Gearfuse Technology, Science, Culture & More
Before you argue that McDonalds is not tech-related, check at your waistline.
Now that that’s settled, let’s talk burger. McDonalds is trying a radical new concept of selling in Japan. See, it just brought the Quarter Pounder over and in an effort to promote it better and more efficiently, two McDonalds stores were rebranded into Quarter Pounder only stores. You’ll see no golden arches or mention of Micky Ds here. The menu includes two items: a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a (wait for it!) Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese. All cups and packaging include the words “QUARTER POUNDER”, further adding mystique to this radical fast food concept.
McDonalds calls it viral. I call it delicious.
A press release from McDonald’s (at least according to a few other blogs) says that this is just to create buzz marketing for the Quarter Pounder (not yet on menus at McDonald’s in Japan) as it’s introduced.
Dr. Tantillo’s just published a post on McDonald’s on his marketing blog, in which he praises McDonald’s for being so flexible and adapting to demand but prefaced this with: “The big things about McDonald�s cosmetic image (i.e., colors, designs, clown mascot) have never essentially changed. Neither has the basic serving and restaurant setup.”
Guess they are even more flexible though… Tantillo’s full post
Even though this is supposed to just be temporary/buzz marketing, I wonder if cultivating this sort of aesthetic wouldn’t make sense for them–a move to diversify their holdings (they own a significant portion of Chipotle, or did last I knew) and expand/diversify their customer base (Ex. their ‘unsnobby coffee’ campaign. Tantillo did a post on
Starbucks/Dunkin’ Donuts mentioning McDonald’s coffee, too.
Thanks for the insight, Sloane. Makes more sense now.