morse writes,

As McDonald’s’ example shows, the most important part of crafting a successful Hispanic-focused campaign is plugging into the passion points that will get the audience excited and engaged…[I]t has never been content to rest on its laurels. Instead, it has continued to find new ways of reaching its target audience…

Or, you could put it this way: Not satisfied with the damage already done, the corporation relentlessly continues to seek new realms and techniques of exploitation.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Multicultural,” DigitalAds.org,” August 2013
Source: “KFC, McDonald’s share Hispanic-marketing strategies,” 1851franchise.com, 10/16/14
Source: “3 Lessons Learned From McDonald’s Latest Hispanic Ad Campaign,” MediaPost.com, 04/16/18
Images by Cesar Bojorquez, medea_material, and Loren Javier/CC BY 2.0

McDonald’s — More Little Histories

Dr. Pretlow quotes a comment that appeared on his website Weigh2Rock in reference to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” program. The comment was from a 14-year-old girl who weighed 230 pounds:

There are actually alot of activities in my school, like intramural sports and i was in them, didn’t help a smidge. And there ARE healthy affordable foods where i live, it doesn’t mean that we buy them. I don’t think she has thought about the fact that there are multiple mcdonalds in every town. For years people have had programs and activities to help obese people and it hasn’t really helped. There are many holes in this plan.

In 2019, the Happy Meal turned 40, and the corporation celebrated the occasion by bringing back 17 of the most popular toys that had been part of every Happy Meal. McDonald’s is one of the few companies that can claim to have created memories for “billions of families annually across the world” — and don’t they know it!

A top McDonald’s exec, Colin Mitchell, said in a press release,

Parents tell us how fondly they recall their favorite toys. So, unboxing the Surprise Happy Meal together creates a real moment of bonding with their children. We hope these toys are something that they will treasure and remember.

Journalist Emily Heil quoted marketing expert Jennifer Harris:

Their marketing position is that if you love your child, you’ll take them…

The drawing power of the Happy Meal depends mainly on the appeal of novelty, from the children’s point of view. From the parents’ perspective, it is part nostalgia for their own childhoods, and part emotional blackmail. In the guilt department, working mothers are a particularly easy mark. They are all about creating blissful memories, in the hopes of having lovely photos to scrapbook, in the misty future, if they ever have time. These and other motivations were studied by Prof. John Stanton, who still teaches food marketing at St. Joseph’s University.

Additionally, some parents also suffer from guilt over the fact that a Happy Meal is not, let’s face it, the optimum nutritional experience for a child. When the toys were reissued, there had already been many years of controversy.

Here is Emily Heil again:

In 2002, two Bronx teenagers filed a class-action lawsuit claiming that the chain’s food, including Happy Meals, had contributed to their obesity. The case was eventually dismissed. Other legal challenges include a 2010 California lawsuit that sought to stop the company from giving away toys, which plaintiffs claimed were used to lure children into eating unhealthy food. That was ultimately tossed, too.

The city of San Francisco in 2011 imposed an ordinance banning fast-food restaurants from offering free toys. But the wily Golden Arches got around the rule by tacking on a 10-cent surcharge for the plaything.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “The Happy Meal, a triumph of marketing blamed for childhood obesity, is turning 40,” WashingtonPost.com, 11/6/19
Image by Aranami/CC BY 2.0

McDonald’s, Little Histories

McDonald’s USA and the Walt Disney Co used to have a business relationship, then it ended in 2006. Also in 2006, the Institute of Medicine reported that childhood obesity was influenced, and not for the better, by junk food marketing. Reuters reported,

McDonald’s Corp paid $100 million in royalties and conducted 11 promotions a year for Disney movies and television shows and opened restaurants inside its theme parks, the Times reported… Disney introduced voluntary guidelines in 2006 that prohibited licensing of Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters for foods that fail to meet minimum nutrition requirements.

