Questions answered
There are 26 questions about “Advertising” in the “What are you doing about...” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 1. Is it embarassing to hear your products being described as 'junk food' on national television? Also, how do you think the ban on advertising junk food on childrens television will affect your profits?
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McDonald's is not embarrassed because the company knows where and how its food is made. Generous amounts of time, care and research go into sourcing the ingredients that make up McDonald's food, and the company has always maintained this ethos throughout its business. With regard to advertising and children, McDonald's has been active in addressing public concerns around this debate. McDonald's also realises that marketing to children is a sensitive issue and the company is careful to talk to children in a responsible way in all its marketing. For the most part, it is parents who make the decisions about the food their children eat and a lot of time is spent considering the opinions of parents in order to create advertising that conveys positive messages about food choices such as mixing in fruit and milk or water with their Happy Meal treats, plus the importance of children using their imagination and taking part in physical activity.
(January 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 2. do mcdonalds do anything special to help: individuals, people of different ages, people from different cultures, non-english speakers, people with specific needs, young children, business men and women.?
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McDonald’s believes that it is not just its food that has contributed to its success. Over the years, the company has found that its commitment to customer service and communication with its customers plays an equally important role in the quality and trust that the brand has cultivated. McDonald’s is immensely proud of its relationship with the public across various areas of its business and gives back in a number of ways. For example, McDonald’s is a proud supporter of the charity RMHC - an independent, registered charity providing accommodation for families with sick children in hospitals across the UK. Over the last 20 years, the company has raised over 30 million pounds through the collection boxes in restaurant, the sale of merchandise such as Christmas cards as well as staff fund-raising. McDonald’s is also active in sports community.
For over a decade, McDonald’s has been involved in initiatives to encourage young people to get active and get into football. In 2006 through McDonald’s partnership with four UK Football associations, the company achieved its ambition of creating 10,000 new community football coaches and amongst others, 500 new disability coaches.
Other community action has seen McDonald’s respond to the interest and demands for more Halal options on its menu. This has resulted in a trial in the Southall restaurant with a selection of Halal menu items. This trial is proving popular and the results will tell more as to the possibility of an extension to the number of restaurants involved.
You may not be aware that McDonald’s is currently undergoing a major refurbishment plan and many of its restaurants are getting a makeover. McDonald’s strives to be a progressive modern and fun place for people to socialise, and this can be seen in the facilities available already in some restaurants. Some restaurants now have WiFi internet access, internet stations, Playstation gaming screens and interactive giveaways for some of the younger customers.
All the above would not be possible to achieve without the help and hard work from McDonald’s incredible employees. The workforce is made up from a vast mix of different cultures and beliefs that reflect the UK in all its diverse splendour. McDonald’s staff work hard serving the public and helping the company to be the success that it is, and this is not forgotten by McDonald’s. McDonald's has been awarded 'Investors in People' Status for the past eight years and, this year, was also named as one of the UK's Top 50 workplaces in the Financial Times. In addition, the company is a Gold certified member of 'Race for Opportunity', 'Opportunity Now', 'Employers Forum on Age' and the 'Employers Forum on Disability' all of which serves to illustrate its commitment to fairness, diversity and equality in the workplace.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 3. how do you justify your huge advertising spend aimed at children?
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McDonald's UK doesn't spend a huge amount of its budget on advertising to children. In fact, the company spends around five percent of its annual media budget on messages directed at younger audiences and their parents. McDonald's realises that marketing to children is a sensitive issue and the company is careful to talk to young people in a responsible way. For example, this year's Shrek promotion branded carrot sticks, fruit bags and organic milk with Shrek characters to help parents who want to encourage their children to choose these Happy Meal options. The company bases a lot of these decisions on conversations with parents, to ensure that they are comfortable with the messages McDonald's communicates to them and their children.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 4. Has the McDonalds coporation ever, in it's entire history, made a slightly unethical decision in order to increase profit? Or, has it ever put the pursuit of the profit before the welfare of it's employers or customers? Or, has it ever employed contractors knowing they have unethical policies?
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McDonald's is an internationally recognised brand. The company aims to be a progressive and modern business that has a good relationship with its customers, suppliers and shareholders. To help maintain this, the company has many strict standards, policies and procedures in place that ensure the very best from everybody that McDonald’s collaborates with. For example, in relation to Animal Welfare, McDonald’s has programmes including the Agricultural Assurance and works closely with organisations such as the RSPCA and the Assured Food Standards organisation. In relation to environmental matters, McDonald’s has its own Litter Patrol programmes in place, uses recycled materials such as paper and card and even recycles cooking oil into fuel in order to help protect the environment. McDonald’s is also working closely with organisations such as the Carbon Trust and the Local Government to help improve the company’s environmental practices. Simply put, McDonald’s will not work with any person, business or organisation that does not adhere to the high standards and beliefs of the company. The success of the business is primarily dictated by the satisfaction of the customers. The tasty food and quick friendly service that McDonald’s works hard to provide every day does not come overnight. It has taken many years to establish the quality service from McDonald’s, and it would be foolish to compromise customer welfare or confidence in any way.
(August 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 5. Isn't the high level of advertising aimed directly at children questionable and unfair on parents?
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McDonald's UK spends around five percent of its advertising budget on messages directed to children, so 95 percent is directed at people over the age of 16. McDonald's, like all UK advertisers, is subject to Codes of Practice with regard to marketing and advertising to children. A lot of time is spent considering the opinions of parents in order to create marketing and advertising that conveys positive messages to children about food choices, using their imaginations and taking part in physical activity.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 6. how do you justify your huge advertising spend aimed at children?
