McDonald’s/Skip the Dishes – VISA 1500, 2021

Chloe Macus

VISA 1500

Sept 23, 2021

Prof. Terryl Atkins

This advertisement is located in a bathroom at Thompson Rivers University. I stumbled upon said advertisement while entering a stall in the Student Activity Centre. This is a joint display of an available service by the very well-known McDonalds and the newer but increasingly successful Skip the Dishes, which is a food delivery service. Looking closely at the black border, it is also apparent that there is another advertiser, Captive Media, that is subtly promoting their advertisement company.

It is a rectangular advertisement with a bright red background and a jet-black border. There are two sections of yellow writing, one on the top that says “we deliver” and one on the bottom that says “your late-night cravings.” There is a line of white dots in the middle, connecting the two pieces of golden writing. The purpose of the white dots is to show starting at one destination and ending at another, which is to remind you about Skip the Dishes and how they will deliver the food to you. The yellow and red is the trademark look for McDonald’s, which means that without even looking at the brand name, people already know who the advertisement is about.

This is a very clear and simple advertisement. Some would argue that it is boring but I would say that this is very strategically constructed. First of all, this is placed within a bathroom of a university. Everybody knows that university students are usually swamped with the large costs that come with higher education. This means that they would be more inclined to purchase food from a cheaper brand than one that is over the top and fancy. Having a very simplistic advertisement points to the fact that it is not going to be a super expensive and overly extravagant meal which university students are going to pay more attention to.

Something I thought they could’ve done better is to add in some pictures of food or a car. If you’re wanting to get people to crave food, then it would be best to show them some food. There are many people out there who do happen to know who McDonald’s is, but there are many who don’t know what Skip the Dishes is. They probably could’ve done better if they added something that showed a bit more about what that brand is all about.

I think the message is for sure getting across to the right group. I am not too certain if the Campus Activity Centre is open at night for people to be seeing that advertisement that late, but I do know that many university students stay up to finish homework or study. If they saw the same one I did, then possibly later that night while they’re doing their work, the idea of getting McDonald’s from skip the dishes may pop into their head.

This advertisement is noticeable in the environment that it is in. When you sit down and look up, its bright colours are right in your face and you’re stuck in there looking at it for probably a minute or two. It’s not overly crowded with different words or pictures, it is very basic and easy to read and gets the point across very easily.

McDonald’s is very infamous for the way that they treat the environment. They’ve been heavily criticized many times for using products that aren’t biodegradable as well as the fact that they have been cutting down forests to make more room for their beef farms. Apparently, they have made many pledges to reduce their carbon footprint and move towards more sustainable practices and materials. I am not too certain on how well they are keeping up with their promises, but so far I haven’t noticed any changed in the material that is used for their products in Kamloops.

References

CNN. (2018, January 30). McDonald’s is promising to become more eco-friendly in response to customer input. Simplemost. https://www.simplemost.com/mcdonalds-promises-eco-friendly/

Ltd, A. A. (2021, August 12). Business environmental analysis of mcdonalds. UK Essays. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/business-environmental-analysis-of-mcdonalds-marketing-essay.php