King of Ads

In analyzing this ad, I began by asking the question of what this ad was attempting to communicate and how effectively that was accomplished, if it was at all. I chose a McDonald's ad to analyze for two reasons. I was curious what strategies they were currently employing and how those ad worked into the larger narrative of their brand. As John Helmer states in article "Love on a Bun", "No single purveyor of fast food has done more to advance [this] cultural change than McDonald's Corporation, whose influence is seen in virtually every American community and in many places around the world."

Interestingly, this ad is devoid of food, aside from the cropped image that appears on the carton. Even though there is a very obvious absence of food, we know that McDonald's is advertising food, but in this ad, the emphasis is placed on the atmosphere you can now expect in McDonald's.  In the continuous effort to modernize their image to reflect that desire of contemporary culture, McDonalds have employed clever marketing strategies to insert itself into larger conversation of popular culture. This ad shows a McDonald's patron accessing the wireless internet now available at all its restaurants.  Substituting a hamburger carton for a laptop and the restaurant for a café (or a similar location usually associated with surfing on the internet), the message is further reinforced by the language used.  Stating that Wi-Fi is "served" connotes McDonald's primary purpose as a restaurant, along with its newest embodiment as a modern and perhaps even hip place to bring your laptop. We know this is the direction the McDonald's brand is moving in as it has launched a series of coffeehouse inspired attachments to its restaurants called McCafés.

While most advertisements in food approach consumers from a classist or gendered standpoint, McDonald's has successfully avoided the pitfalls that can lead to by attaching itself to a technology in this ad. That is not to say they never use such tactics when advertising food but this ad communicates the mobility associated with fast food and a new expression of that mobility exemplified by McDonald's addition of Wi-Fi to its restaurants.  By removing any overt notion of gender, race, age, etc. this ad successfully targets anyone with a computer.