Image Attribution: “McDonalds Take-out Street Sign Analysis” by McDonalds Corporation is licensed under CC0. (See interactive map)

 

Evan Q

VISA 1500_01

September 23, 2020

Assignment 1A

 

This large McDonalds street sign is advertising the opening of take-out for the establishment behind it, to bring more customers into the store amidst concern of Covid-19. The advertisement consists of a wooden counter, on which sits a head-on view of a red french fry holder centre-image filled with fanned-out fries, forming implied lines towards the McDonalds logo printed on the holder’s centre. Four fries lay on the counter in the left-hand foreground, three of which are largely horizontal, and one implying a line between the centre of the advertisement to the start of a sentence beneath it.The primary light source of the image appears to be coming from the top left corner of the image. The background is a blurred mix of green, yellow, and blue to indicate a daytime sky and foliage, with a large statement reading “Take-out now open” above the fry holder, occupying one quarter of the image. The previously mentioned print below the fries displays “You deserve a little break”. The word “You” in the lower statement is colored red, while all other text is black.

As has been previously studied, the colour red elicits a sense of persuasiveness in advertisements while blue a sense of trustworthiness (1), and that red subjects on blue backgrounds are more favored than the opposite (2). These techniques appear to be utilized in this advertisement, attempting to appeal to the stress of the viewer by presenting the product as a solution to said stress. This is supported by the relaxing analogous colors of the red holder and golden fries. However, the use of exposed fries as a prop on the counter surface, amidst Covid-19 concerns, detracts from the advertisement’s appeal. Additionally, the favoring of “passionate” red over “trustworthy” blue is curious considering the context of the advertisement, leading me to question the adaptation of the advertisement in relation to the changing demands of its customers. However, this may be attributed to the age of the sign, as it appears to have suffered a degree of wear, and may be outdated. Despite this, the framing of the advertisement utilizes multiple methods to successfully personalize the advertisement by emphasizing “You” on the lower statement, and the warm colours retain a sense of comfort while keeping the viewer’s attention revolving around the central fries and logo.

This advertisement was found on a street corner, outside the correlating establishment. Due to the image’s size and location it is very noticeable, with easily legible font from a distance. The McDonalds brand is very recognizable, and has been subject to a large amount of negative press, from policies regarding solid waste disposal, deforestation, and ozone damage to the continued use of plastics and employee wages (3)(4)(5). However they do seem to have taken more recent actions to increase transparency and reduce their environmental footprint, despite this not being a unanimous direction within the company for the majority of its duration (3).

 

Sources cited

  1. Su L, Chi AP, Walsh MF. 2019. Trustworthy Blue or Untrustworthy Red: The Influence of Colors on Trust. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. 27:3, 269-281. Doi: 10.1080/10696679.2019.1616560
  2. Middlestadt SE. 1989. The Effect of Background and Ambient Color on Product Attitudes and Beliefs. Advances in Consumer Res. 17, 244-249.
  3. Langert B. 2019. The Battle to Do Good: Inside McDonald’s Sustainability Journey. Emerald Publishing Limited. pg 1-15. Available from: https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_7qCDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=mcdonalds+environmental+impact&ots=Sf5Bam75-k&sig=rIMZBNWR4gT4743iCTnn-Q75jyU#v=onepage&q=mcdonalds%20environmental%20impact&f=false
  4. Chaudhuri S. 2019. McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys Caught in Backlash over Plastic. The Wall Street Journal. Available from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-happy-meal-toys-caught-in-backlash-over-plastic-11562583605?mod=searchresults&page=2&pos=5#comments_sector
  5. Kasperkevic J. 2015. McDonald’s ‘Signs’ ad sparks Twitter backlash among higher-payed advocates. The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2015/jan/13/mcdonalds-signs-ad-angers-advorcates-higher-minimum-wage-twitter

 

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