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Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

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Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#111

Post by jff »

verisimilidude wrote: post #88
pimeys wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't even understand why people in USA go to McDonalds etc. I mean, if you want good burgers, USA is the paradise for them. E.g. while visiting Berkeley, one random burger joint called Bongo Burger was better than any burger I've eaten in Europe. I don't know how is it in smaller cities, but I would guess an American should know what's a good burger and what's complete rubbish.

To add insult to injury, there's a McDonald's within a few blocks of Bongo Burger (at Center St.) that's enormous and always packed. I'm not sure if we see this behavior because Americans are addicted to empty calories, or just don't want to venture outside their (dis)comfort zone to try something new, or what. It's sad.

If I walk into a McDonald's, I know that $5 will get me a cheeseburger, some fries, and a drink. I know what it'll taste like, and I know the food will be ready in about 2 minutes. I'm sure Bongo Burger is amazing, and now that I've heard of it I'll have to try it next time I'm in Berkeley. But for all I know, a Bongo Burger might cost $10 and have a half-hour wait before they get my order cooked; that's not always what I'm looking for, and that's perfectly fine.

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#112

Post by tadfisher »

MattGrommes wrote: post #92
verisimilidude wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add insult to injury, there's a McDonald's within a few blocks of Bongo Burger (at Center St.) that's enormous and always packed. I'm not sure if we see this behavior because Americans are addicted to empty calories, or just don't want to venture outside their (dis)comfort zone to try something new, or what. It's sad.

The point of eating at McDonald's is not to get the world's best burger. It's to get a McD burger which always tastes the same no matter where you are. They don't really even taste like regular burgers, they taste like McDonald's burgers. People aren't dumb, they know approximately what the burger at Bongo (or wherever) will taste like. But you have to figure out what they put on the burger, what to drink, etc. At Mc…

Two words that keep fast food on everyone's mind:

DOLLAR MENU

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#113

Post by gridspy »

Groxx wrote: post #56
ryanwhitney wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You claim they responded transparently and without sugar coating anything. So what was the answer to the original question? Why does the ad burger patty appear thicker and larger? Edit: So many answers talking about how they might make a quarter pound patty look larger. Anyone can do that. I was addressing the fact that the video in no way covers why they look larger in advertisements. Sidestepping the important ques…

Urgh. So many answers that the real bun is shrinking due to the steam - that would make the real patty look thicker than the ad patty, when compared to the bun (the only real comparison possible), so that's clearly not the answer. I would point to the scene where they're rolling the patty on the skillet to flatten the edges. That, combined with possibly less squishing by the press and less cooking overall would give…

The bun doesn't shrink evenly. It strinks more under and above the ingredients - essentially sagging and hiding them.

I aggree that if it shrunk uniformly, then it would make the contents look proportionally bigger.

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#115

Post by Shivetya »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #53
eykanal wrote: post #21

I'll disagree slightly with tptacek... this is a genius piece of marketing by McDonalds. It does everything that we routinely see listed on this very site as Best Practices™: - Respond to customer feedback in a friendly and highly transparent manner. - Don't sugarcoat things that "everyone knows but no one admits"; they could have avoided showing the graphic artist photoshopping the burger, but everyone knows that th…

It's a no-cost honesty play all around. Everyone knows the food in ads doesn't look like the food in the store. No one really cares. The few who do care weren't going to eat there anyway, so their opinions are wholly irrelevant. The get the benefits of being honest with none of the cost. It's a total win.

While they don't care I think it will make some people think. It might give even a few the idea for their future career; this was a very good short about presentation and it did show some of the tricks of the trade.

Plus for me its fun to see it.

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#116

Post by kalleboo »

ff0066mote wrote: post #93

Ever been to Japan? The burgers and fries at McDonalds there are not lukewarm or squished like you get here in America, rather they're hot, toasted, and all puffed up. They're also more expensive.

Damn, now I'm really in the mood for some Mos Burger. Fast food that looks exactly like their pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalleboo/5997808382/lightbox/

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#117

Post by desigooner »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #31

I once saw a TV segment showing some starlet being photographed for a print clothing ad campaign. The stylist used metal clips (the sort one can buy at an office supply store for holding 50 sheets of paper together) to tighten the garment around her torso. From the front, the dress looked like it fit her perfectly. However, the back exposed a bunch of black metal clips holding back fabric. How does such an ad compare…

All the mens shirting still photos you see are shot in this manner. If you were to wear shirts that fitted so snugly, you might not even be able to move or breath.

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#118

Post by planetguy »

eykanal wrote: post #21

I'll disagree slightly with tptacek... this is a genius piece of marketing by McDonalds. It does everything that we routinely see listed on this very site as Best Practices™: - Respond to customer feedback in a friendly and highly transparent manner. - Don't sugarcoat things that "everyone knows but no one admits"; they could have avoided showing the graphic artist photoshopping the burger, but everyone knows that th…

McDonald's is in a fortunate/unfortunate position in that they can afford to have an ad campaign based upon honesty, because the unvarnished truth is still a lot better than the stuff that an awful lot of people already believe about them. I've heard many of these urban myths repeated in the wild by otherwise intelligent people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonalds_urban_legends

My favourite fact about most of these is that they allege that McDonald's is using a disgusting ingredient which would almost certainly wind up more expensive than the real thing. Hamburger-grade beef sells for, what, four dollars a pound? Probably a lot less if you have McDonalds' buying power. What do you think worm meat costs?

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#119

Post by mbesto »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #53
eykanal wrote: post #21

I'll disagree slightly with tptacek... this is a genius piece of marketing by McDonalds. It does everything that we routinely see listed on this very site as Best Practices™: - Respond to customer feedback in a friendly and highly transparent manner. - Don't sugarcoat things that "everyone knows but no one admits"; they could have avoided showing the graphic artist photoshopping the burger, but everyone knows that th…

It's a no-cost honesty play all around. Everyone knows the food in ads doesn't look like the food in the store. No one really cares. The few who do care weren't going to eat there anyway, so their opinions are wholly irrelevant. The get the benefits of being honest with none of the cost. It's a total win.

Exactly. People don't go to McDonald's because the food looks right. They go because no matter where you are in the world the experience is same (or at least roughly the same) - quick food that tastes good. Until humanity isn't faced with being rushed to eat, I don't see McDonald's going anywhere soon.

I used to be from the school of thought that this marketing was "bad" or misleading the consumer. I think quite the contrary now. I've found that most buying behavior is ridiculously irrational and that marketing is effectively just exposing that human weakness.

BMW ad that shows a smart middle aged man with a beautiful women? That actually can be true. You don't buy a BMW for it's utility (getting from A to B), you buy it for the potential experience (getting from A to B with a hot blonde). Otherwise you go with the Smartcar. BMW marketing is just giving you ideas of what that potential experience can be. It's up to you to use the tool to create the experience.

Re: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

#120

Post by HorizonXP »

eykanal wrote: post #21

I'll disagree slightly with tptacek... this is a genius piece of marketing by McDonalds. It does everything that we routinely see listed on this very site as Best Practices™: - Respond to customer feedback in a friendly and highly transparent manner. - Don't sugarcoat things that "everyone knows but no one admits"; they could have avoided showing the graphic artist photoshopping the burger, but everyone knows that th…

Two things:

1) She uses a BlackBerry PlayBook in the video. :-D

2) This video is part of a much larger social marketing effort by McDonald's Canada.

http://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/

Personally, I think it's brilliant, and masterfully executed. Sounds like someone there "gets" social media.

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