One question — aren’t voluntary guidelines and prohibition mutually incompatible? At any rate, they broke up, and then early in 2018, the announcement was made that the two would be getting back together again. The duration and financial terms of the contract were not discussed with the press at the time. According to Reuters,

A McDonald’s spokeswoman said the new pact does not include any agreement on restaurants in parks but added: “We will continue to explore ways to bring this alliance to life.”

What a poetic way to express the intention of placing more calorie emporiums in theme parks!

More McDonald’s, more problems

McDonald’s is famous for being a gigantic behemoth, and also for catering to the desires of children. Even the rival quick-service restaurants that had climbed on the kid-friendly bandwagon were baffled by parents’ insistence on taking their kids to Mickey D’s. At the same time, the Associated Press said in early 2018, “The Happy Meal has long been a target of health advocates and parents who link it to childhood obesity.” The company has shown itself willing to tweak and tinker with the Happy Meal, but the parents and health professionals who hate it are unlikely to ever be reconciled.

Yesterday’s post mentioned that a hospital in Lucknow, India, had found a definite connection between quick-service restaurant offerings, and kidney stones. Dr. S.N. Shankhwar explained that fast food contains masses of sodium, which affects calcium metabolism, which causes hypercalciuria and stones:

Aerated drinks also decrease the ph level of urine, which does not allow complete dissolution of waste products generated in body, leading to crystal formation and strengthening of previously existing crystals… Kidney stones are formed when substances in urine become highly concentrated. Stones usually begin with a small crystal that solidifies with settlement of newer layers.

We also mentioned the ubiquitous presence of the corporation all over the world. McDonald’s at the time decreed that in international (non-US) outlets, “at least half of the Happy Meal options available must meet its new nutritional guidelines.” Sugar-sweetened beverages with fizz were removed from the Happy Meal menu, but could be ordered by the parent on behalf of the child if need be. The non-listing policy had reduced the frequency with which they were ordered, which is to the corporation’s credit. AP reports,

Since it removed soda from the Happy Meal menu four years ago, orders for it with Happy Meals have fallen 14 percent, the company said.

That cliffhanger will be expounded on in the next installment.

(To be continued…)

Source: “Disney toys return to McDonald’s Happy Meals,” Reuters.com, 02/27/18
Source: “McDonald’s Happy Meal goes on a diet, banishing cheeseburgers, shrinking fry order and adding water to drink,” OCRegister.com, 02/15/18
Source: “Fast food linked to kidney stones,” DeccanChronicle.com, 04/26/15
Image by Jim, the Photographer/CC BY 2.0

McDonald’s Miscellaneous

McDonald’s is the ultimate QSR, or quick-service restaurant, and sure, there are good things about Mickey D’s, but plenty of other people are willing to say them, including of course the corporation itself. Anyway, this is a trip down Memory Lane to stop at a few memorable landmarks and catch up on some items not previously mentioned here.

In 2014 it was noted by the School of Public Health at Australia’s Sydney University that in any given month, more than 13 million Australians were interacting with the Facebook pages of fast food and junk food companies. Young people in the 13-24-years spectrum were found to be deeply involved with the online presences of Domino’s Pizza Australia, Pringles, Cadbury Eyebrows, and McDonald’s Australia. This heavy social media saturation was perceived by the academics as an end-run to avoid the country’s restrictions on television advertising.

A global dilemma

Of course, Australia was not the only country getting riled up. In the subcontinent of India, the McDonald’s brand was already in economic trouble. The novelty of burgers and fries had worn off, and the company was losing business to many Western-based QSRs. People wanted tacos, pizza, waffles, doughnuts, and whatever else was new and different.

In Lucknow, a study conducted in the urology department of King George’s Medical University revealed that among children ages 6 to 14, the number of kidney stones had tripled within a 10-year period. A senior staff doctor confirmed that the department was receiving five or six young patients with this condition every week. The institution attributed this frightening increase to “the growing tread of binging on burgers and pizzas, both of which contain high sodium levels present in processed cheese and meats.”

