By Malay Desai
From: Toronto, by Tribal Worldwide
Tapping upon the behaviour of fast food consumers of picking up a French fry or two from a friend’s plate, McDonald’s Canada created an app for ‘security.’ With the paper on serving trays pointing where one must keep one’s phone after turning the app on, the user can be alerted in cases of ‘fry theft.’ The ad film for this app quotes mock statistics of fry theft in Canada before showing how it works. It also interviews an anonymous fry thief and ends with the app logo that’s smaller than the McDonald’s logo.
Why we Like?
Clients expecting incredible utilities from phone apps and agencies suggesting complicated routes of customer gratification through smartphones, let’s all minimise those PPT windows and take a break. Sometimes, and especially if you are a fun fast food brand, the app need not do anything insightful or thought-provoking, it could just be ranking high on the fun department.
Anyone who’s had French Fries knows that it’s virtually impossible for your companion to not pick one or more, even if he or she is on the brink of a cholesterol disaster. This is no ‘insight,’ as the ad film mockingly states, it’s just a simple, obvious understanding of consumer behaviour inside your QSR outlet.
The idea is impactful because McDonald’s is synonymous with long, steaming French Fries for many, making the app idea a fun proposition for regulars. It doesn’t take much (we assume) for the user to open the app, place it in the designated area and activate a ‘security system’, which would sound an alarm with a hand over it, leading to much enjoyment on the part of the stealer and the eater.
McDonald’s promo film rightly takes a straight faced but hilarious route to sell the app to the market – Canada. The lead actor quotes statistics such as ‘99 to 100 per cent’ people in the country having been victims of fry theft, which itself sounds like a trivial concept. The film explains with two such instances, with people stealing fries from the actor himself, before he decodes a mock meaning of ‘FRY’. With terms such as ‘fend off the offenders’ and ‘state of the art’ system, the film easily puts on a serious face about this grave problem.
The best bit, however, is the film’s interview with an anonymous fry thief, complete with a silhouette and a criminal style confession. With this, the film shows multiple locations and visuals, but not without the big M’s colour, red. I am surprised though, that the concept has been taken so seriously, the app logo gets more screen space in the climax than the brand logo itself.
Desi fast food brands or anyone selling fun, please take note.
To watch the film type‘goo.gl/kbtEvN’in your browser
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