Salina Garris

ENC1102

Joseph Cottle

April 10, 2013

McDonald’s advertising…Are you Lovin it?!

McDonald's is the largest hamburger fast food chain in the world. Those golden arches

can be spotted just about every five mile radius. McDonald's signs read "99 Billion Served". As a

company with such high stature, McDonald's works hard to maintain its title and keep its

customers coming back. “ The restaurant provides food for people in 119 countries, especially

the USA. There are even 179 restaurants in India where most people do not eat either beef or

pork” (Lubin).”As the leading food-service provider in the United States, McDonalds serves a

variety of wholesome options to more than 26 million customers every day” (Badka). All though

McDonalds can easily appeal to almost each and every demographic, they find unique ways to

appeal to many specific groups of people.

In an advertisement by McDonalds you can see their strategies to attract families. They

show a picture of a Mom and Dad and their two children all sitting around the table smiling and

laughing. Of course the children have happy meals in front of them and they could not be more

thrilled.

In this advertisement McDonald’s uses pathos to sell their product. They attempt to get

you emotionally by showing you this happy as can be family all having a wonderful time. As

they all sit around enjoying each other at McDonalds it makes you associate a happy family with

McDonalds. You smile seeing such a picture perfect moment, and makes you want to go to

McDonalds with your family and have a similar experience. As the children’s face light up with

their happy meals in front of them you can see how much the children love McDonalds. The

advertisement portrays that this is the place you want to bring your children, regardless of what

age they are guaranteed a fun time. With tons of different toys available in each happy meal,

each one holding a new surprise! By seeing this ad it makes you genuinely feel happy because

you can sense what a great time the family and children are having together.

It is easy to see how this advertisement would affect children. Just by the

simple detail of a happy meal and action figure, a child can look at this ad and have the desire to

go to McDonalds right away. The Happy Meal has been one of the most successful ploys at

appealing to young children. Each Happy Meal comes in a fun, present like box (special boxes

for holidays such as the pumpkin carrier for Halloween) often containing fun cut-outs and games

on the side. Inside the Happy Meal is the most valuable component. Yes, there is the food-

choice of chicken nuggets, hamburger, or cheeseburger- but the real thing catching a child's

attention is the toy that comes inside each and every happy meal. Happy Meal toys come in

series that last a few weeks and within each series about 5-10 different toys are introduced. It

becomes the ultimate goal of the child to collect each and every one. Which keep them begging

their parents to keep coming back so they can get the next piece to complete their collection.

Another strategy McDonald’s uses in their advertisement is the suggestion that there is

something for everyone. While the two children have happy meals, the dad bites into a Big Mac

while the mom fills her fork with salad. This picture is proving that there is something for

everyone. As a mom seeing this, you can easily see how she would be more attracted to bringing

her family to the establishment. Not only is there happy meals to please your children but you

can even keep up with your diet at the same time. McDonalds does a good job to persuade its

audience of moms that they do have meals for them, not just their children. With their wide

selections of salads it seems you cannot go wrong with McDonalds. For the Father’s viewing this

advertisement they also get a sense of assurance that they will get the meal they have in mind.

While the Dad in the ad grins ear to ear with a giant big mac in his face, you can see how a

Father could relate to the picture.

Besides just having numerous menu items to choose from, in this advertisement you

can see one of the children with a side of apples and fruit juice. Whoever said McDonald was not

healthy? The children may beg and plead for their mother to take them for Happy Meals, but it is

ultimately the mother's decision and money. McDonald's works very hard to get mothers on

board. The toy has children springing for Happy Meals, but in order to give mothers the

assurance that their kids are not eating total crap McDonald’s has introduced healthier options

for Happy Meals. Apple slices instead of French fries and milk instead of soda are now available

in children's Happy Meals. This persuades parents into coming to McDonalds because now their

children can have what they want and eat a nutritious meal at the same time! It is a win-win for

both the parents and children and that is what is displayed in the advertisement. No mom

appreciates their children eating junk food, and they just want the best for them, so by showing

healthy options and children enjoying them it makes McDonalds even more attractive to parents.

Another thing used in the advertisement to sell the product is logos. At the you see

medium sized font saying “Every Tuesday and Thursday $1.99 happy meals”, by using this fact

about the pricing, more people are inclined to go and buy McDonald’s, Who does not love

saving money? I know majority of McDonald’s audience is interested in saving a few dollars on

dinner whenever possible. This attracts customers because everyone loves good prices. Families

who have multiple children to feed will read this and be more inclined to visit their local

McDonalds especially on a Tuesday or Thursday to save some money. By showing that

McDonalds is an economical choice, this makes McDonald’s more appealing to families.

In the background of the advertisement in a blur behind the happy family you can

also see a man and a women causally laughing and looking at each other. This helps appeal to

teenagers, and convinces you that McDonalds is not just a place for families, it is also a great

place to take a significant other, it shows them acting similar to the family, all smiling and

carefree. By showing this couple it appeals to a broader audience expanding past families. It

allows you to feel like it is the right place for everyone.

Ethnicity is also touched on in this advertisement. This family appears to be

somewhat Latino, based on their tan skin and dark hair. By using a family who is not just a

picture perfect all American blonde hair and light eyed family, it emphasizes that McDonald’s

supports diversity. It shows you that no matter what your background or ethnicity, McDonald’s

has a place for you. This gives many people a comforting feeling, and helps sell their product.

Last but not least, in this advertisement bright colors are used to shine a light on

their fun evening at McDonalds. While avoiding dark and dull colors, it appears that the

restaurant is full of fun and nothing but happiness. The bright color gets you excited and

encourages you to wan t to be surrounded by this positive energy here at McDonalds.

On a global level, McDonalds is probably one of the most known corporations

around the world. It is not an unfamiliar company by any means, and there advertisements are

endless. In this particular advertisement focusing on their low prices and bonding with your

family, many people can relate to it. In this economy, prices are really everything, and

McDonalds is definitely affordable! Bringing your entire family out to dinner can get pricy, but

this advertisement shows you that you can have a nice meal and keep it in your budget. Families

everywhere can see this ad and feel included.

Personally when I saw this advertisement, it was simply just a typical McDonald’s

ad. There was really nothing special, they have been campaigning the same thing since I can

remember. The advertisement is simply trying to appeal to families, it promotes a nice “family

meal” showing laughing and smiling portraying a good ole time. As a child I was never allowed

to eat McDonalds, my mom hated it and just thought the food as absolutely disgusting. This

makes it easier to understand their target audience in this advertisement, because I am sure I did

not have the only mom who had negative views on the restaurant. It makes sense that they try to

encourage families to come in, because once again a lot of parents know the true quality of their

food and are not very motivated to drag their children there.

In conclusion, there are many aspects of this advertisement that are used to portray

McDonald’s products and why you should buy it. Through pathos, logos, and many other details

you can see all that is used to convince their audience to take their families to their local

McDonalds. A huge company like McDonald's invests a lot into advertising. To be exact, last

year alone McDonald's spent nearly 963,000,000 dollars on advertising. McDonald's has a huge

customer base, and must find a way to appeal to them all.

Sources

"McDonald's Megamind Commercial." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

Lubin, Gus. "15 Facts About McDonald's That Will Blow Your Mind." Business Insider. N.p.,

17 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

Badka, Mamta. "The Truth and Troubling Statistics of McDonald's Happy Meals | My Thirty

Spot." The Truth and Troubling Statistics of McDonald's Happy Meals | My Thirty Spot. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.