Sunday, March 27, 2011

Ronald McDonald Where Did You Go?

According to Bloomberg, McDonalds is taking a new turn in their advertisement. We do not see Ronald as much as we did before. In recent commercials, the focus has not been on children and the happy meal; it has been on coffee, Wi-Fi, and healthier food. I think this is a great idea on the business side of the restaurant. They have not gotten rid of the originals but are adding more adult desirable items on to the menu. People want something cheap, something they can find on every street, something generally easy and fast. McDonalds is keeping up with the economy by keeping in mind how busy adults are, and how keeping a clean and pretty environment can attract customers of all ages. They are not getting rid of the play place, the happy meal, or the family friendly ambiance but are just adapting to the changes around the world money and health wise. McDonalds is the wealthiest fast food chain on the market right now valued at $33.6 million, with KFC for second-place valued at $5.84 million. Their competition will need to step it up if they want to be able to compete. McDonalds has been successful with children, adults, and after the movie Super Size Me, health conscious people. We all miss Ronald but McDonalds has seen that focusing on children is overrated and that adults are the new focus.


Elianah (lead author)
Haley (lead researcher)
Iram (secretary)

8 comments:

  1. I think that yalls post is really true. We see that McDonalds is motivated by the most basic economic principal- making a profit. Companies poor huge amounts of dollars into ad campaigns in order to sell the most product. They have to respond to the demand of the people so their supply of healthier foods and fresher items are going up. They change their marketing skills because they want to appear more modern. I think that Ronald is associated more with greasy hamburgers and french-fries so they are willing to come up with a new appearance. Because of the competitive business of food companies they want to be able to compete with the more health oriented competitors as well as the not so healthy "feel good" food competitors. I think that people have already been responding pretty well to this. I have seen a lot of articles in different magazines that feature the healthiest fast food items and McDonalds has been included in these articles. Although people probably wont be thinking of McDonalds as a healthy restaurant and wont be willing to head to the local McDonalds rather than their raw food bar they have made a change to the goods that they offer. In order for McDonalds to succeed they will have to keep up with the health food craze.

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  2. I really like this post. It’s accurate and tells the truth. People these days are busier and busier and McDonalds is able to benefit this. They have always been a pretty strong fast food chain but at times have lost customers due to such an unhealthy selection of food. By advertising healthy items and making McDonalds appeal to adults and busy people they are keeping up with the economy. If McDonalds weren’t selling healthier items on their menu and advertising those items, sales would most likely decrease significantly. In the past McDonalds hasn't come off as the healthiest restaurant, though very fast. I think they can and will continue to adapt further and support healthy living even more. Who knows, in the next decade chicken mcnuggets and 1000 calorie french fries could be completely wiped out being replaced with grilled chicken bites and carrots and celery and fruit as the only other option.
    Alex Yonks

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  3. McDonalds has changed for the best in these modern times. Your post is completely right. People are busier than ever these days and they look for fast food that has at least some nutritional value. With McDonalds switching their marketing towards fast paced adults, they are only adding money to their wallets. It is true that McDonalds has not had the cleanest reputation when it comes to the nutritional values of their food but with these changes making headlines, people will start to pay attention. Since McDonalds is still keeping their more familiar food, people can make the healthier choice or they can indulge themselves in the comfort food that is associated with Ronald McDonald. It will be hard for other fast food chains to make up this giant gap that McDonalds has created between them. But they will have even more incentive to push the envelope and come up with new ideas that may place them ahead of McDonalds. Adults won’t have to weigh the pros and cons of going to McDonalds, but they will only have to weigh the pros and cons of what items to choose from their menu.

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  4. I find this blog post very intriguing, and after some thought, I too have realized that Ronald McDonald's presence has diminished in recent McDonalds' commercials. I believe that Ronald McDonalds diminished presence has been good for the company because Ronald McDonald represents a bunch of negativity from it's past including obesity and poor food quality, the recent commercials focusing on happyness, health and coffee have done wonders for making the company have a mor positive image.

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  5. I really enjoyed reading this article and I agree completely with the observation that Ronald McDonald has not been present in almost any recent advertisements. Since Ronald McDonald was last seen the company has completely changed its image for the better. Yes there food is not the healthiest or greatest in the world, but the image of unhealthiest food in America has faded. McDonalds has done a good job of ridding itself of past problems and getting more involved in what there consumers want. The loss of Ronald McDonald only affects a select people; older Americans who actually remember Ronald as the mascot for the dominating franchise. Today many of the children eating at McDonalds don’t know who Ronald McDonald really is. He isn’t on anymore ads, drinks, bags, napkins, etc. McDonalds has clearly focused its ideas on what is relevant to today’s people. McDonalds is nowhere near losing its spot as top fast food company in America. They have reviewed their image and came up with the necessary changes to make it better; and in the long run the changes they made were definitely the correct ones. Having an over twenty-eight million dollar advantage on KFC, the closest fast food competitor, only confirms the statement that McDonalds has redone their image by taking out Ronald McDonald and making the company better.

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  6. Ok guys, I think you need to check your facts. There is no way that Macdonalds is only valued at 36 million... more like 36 billion if not more. How does the act of advertising differently have to do with the economy. Also, I know it is important to Macdonalds to appeal to everyone (children, adults, ect...) but how does it appeal to us as the consumer?

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  7. Thanks! You guys have all brought out more interesting points on why McDonalds' changes are helping the company. Their advancements and new ideas show that the people behind the company are thinking ahead. What do you guys think their next step will be once every fast food restaurant adapts to serving healthy fast affordable food? What will be their next great innovation towards good business?

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  8. I agree that McDonalds is not focusing so much on Ronald McDonald anymore which is benefitting them in the long run. McDonalds already receives high demand from customers that were the original fans of it. These people do not care if the food is healthy or not, they enjoy eating it. In the past, McDonalds was known for their unhealthy food and only reached out to the ones that did not care about their nutrition. The healthier people did not even consider choosing McDonalds as a place to eat. Now that they are adding additional meals that are healthier, then they have a higher demand from all sorts of people. By advancing McDonalds, they are not only getting business from the original customers but also new healthy adult customers. The demand was high for McDonalds at breakfast, lunch, and dinner but now it has grown higher as it reaches out to the healthy customers. I agree that since McDonalds is making a healthier menu, then this will give their competition incentive to do the same which will eventually give everyone the opportunity to eat healthy wherever they go.

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