Tag: mcdonalds

McDonald’s Monopoly game is a win for the company

McDonald’s Monopoly game has quickly become a tradition for fast food enthusiasts

In 1987, fast food giant McDonald’s came up with a marketing tactic so clever and ahead of its time that it quickly ushered in a recurring yearly event for the chain. Their idea was to combine one of, if not the most, popular board games in the world, Monopoly, with their brand. The result: a worldwide tradition that generates hundreds of millions of dollars.

The idea behind the game is quite simple: Monopoly game pieces are printed on the packaging of various food and beverage items on the McDonald’s menu. You simply have to peel off the sticker and look at what it says. Three things can happen: you can win instant prizes, such as numerous food items, gift cards, or cash; you can win more specific rewards that can be redeemed online, like a Roku Streambar, a video game, a coffee maker or even a drill set; or the third and most common result, you get a special Monopoly-themed sticker that when combined with others can win you big prizes, such as $50,000 in cash, a new car or even a family vacation for four at the Universal Orlando Resort.

However, to win these prizes, you have to be in possession of all the pieces in a group, usually two to four, just like you would have to possess all properties of the same color group to build houses and hotels in the real Monopoly game. The catch McDonald’s uses compared to the real Monopoly, is that some pieces are going to be rarer to find than others. For every sticker peeled, all the pieces are going to be pretty common to find, except those that are next to impossible to track down. What often happens is that people will start collecting the pieces and might be one piece away from winning one of the bigger prizes. For a second, they think they have an actual chance of winning, but in reality, with a total of approximately 115,340,703 total game pieces, the odds of pulling one of the rarer stickers are so incredibly low that it is mostly a mirage.

This game is a great publicity stunt that generates big profits for the fast food chain. People will be more inclined to go to one of their restaurants because they have a chance to earn rewards by eating there. Since the event lasts one month, people are inclined to return more often in a shorter span, because the more they accumulate game pieces, the more they have a chance of winning. The game pieces don’t come with every item on the menu (such as smaller items like a small fry, snacks or a junior chicken), but customers are rewarded with additional game pieces if they purchase larger portions. For example, by upgrading your medium fry by a large fry, you would be rewarded with extra pieces. All of these tactics help the customer grow interest towards the game, which means they have a higher chance of coming more often to McDonald’s and most likely eating more intended.

Overall, the McDonald’s Monopoly game is a massive win for the multi-billion dollar franchise, because it creates a game that gives the illusion to customers that they actually have a chance to win the big ticket prizes. At least for the clients, some of the smaller prizes are winnable. Either way, the game succeeds at attracting more people to come eat at their franchises for a month straight, resulting in the chain restaurant reaping more than what they sow in a true Monopoly win.

 

Feature graphic by Madeline Schmidt

Categories
Music

The Globalization of Travis Scott

Travis Scott’s transformation from rapper to music oligarch to meme proves that money always beats art

It’s about 1 a.m. and you and your friend Tanner are driving to get food after a long night. As you both approach the golden arches of a local McDonald’s in a beat-up Honda Civic, you decide to connect your phone to the aux. Presented with a myriad of new albums and singles to listen to, you know there’s really only one song you can play.

Once the drive-thru worker asks for your order, you pause, just long enough to add dramatic effect, and whisper, “you know why I’m here.” “Sicko Mode” starts playing.

“Cactus Jack sent me,” you add.

While this seems like a soap-opera dramatization of the ordering, it’s actually not that far off from what’s really happening. In case you haven’t been following, Travis Scott recently announced a collaboration with McDonald’s in which the fast-food giant is trying to sell a quarter pounder with bacon as a meal called “The Travis Scott.” And if you thought this might be the most ridiculous collaboration, you may very well be right.

This collaborative effort comes right off the heels of Scott’s puzzling song “The Plan” made specifically for Christopher Nolan’s new movie Tenet.

In the real world, people are getting yelled at by other McDonald’s customers for recording annoying TikToks of them ordering “The Travis Scott” meal. Others are parodying the stupidity of this whole affair, and some are spending their money buying the bland collaborative merch between Travis Scott and the enormous fast-food chain.

Travis Scott has transcended artistry. He is a business mogul and a meme now, all to his benefit. He can release a phoned-in feature and no one will care. He can drop the worst merch ever, including a chicken-nugget-themed-body-pillow, and get people to buy it. He can release a whole Netflix documentary, and the fans will eat it up like it’s an Oscar-nominated piece of work.

Despite this level of superstardom, Travis Scott feels less like a human being every year and more like a machine meant to satisfy your wants and needs than an actual person who cares about their craft.

And the worst part is that Scott’s music isn’t even all that terrible. Out of all his projects, there are only one or two entries that completely miss the mark. Days Before Rodeo, Rodeo, and Astroworld are good-to-great albums that show he can be fun and entertaining, if a little vapid.

But quality aside, Scott’s numbers began to hit the stratosphere after the release of his second album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, a record that took the world by storm with the inclusion of the Kendrick Lamar-assisted hit, “Goosebumps.”

This was the beginning of the rise of Travis Scott, the meme.

Travis Scott was everywhere. There wasn’t a single on the album that he couldn’t have pushed more. At the time, he seemed primed to at least compete with Drake and Kendrick for being one of the most commercially successful artists.

Then came Fortnite, the massive battle royale game that had the world entrenched in its complex yet accessible gameplay. Following a few years of success, Fortnite itself transcended being a game. In fact, it halted the actual battle-royale aspect of the game for a few evenings when they announced a live, in-game Travis Scott concert.

