McDonald’s Wants You To Fall In Love Again

In the neverending quest for complete and total domination in the fast food industry, McDonald’s is going to be working hard to make you see the “love” in its products.

A new marketing strategy from McDonald’s is being unleashed on the world that plays off of their old marketing strategy. McDonald’s is utilizing their “I’m Lovin’ It,” slogan and emphasizing the “love” part.

As a part of the new campaign, McDonald’s released several television ads which will begin airing this week. The ads include such arch enemies as Batman and the Joker, a mailman and a dog, a blue donkey and a red elephant and the Smurfs and Gargamel. In each ad, the enemies end up showing love for one another as they enjoy food and drink from McDonald’s.

The ads end with the words, “Choose Lovin,'” surrounded by a ring of hearts.

The push to identify itself with love and positivity in the minds of customers comes at a challenging time for McDonald’s, which is facing shifting eating habits, intensifying competition and growing calls by workers and labor organizers for higher pay and a union. Sales for its flagship U.S. division have continued to struggle even after McDonald’s replaced its president twice in less than two years. In November, sales fell 4.6 percent at established U.S. restaurants.

McDonald’s, of course, isn’t the first major brand to try and associate itself with a positive theme in the marketing world. Coca-Cola was highly successful, for example, when it decided to associate itself with moments of happiness. McDonald’s is now trying to do something similar by “focusing a massive organization behind a big, simple idea that sits above the quality of its food.” However, the tough part is going to be tying that “loving” feeling back to the experience of eating at McDonald’s.

The chairman of brand consulting firm Landor North America, Allen Adamson, explains.

“What does loving have to do with how McDonald’s is going make my experience better?”

McDonald’s had planned to unveil the strategy at a media event on Dec. 17, but cancelled the week before without explanation. The company also declined to make a representative available Friday, but posted a video online with remarks by Deborah Wahl, chief marketing officer for McDonald’s USA. Wahl is one of several recent high-profile appointments the company has made in hopes of improving its struggling performance.

“Lately, the balance of lovin’ and hatin’ seems off. Who better than to stand up for lovin’ than McDonald’s?” said Wahl, who introduced herself as a “hockey mom” and “Motor City gal.”

Also in the video, Wahl stated that McDonald’s would start assuming less and listening more to its customers.

[Image via McState.com]