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McDonald's UK actually spends around five percent of its annual media budget on advertising messages directed to children. McDonald's also realises that marketing to children is a sensitive issue and the company is careful to talk to children in a responsible way. A lot of time is spent considering the opinions of parents in order to create marketing and advertising that conveys positive messages to children about food choices, using their imaginations and taking part in physical activity.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 7. I have just seen an advetisement for Pork Melt Deli Day on Runescape the online game. You say "Wednesday's have been renamed". This is bad grammar for children as Wednesdays is a plural word and therefore needs no apostrophe.
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Thank you for pointing this out. McDonald's is aware of the mistake and is in the process of having it corrected.
(September 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 8. why do you target children with unhealthy foods when there is an obesity crisis already?
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McDonald’s has always been aware of the context in which it operates and the need for it to meet the requirements of society and customers in the food and experience that it provides. That’s why over recent years, the company has added new choices to its menu, such as Organic Semi-Skimmed Milk, Orange Juice, Vittel Water, Fruit Bags and Carrot Sticks, changed the recipes of popular food items such as Chicken McNuggets to reduce salt, fat and sugar and introduced better nutritional information without undermining the great taste that people know and love. You may be aware that the Food Standards Agency has devised a nutritional model that profiles food by its fat, salt and sugar content and will inform which products can or can’t be advertised directly to children. The majority of Happy Meal items (with the exception of the Cheeseburger, Milkshakes and non-diet fizzy drinks) are all rated as not being high in fat, salt and sugar.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 9. Why do you target children to sell your addictive, unhealthy junk food to? Also you now seem desperate to try and change your image, why is that?
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McDonald’s disagrees with your comments about the food being “addictive and unhealthy junk”. It uses high quality ingredients and, as nutritionists usually prefer to say, individual food items are neither ‘healthy’ nor ‘unhealthy’, rather diets and lifestyles. McDonald’s food can be enjoyed as part of a varied and balanced diet. It might also interest you to know that the Food Standards Agency has recently devised a nutrition profile model that rates individual food items in terms of fat, salt and sugar content in order to inform the new Ofcom regulations that regulate which food can or cannot be advertised to children. The majority of menu items on the Happy Meal menu are rated as not being high in fat, salt and sugar. Those items that are rated as high in fat, salt and sugar on this model will remain on the menu as the company believes that if parents are given access to full nutritional information which is available on McDonald’s packaging, they have the right to make an informed decision on what food their children can eat. This, like this site, is not an attempt by the company to reinvent its brand image but simply a natural progression in terms of its desire to create transparency throughout all areas of its business and create channels that allow people to ask it direct questions and receive honest answers.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 10. If mcsonalds cares so much about obesity levels, why doesn'.t it stop promoting the high in fat so called 'happy meals' to children by using gimics such as toys..?
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McDonald’s has always been aware of the context in which it operates and the need for it to meet the requirements of society and customers in the food and experience that it provides. That’s why over recent years, the company has added new choices to its menu, such as Organic Semi-Skimmed Milk, Orange Juice, Vittel Water, Fruit Bags and Carrot Sticks, changed the recipes of popular food items such as Chicken McNuggets to reduce salt, fat and sugar and introduced better nutritional information without undermining the great taste that people know and love. You may be aware that the Food Standards Agency has devised a nutritional model that profiles food by its fat, salt and sugar content and will inform which products can or can’t be advertised directly to children. The majority of Happy Meal items (with the exception of the Cheeseburger, Milkshakes and non-diet fizzy drinks) are all rated as not being high in fat, salt and sugar. Many of McDonald’s family customers view a trip to the restaurants as a treat that their children enjoy. Part of that treat is the toy and the tie-ins with their favourite characters.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 11. Why do you advertise your food on the tv mainly based to children. This means the children will want to go to McDonalds exclucively, when you say they have more choicel. Shouldn't this be stopped?
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McDonald’s UK spends around five percent of its advertising budget on messages directed to children, so 95 percent is directed at people over the age of 16. McDonald's, like all UK advertisers, is subject to Codes of Practice with regard to marketing and advertising to children. A lot of time is spent considering the opinions of parents in order to create marketing and advertising that conveys positive messages to children about food choices, using their imaginations and taking part in physical activity.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 12. Whats McDonalds stand on the proposal for ban on Junk Food Ads on TV in the UK?
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McDonald’s believes the food offered is of good quality – it is not junk - and can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle. McDonald’s television advertising to children only shows Happy Meal combinations that include one portion of fruit or veg, in support of the Government’s 5-a-Day programme. McDonald's is a responsible advertiser and, like all UK advertisers, McDonald’s is subject to, and abides by, the current advertising Codes of Practice and this will continue as the new regulations are introduced. In addition, McDonald’s has its own guidelines for advertising and promotion which exceed the Independent Television Commission Code in some areas and the company will be reviewing them to ensure they are in line with the proposals announced by Ofcom.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 13. do you realise that an english advert broadcast in scotland offends people. I am more interested to know if it's scottish beef!!
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McDonald’s apologises for any offence this caused. It was created by asking real people to think of a question they’d like to put to McDonald’s. You may be pleased to know that over the past 25 years McDonald’s has sourced much of its beef from 2442 Scottish farms.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 14. why do you not get what is advertised on the tv
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Any specials or promotional items advertised should be available in any participating restaurants until the offer comes to an end. If this is not the case please speak to the restaurant manager or contact the Customer Services Team on 08705 244 622 so that the matter can be investigated.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 15. What do I have to do to get rid of your annoying pop-up? I'm trying to read an article and it won't close. This form of advertising is hardly likely to make you friends
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Pop-ups can indeed be annoying, which is why the Make Up Your Own Mind team chose to use expandable banner adverts, not pop-ups. The adverts only expand if you move your mouse over the banner. You can click on the close button to shrink the banner back to its original size.
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