Obviously, Scott wasn’t performing on a stage inside the game’s only level, but it was an expensive psychedelic experience akin to a Travis Scott video that had a number of my friends ask me to virtually go with them. To these friends, I’m sorry I had to say no.

But just because his music is accessible doesn’t mean it should be thrown everywhere. To be a Travis Scott fan in 2020 is to not just enjoy his music, but to enjoy and, without any doubt, gobble up everything this man has to offer.

And this is the problem with how we treat artists. We give them all the platforms they can use because the bottom line is obviously money. The music business is still a business, after all. But Travis Scott seems to have traded all his humanity for an increasing slew of income, even if it means dropping cop-out merch and sending features to other artists that should’ve stayed in the vault.

With this Travis Scott obsession taking over the world, the resale value of anything Travis Scott-related has become astronomical. His collaborative effort with Reese Puffs, which is literally Travis Scott branding on their usual cereal boxes, at one point sold for $400 on eBay, while some listings still have it at over $200 CAD. Teens are stealing the Travis Scott burger posters. To his fans, Travis Scott is a god.

Treating artists like deities has proven to have a horrible track record, but Travis Scott is perhaps beyond even being a deity. Maybe he’s the Zeus to Drake’s Ares, but even Drake knows his limits.

It’s interesting to watch this development (and collapse if you’re not as big a fan of his music) because he was and still is a mogul in hip hop and mainstream pop. But if there’s one thing Travis Scott won’t do, it’s giving up the spotlight. He lives in it and would never relinquish it. He might know the cost, but let’s be real, he absolutely does not care. We should stop caring too.

 

Graphic by @the.beta.lab

 

Categories
Arts

The Founder: Looking at the rise of the golden arches

An insider’s look at the man behind McDonald’s and his swerving path to success

Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s—have you ever wondered how these franchises made it to the top? How rich people made their money?

In The Founder, director John Lee Hancock looks at how McDonald’s became the worldwide phenomenon it is today, through the story of Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton). He is the man who was instrumental in building the hamburger empire.

The film, based on Kroc’s memoir, Grinding it Out, was written by Robert Siegel, and gives insider information about the making of one of the most successful companies the world has ever seen.

Keaton portrays Kroc in a sophisticated, yet honest manner—after all, the man was incredibly flawed. Kroc is an individual whose shortcomings are evident in his actions: he simply wouldn’t take no for an answer. His firm character became infamous and shattered his business partnerships. He was the type of man you would trust with your finances, but wouldn’t trust as a friend.

In some aspects, he was even more detestable than The Wolf of Wall Street’s Jordan Belfort. Kroc didn’t do drugs or host impressive parties. Rather, he had an incredible lack of empathy—more harmful than any addiction could have been. Though his morality was questionable, his enduring motivation can seem inspiring to anyone going through hardship.

The strength of the movie lies in its sense of realism. There are no antagonists or protagonists, just events that unfold and characters who react. The story of the creation of fast-food is fascinating—it has become omnipresent, and the film gives us a voyeuristic look at how it became so entrenched.

The Founder is a captivating film that portrays one of the most important business models in history. It tells the story as it is, including the backstabbing, the questionable business deals and the blurring of ethical lines.

Categories
Opinions

McDonald’s doesn’t care about customers with allergies

Graphic by Thom Bell

How the fast food chain is screwing over customers with nut allergies

It did not occur to me that McDonald’s employs clowns as executives.

McDonald’s Canada’s decision to introduce a product that brings unpackaged peanuts and nuts into the restaurant is outraging many Canadians, myself included. The fast-food chain introduced the Skor McFlurry last Tuesday, and now warns customers their food may come in contact with peanuts, nuts and other allergens.

McDonald’s has been a go-to place for many customers and families with food allergies because it has been allergy-free and easy for many to access. For us Concordia students with these severe food allergies, we know how difficult it can be to find accommodating restaurants. We can’t eat at one place because they use peanut oil, and then another place can’t guarantee our safety. We all know the hassle. McDonald’s was the safest place we could go to when we needed a quick meal and didn’t want to worry about our allergies.

Not anymore. With this decision, McDonald’s Canada has told the 2.5 million Canadians living with food allergies to, essentially, stay away. It seems to me the company couldn’t care less about their customers with food allergies.

The problem here is not that they introduced a Skor McFlurry. The problem here is that it appears McDonald’s is making absolutely no effort to keep its new allergen-infested product away from other products.

There is also a big problem in the way McDonald’s Canada handled the situation. In a statement, the company said, “We have a long history of being sensitive to the needs of our guests with food allergies and this time will be no different, which is why we are communicating this important information.”

Anybody with half a brain could smell the lies pouring out of that statement. If McDonald’s Canada has a long history of making sure allergic customers stay safe, why would they change all that with one product? It is very different from the past considering they are no longer guaranteeing an allergen-free restaurant.

The most ridiculous claim is they believe communicating this warning to customers counts as remaining “sensitive” to their customers with allergies. Yes, because telling us we can’t eat there anymore really shows you care. They are make such statements simply to avoid liability and lawsuits. That’s hardly protecting us. They are protecting their multibillion-dollar corporation.

McDonald’s Canada has completely tarnished its reputation with this one decision. Many families and students like us, will no longer visit their restaurants, all because of a new McFlurry. I hope the executives who triggered this operation can sleep well at night, knowing they ruined some kid’s day, just so others could enjoy their Skor McFlurry. Having a clown as the company’s mascot is really suiting.

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