PerthNorg

So naming a burger gets top billing on Perthnorg, hhmmmm?

So Maccas wants us to engage, well that is a new one. Surely the public are well and truly engaged, even married, just look at the obesity rates in America, if not, here.

I’m not buying this Macca worshipping.

cookie2 seems to know a lot about the workings of this ad campaign, even the start dates. Do you work for the PR firm or sumfin?

Also note that the previous story cookie2 posted was about McDonalds earning the heart tick, back in February. Hmmm.

While I have no interest in engaging with McDonald’s campaign, in all fairness to “Cookie2″, the PerthNorg community has asked about his credentials before and he did start his last McDonalds post with “Disclaimer: This story has been posted by John Cooke a regular CJ and PR consultant working for McDonald’s Australia.”.

Now, I think it’s fairly clear from this post that John is making it with his PR hat on, but, John, can I suggest that you start any McDonald’s post (or posts related to anyone else you work for ) with a disclaimer. That way its up to readers to vote stories up or down on merit in full possession of the facts. That said, I should probably start any education related posts with the disclaimer that I work at UWA and there might be others in similar positions who should probably use disclaimers, too.

Wake up to the opportunity - McDonald’s is here talking and engaging you people. Is that really that wrong!
What other company has had the guts to do that?
A disclaimer would probably have been in order, but I think most of us figured that anyway.
I’d rather McDondald’s talk to me here but I also expect them to take the time to talk back and answer my questions. And not with some corporate vitriol, but from real people.
I think what’s happening here is awesome and I give it a vote - not for the story - but because of the comments and debate

Sorry people, only just got back to this post after a fairly harrowing weekend on a personal front.

Apologies for not stating that I do indeed work in PR for McDonald’s and that I have no qualms at all about doing so. I consider myself to be a highly ethical person and would NOT work for a company if I believed it to be doing the wrong thing, i.e, tobacco.

Ian, your views and opinions on McDonald’s are no doubt more baseless than you comprehend - just remember, there is far more negative spin (much of it simply wrong) out there about Maccas than positive spin.

Many of these untruths are now taken as absolute fact, which is why people like me are engaging with the public to try and redress the balance.

Ask yourself why you immediately assume that I’m spinning a line? Because you see me as some kind of corporate drone working for George Dubbya, sitting in some plush office greedily planning the demise of the world?

Mate, I’m an ex journo sitting in a shared office on the outskirts of Subiaco, lamenting the demise of the Dockers and sipping on a cup of bad ‘blend 42′ instant coffee.

Yes, Maccas Australia is one of my clients and I’m happy to stand up and fly the flag for them. They’re doing a truck load more than most other fast food companies and leading the world in menu change.

The name does have a big effect on the eventual popularity of a product. It may be that what suits Australian taste may not go as well in the US. There’s an article on names and what we associate with them on What makes some baby names popular? - it gives an inside look into preconceptions and associations when it comes to naming trends.

Just because Ken retired, doesn’t mean he can’t continue naming burgers :).

Ian, you ask the bloke at the Asian restaurant down the road to take the pork belly and other such menu items with a high fat content - much more than a burger! - off his menu and maybe McDonald’s would look at going down that same path.

Seriously mate, I engage with people here because it’s an effective way of comunicating - look at how well our relationship is progressing!

Life is all about choice Ian; do I smoke? Do I binge drink? Do I run 30 kilometres every morning? Do I eat at McDonald’s once a month…

Seriously, should McDonald’s have to go even further than every other food provider and supply only healthy menu options? And how much do you think they’ve already spent of developing and promoting the new options - taking the punt that consumers will buy in.

Did you know the Australian company is the first in the world to introduce a trans-fat free oil? And that they had to actually commission farmers to grow the crops to produce that oil? All this despite knowing that even if they cooked the Fries in beef tallow they’d still be the world’s biggest selling chips.

Go down to KFC and ask them why they refuse to develop an oil that isn’t more than half saturated fat.

Unfortunately, “cookie2″ has broken Rule #1 of corporate blogging - Be Honest.

The campaign was developed by Leo Burnett in Sydney and “Ken Thomas” is a fictional character.