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WTF Is Sweden On?!

GiggleSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:15:00 -0700

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a nonsensical Swedish McDonald's commercial. Today, I stumbled across six nonsensical Swedish McDonald's commercials. They're all part of the same funked-up ad campaign. And they're all pretty damn effective, if you ask me.

New McDonald's Commercials Take a Deeper Jab at Starbucks

YumSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:30:50 -0700

In an effort to further promote its new McCafé coffee bars, fast-food chain McDonald's has released a new set of clips that make fun of the coffeehouse scene popularized by Starbucks, billing it as a stuffy store overrun with brooding intellectuals.

This isn't the first of the campaign against Starbucks: Earlier this year, we took notice of the new McDonald's site Unsnobbycoffee.com, which touts McDonald's coffee as simple, easy, and unpretentious when compared to Starbucks. The new commercials take this concept one step further. "Now we don't have to listen to jazz all day long!" one woman proclaims in the segment below. Check out the commercial for yourself and tell me: Do you find it funny, or is McDonald's, with its new segments that mock Starbucks, taking its ad campaign one step too far?

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Ronald McDonald On McCrack

GiggleSugar — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:00:00 -0800

The last time we encountered McCreepy, he was jobless and living off a voided happy meal ticket in NYC. This time, we've blasted to his McPast only to realize that...he's had his bad luck coming for a long time now.

Sadly, This Actually Makes Me Want a McD's Filet-O-Fish

GiggleSugar — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:00:00 -0800

I'm the psycho junk food eater demographic they targeted. And it worked! It's almost too easy.

WTF?!

GiggleSugar — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:00:00 -0700

I'm not sure what this this surreal television ad for McDonald's in Sweden is getting at. Are those moaning blobules a creative reenactment of what happens to your stomach after eating one of their dirt sandwiches? Cuz if so, I'm lovin' it.

Flashback: Captain Creepmeister McDonald

GiggleSugar — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:00:00 -0800

Is it just me, or did this vintage McDonald's ad send children a questionable message? Something like, "Hey kids, don't talk or accept gifts from strangers, unless those strangers push food on you and identify themselves as Ronald McDonald!" And then all the little kiddies skip off into the sunset with potentially deranged impostors . . .

Flashback: Psychedelic McDonald's Commercial

GiggleSugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:00:00 -0800

You may actually get flashbacks from this one. Back in the 60s, I guess McDonald's laced their "special sauce" with LSD. Groovy, baby.

Morning News Anchors Drink McDonald's Coffee (For Cash)

LibertySugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:15:00 -0700

Each morning news anchors on Fox's Las Vegas affiliate sit in front of very visible McDonald's iced coffee cups, part of a product-placement deal. The fast-food chain sponsors the two-hour morning news-and-lifestyle segment, but instead of commercial breaks, the advertisement happens during the news.

Since advertisement dollars already influence networks, I think the product-placement deal raises some old conflict of interest concerns. The producers say they would pull the cups if they had to report a negative story about McDonald's, just as they would pull a regular commercial. Still, the covertness of the promotion could deceive some viewers not aware that McDonald's paid for the cups' placement.

To find out how political parties are incorporating product placement, and how the industry sees it, read more.

Product integration happens a ton in scripted television, so much so that the Writers Guild of America wants it blatantly disclosed. The WGA says: "the hope is that consumers, not expecting to find a commercial within their program, will fail to realize they are actually being advertised to. This practice exploits the emotional connection viewers have with shows." Perhaps this expectation of neutrality increases significantly when dealing with news, as opposed to entertainment.

Going the overt-sponsorship road, the Democrats will be handing out AT&T logo-plastered bags at the Democratic National Convention. It's almost impossible not to see a conflict of interest here (telecom cough cough immunity) but, the Democrats assure that sponsorship does not equal access to politicians.

How should news stations and political parties reconcile high costs with integrity?

McDonald's Ad Tries to Put Down Starbucks: Hit or Miss?

SavvySugar — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:00:34 -0700

In one of its not-so-subtle new commercials, McDonald's uses a conversation between two women to attack the stereotypical Starbucks culture. Does the commercial succeed in making you want to try McDonald's coffee, or does its snotty portrayal of Starbucks rub you the wrong way?

Domino's Baked Sandwiches Burn Subway

partysugar — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:15:52 -0800

Advertising campaigns in which one company slams a competitor are nothing new: There's the coffee war between Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, and the burger battle of McDonald's versus Burger King. The latest companies to publicly duke it out? Domino's Pizza and Subway. According to a taste test conducted and promoted by Domino's, consumers prefer their baked sandwiches over Subway's sandwiches by a two-to-one ratio. Subway quickly responded to the claims by sending Domino's a letter telling the pizza chain to stop airing the commercials. Then last week on national television, Domino's president David Brandon burned the letter. Subway has yet to comment on Domino's aggressive advertisement, and a lawsuit is likely.

After tasting Domino's baked sandwiches, I find it hard to believe they could beat out Subway's sandwiches in a blind taste test. I also think the behavior in the video is childish and immature. Burning a letter? It doesn't necessarily make me want to run to the nearest Domino's for a sandwich. Watch the video below and tell me what you think. Whose sandwiches do you prefer?