Health Care
The Brand Impact … retire an icon?
There’s a movement afoot to retire McDonald’s “Chief Happiness Officer.” Is Ronald the beloved brand ambassador that McDonald’s claims … or the creepy “dealer on the street corner” that the advocacy group Corporate Accountability International is making him out to be?
If you’re so inclined, you can attend one of many events (see photo) or sign the Retire Ronald petition.
As a marketer, I understand t
he reluctance to send a 30+ year mascot to the retirement home. What will be the impact on the McDonald’s brand if they are forced to retire Ronald? McDonald’s to date has defended their fun-loving clown by talking about all the good “he” has done … from being the soul of Ronald McDonald House Charities to sending “him” to schools as a health ambassador (chocolate milk and apple slices with caramel being safer choices … really?).
On the other hand, Corporate Responsibility International seems to think that the absence of Ronald means the demise of McDonald’s and all that they find fault with. But with over 40% of McDonald’s ad budget targeted to kids, surely Ronald would be replaced with something. This could be a “watch out what you ask for” situation. I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
What do you think?
What’s in YOUR Easter basket?
Most of us have fond remembrances of rushing around on Easter morning hunting for the elusive Easter basket. All I ever wanted was a Fanny May white chocolate rabbit. There’s something oddly fun in peeling off the eyes, biting off the ears and breaking apart the body … especially when you’re not actually eating a real animal.
As with all simple things, times have truly changed. Now, the options for types of chocolate and flavors are seemingly endless.
Let’s see … organic bunnies? Fair trade candy eggs? Gluten-free ? Vegan? Heart-healthy 80% cocoa or go for the store brand sugar buzz?
A few fun facts about Easter candy:
- More chocolate candy is sold the week prior to Easter than the week leading to Valentine’s Day.
-Last year (2009), 120 million pounds of candy were sold for Easter, of which 71 million pounds were chocolate … vs. 48 million pounds for Valentine’s Day and 90 million pounds for Halloween.
- US chocolate sales are up 2.6% vs. last year.
- Vosges Chocolates,a personal favorite, offers “Bacon & Eggs” … 55% dark chocolate with a creamy caramel/bacon center as well as their Amalfi bunny … white chocolate, pink peppercorns and lemon zest.
- The most popular non-chocolate Easter candy in the U.S. is the cute little Peep, only 32 calories each and no fat! Americans ate 600 million Peeps the last Easter season.
- Our friends in the UK eat an average of 3 Cadbury Crème Eggs per person! The Cadbury Créme Egg plant at Bournville can produce more than 1.5 million eggs per day.
And good news out just in time! The European Heart Journal found that people who ate a half bar of chocolate per week had lower blood pressure … therefore, a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. Wait … a half a bar per week? Unfortunately, more than that and you get the high calories and sat fat linked to weight gain and raised cholesterol … therefore, a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Reading the fine print is just not any fun. Still, I’m heading over to the Vosges boutique with a quick stop at Fanny May to compare white rabbits. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Sweaty Palms for Nestle
We have all heard about Nestlé, maker of Kit Kat, using palm oil from companies that are destroying Indonesian rainforests, threatening the livelihoods of local people and pushing orangutans towards extinction. When Greenpeace released this information the result was a flood of protesters drowning the Nestle Facebook Fan page with negative comments and sending tweets about the company and its practices.
What has helped this story gain traction is the extremely poor response from Nestle itself. When Facebook fans started using altered Nestle logos as their profile pictures, Nestle posted a reply which added fuel to the fire; “we welcome your comments, but please don’t post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic–they will be deleted”.
What we Eat
1. A decade revealed
For a fascinating reveal of America’s eating trends, check out Guess Who’s Turning 100?
The answer is, the USDA’s Economic Research Service’s time-series data on US food availability, now spanning a century. You’ll find insights into how technology, policy, social and economic forces have changed the way America eats. You should note that “availability” doesn’t necessarily equal “consumption”, and that the data measures the flow of raw and semi-processed commodities through the US marketing system … not accounting for waste and spoilage.
However, it can be used to assess the health of Americans and forecast direction of eating patterns.
Such as:
- Milk availability, which grew from 31.3 gallons per person in the 1910s to a peak of 44.7 gallons in 1945. Now? 20.8 gallons, thanks to soda, water, fruit juice and the desire to choose lower fat foods.
Consumers and their supplements, part two
In my previous blog post, I mentioned some information regarding interesting new findings on dietary supplements; cautionary findings in particular. Potential risks are more understood these days, tipping the risk/benefit scale from “it can’t hurt” to “maybe I better think twice.”
Has that message reached the “common consumer”? Are people really concerned about potential side effects of their daily intake of vitamins?
Survey says, “yes”.
Consumers and their supplements, part one
Europeans eat nutritious food. Americans pop pills. Or, that’s what some of my industry friends on the continent like to think. Are we really that bad? A quick fix for a bad diet?
I’ve been a supplement taker on and off for years, albeit randomly. Someone sneezes on the train, grab some Vitamin C. Have leg cramps, reach for the Calcium. I’m not sure what prompted a month of sipping noni juice – maybe I was feeling exotic.
I’ll be speaking this year at Focus on the Future , and wanted to “supplement” my company’s consumer food behavior survey with one on vitamins/minerals/herbals. What do people look for? Are they loyal to a brand? Are they faddists or do they swear by particular nutrients? And does anything worry them about taking supplements? Continue reading
