Today I'd like to talk to you about advertising. One example of fast food advertising in particular.
McDonald's "(ba, da, ba, ba, ba) I'm lovin' it" became the replacement marketing slogan for "We love to see you smile" in the U.S. more than twenty years ago (according to the Wikipedia page "List of McDonald's marketing campaigns"). I've seen the newer slogan advertised an endless number of times on the radio, television, and product packaging (at least where and when I live in the midwest) for 23 years now.
I'm going to be a little vulgar and completely unoriginal, but the only rational response for me to the transformation in McDonald's marketing slogan is "what the fuck is this shit?".
Let me move from fast food advertising to Public Service Announcements for just a minute. One of the most amazing and poignant PSAs for me is the Smokey the Bear "Matchsticks" ad. It's creative, engaging, and gets its point across perfectly in just 30 seconds. I've watched it dozens of times on tv, and numerous times on Youtube. The "What can you destroy with just one?" ending shot gives me the chills every time. Every. Single. Time. Because as someone who has experienced a number of negative fire-related experiences (including being in the radius of a tipped over multi-shot "cannon" firework while it was still firing), I know exactly what they mean. I've never witnesssed or known anyone who was a severe casualty or decedent due to fire. But I still have that visceral deep chill everytime I see the "Matchsticks" PSA. In these days of "gender reveal" parties gone wrong (including a bystander being killed by an ersatz "cannon" in my home state, as well as the 2020 "El Dorado Fire" that resulted in the death of a firefighter in California), we may need such a PSA now more than ever.
Anyway back to "We love to see you smile". It probably tops my list of best marketing slogans of all time. It's only six words. But just as the aforementioned PSA gives me chills every time, McDonald's "We love to see you smile" gives me the warm fuzzies every time. Maybe I'm just a sappy little bitch. But it just does. Why? It doesn't include the douchebaggy "I" or "Me" in the slogan. It doesn't include the company name (it should be completely obvious from the mention in the rest of the advertising, or the arch symbol). It doesn't need to be stated in a seductive or cheerful voice. All that's needed is the words. Because as simple as they are, when they're put together into their final format, they mean just about everything. Knowing that what a company values most is having hired a group of people who take pleasure in working together to bring customers happiness and satisfaction? That to me represents the pinnacle of what a company and its products and services should be. Fast food interactions between food workers and customers tend to be well, fast (duh). But just as one person's best day could be another person's worst day, interactions that seem short and simple on the surface may actually be complex on a deeper level. You never know how much a "Welcome to McDonald's" or "Thank-you for choosing McDonald's" along with a smile might change a customer's day. Or how much a smile and "please" and "thank-you" from a customer might change a worker's.
To quote Dolly Parton: “I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give'em yours!"
*In the entirely subjective opinion of this noder people might want to look to Allstate Insurance's "Mr. Mayhem" series of tv advertisements as examples of what advertising can and sometimes should be.