The Freaky Universe of McDonald's Advertising
posted by anastasiav on Feb 21, 2006 - 31 comments

"We're Asian and Pacific Islander Americans 'living on the rim,' where our diverse cultures and the everyday American lifestyle become one...Whether we're sipping green tea or enjoying a Big Mac® sandwich, we're helping make the magic mix called America become even richer. And McDonald's is right there with us, everyday!" Learn more at i-am-asian.com
posted by punishinglemur on May 7, 2004 - 22 comments

McDonald's launches global campaign featuring Justin Timberlake in an attempt to target kids and teens. Forget the "Smile" campaign, it's "I'm lovin' it" now. (NYT account required)
posted by valerie on Sep 2, 2003 - 18 comments

Culture jamming The Sims. As discussed here a couple of months ago, the much loved McDonald's Corporation has a major deal with Electronic Arts. But with hundreds of virtual burger restaurants in Simsville - what's to stop gamers turning into virtual anti-globalisation vigilantes?
posted by bwerdmuller on Nov 20, 2002 - 19 comments

McDonalds will be a franchise in The Sims Online computer game. Will my Sim character get fat if he eats at a Sim McDonalds? I guess we'll need Sim lawyers to help us out on that one.
posted by Beholder on Sep 17, 2002 - 27 comments

I was walking past a McDonald's on my way to work this morning, and I noticed a remarkable advertisement in the window. It was a poster of a tiny baby's hand grasping a much larger adult hand, with text at the bottom that asked: "When will she have her first french fry?" (Sorry, I can't find it duplicated online.) I'm not necessarily anti-McDonald's, or even anti-fastfood--although I am pro-slowfood--but this poster turned my stomach. Advertisements have a long history of backfiring, including pop-up ads, pharmaceutical ads, online political ads, automobile ads, and even a recently discussed computer ad. Have you seen any ads recently that didn't exactly have the intended effect? What were the ad people thinking?
posted by monju_bosatsu on Jul 18, 2002 - 105 comments

Has anyone noticed an insane proliferation of smiling logos? No, really. McDonald's is doing it. Amazon is doing it. People PC. Express.com. All with their happy happy smiling smiling logos. I think I'd respect a company more, at this point, if it had a cranky, bitch-ass logo instead -- more like me when I wake up in the morning. Anyone else?
posted by metrocake on Sep 4, 2000 - 20 comments