At the beginning of 2018, journalist Kelsey Patterson wrote,

The nation’s largest restaurant company — which has faced criticism on a variety of societal issues in the past, including food safety and animal treatment, childhood obesity and low wages — hopes to make a positive impact within its own company and throughout the food service industry.

A spokesperson announced that in response to customer demand, the company would stop using foam for “guest packaging” by the end of the year, and that this would apply worldwide. They also promised to do better on recycling, because at that time only 10% of McDonald’s outlets were equipped with designated recycle bins. By 2025, they said, they hoped to be recycling 100% of the packaging. Furthermore, by that date, 100% of the packaging would be derived from renewable, recycled, or certified sources.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Junk food companies use Facebook to get around children’s television advertising restrictions,” News.com.au, 10/17/14
Source: “Fast food linked to kidney stones,” DeccanChronicle.com, 04/26/15
Source: “McDonald’s Announces Move That Will Change the Future of Fast Food,” PopCulture.com, 01/17/18
Image by Sean Ellis/CC BY 2.0

Does McDonald’s Overstep?

It has been a while since we caught up with McDonald’s, often blamed as the instigator of much childhood obesity. The company has been up to some new tricks. First of all, there is fresh news, according to writer M. Smith who says,

McDonald’s first plant-based burger (ignoring the veggie “burgers” that have come before it) finally goes on limited sale in the US later this week. For now, the US McPlant is neither vegan nor vegetarian and will come with a slice of American cheese and mayonnaise. The burger is also cooked on the same grill as meat — and egg-based products.

In other words, strict constructionist non-meat-eaters will probably give it the thumbs-down. But it does, according to Smith, taste and “mouthfeel” like meat. Only franchises in the United Kingdom and Ireland have put their own spin on the McPlant, correcting every American misstep, and consequently earning vegan accreditation from the Vegetarian Society.

Rehabilitation?

A couple of years back, The Washington Post took a stab at redeeming McDonald’s reputation by publishing an article about fast food myths, which attorney Hans Bader then expounded on in a piece called, “The Myth that Eating McDonald’s Makes You Obese.”

Apparently, Americans in the upper-middle income bracket eat fast food more frequently than the economically struggling masses do. Therefore, the theory goes, even though obesity seems to be a disease of the poor, McDonald’s is not to blame. Sure, one Brazilian judge in 2010 awarded a man thousands of dollars because working at McDonald’s for 15 years had made him obese. But that was a fluke, and nobody else had better get any fancy ideas.

Also, potatoes have gotten a bum rap, because they don’t necessarily have more calories than the other foods that people would choose instead. And the so-called “fast-casual” eateries that offer more fresh food? Guess what — they do not necessarily serve up fewer calories. McDonald’s defenders are well-stocked with defenses.

In any debate, someone will speak up to remind participants and audiences that correlation is not the same as causation. In this one, various voices have consistently insisted that calories are not the only factor involved in obesity. So that should, according to one school of thought, let them off scot-free.

Does McDonald’s overstep?

Apparently, the franchise owners can do whatever they please about the interior and exterior appearance of their establishments. In Orlando, Florida, the world’s largest McDonald’s features a gourmet menu with exotic offerings found nowhere else, over 100 arcade games, and all kinds of bells and whistles. The décor includes two different, mural-scale interpretations of the same creative vision, described by the Vox writer Steven T. Wright as “Ronald McDonald’s electric-yellow hands gripping the world.” Oh, and also a large, free-standing sculpture depicting the same concept.

Originally a gospel song or spiritual, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” has been popular for decades in the musical repertoires of many religious denominations. And the “he” referenced in the lyrics is not Ronald McDonald. So at the very least, this could be seen by some viewers as sacrilegious. Others might be appalled by the artwork itself but that is, as always, a matter of personal taste.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “The McPlant tastes just like any McDonald’s burger,” Engadget.com, 11/02/21
Source: “The Myth That Eating McDonald’s Makes You Obese,” Fee.org, 06/19/19
Source: “Why McDonald’s looks sleek and boring now,” Vox.com, 11/01/21
Image by Mike Burton/CC BY-ND 2.0