"Get extra napkins when you order a hot and juicy Quarter Pounder. A normal amount of napkins just won't do."
Save the trees.
We all are willing to swallow a bit of realism in a fast food ad. Hot and juicy and McDonald's should mean a meeting with the fast food franchise and the Federal Trade Commission.
Hot is likely. Not as in a "fresh off the grill" kind of hot, but more like "straight from the microwave" hot. The beauty of "hot" is McDonald's can claim that "hot" doesn't refer to the temperature of the burger.
Juicy! Juicy? I haven't had a McDonald's hamburger since the pandemic started. I also haven't had a juicy burger from McDonald's in over 1,500 tries. I've eaten more of the regular hamburgers where they taste more like hot pork from a microwave than beef from a grill.
Maybe the juicy part comes from the high-fructose corn syrup dominant ketchup, why you might need napkins, not extra napkins. Based on the smaller hamburger, which normally contains a whisper of mustard no matter how you order, ketchup is the only way you get any sort of moisture.
The :15 spot for McDonald's doesn't show a juicy burger. We have criticized the KFC commercials for showing us dark brown chicken when the actual product is light brown. The voice tells us that the burger is juicy. There is no visual proof.
If you were in a focus group listing the adjectives of the McDonald's Quarter Pounder, you would be out of breath before you said "juicy."
The lack of fast food hype in a pandemic
BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage
The ad is also intriguing since this is one of the few McDonald's or fast food ads lately that goes into how good the fast food tastes. The food is cheap and convenient; why talk about how good the food tastes. Just because you sell the most burgers doesn't mean the customers are there for how they taste.
We struggle in writing about food advertising that real food isn't promoted like fast food or quick food or ultra-convenient food. After all, fruit roll-ups are more likely to be seen on TV than actual fruit.
This lovely commercial might seem like an ad for tomatoes, one of nature's most impressive foods. Look how pretty the tomatoes are. Unlike fast food advertising, real tomatoes can actually look better than what you see on screen.
Eventually you realize that the ad is not for tomatoes but Bertolli olive oil, which is drizzled over the tomatoes.
This is great shared advertising. The olive oil maker pays for the ad but tomatoes get the top billing.
Tomato trust at a farmers market is a cherished responsibility
BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage
This is also a reminder that your local farmers markets are a great source for local tomatoes this fall.
Maybe the (potentially) new U.S. federal government can give financial incentives to have more fruit and vegetable ads so that consumers can see actual fruits and vegetables instead of products that incorporate them far in the background.
photo credits: McDonald's (x2); Bertolli
Comments