Thursday, February 17, 2005

Golden Arches: Golden Anniversary

50 Years of McDonald's! Where's The Party?

According to the McDonald's website: "Ray Kroc opened the Des Plaines restaurant in 1955. " So, am I the only one wondering 'where's the party?'.

Now, we all know that McDonald's is celebrating by building a new restaurant in Chicago. But what about the rest of us who can't make it to the grand opening?

As an avid fan and "customer evangelist" I would LOVE to see a Worldwide 50th Anniversary Party - celebrated at every store. It could last one month (April - the month Ray Kroc founded the company) and feature all sorts of retro, as well as exciting new, stuff (ads, food, goodies, prizes, etc.). Heck, I'm thrilled about the free chicken selects being given out these next few days (see previous post). Imagine how amped McDonald's fans would be about a full-blown Golden Anniversary for the Golden Arches (it all falls into place so easily, doesn't it?).

I'll be really disappointed if there isn't some kind of fete.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's your opinion about McDonald's being perceived by many people as "not a chicken concept"?

McChronicles said...

No doubt it is true that some/many people perceive McDonald's as being a "burger joint". Some feel that there is a risk stepping outside of what is perceived to be your market niche.

Within my lifetime I have gone from the widely-held belief (fact at the time) that a long distance phone call is really important and expensive. I was ushered out of the house on numerous occasions (along with my 4 siblings). Fast-forward. At this exact moment today my son sits on his bed, connected via a wireless LAN playing live, interactive videogames with other kids from around the world, talking to them in real time. In essence, he is making a FREE hands-free long-distance conference call to several countries while engaging all parties in a video game. Things evolve.

McDonald's, due to their current pervasiveness and the consumers' evolving demands, MUST evolve to remain vibrant.

No good business person would expect to stay relevant in a fickle consumer environment with a stagnant attitude, product, or service.

Kudos to McD's for experimenting and for tweaking their brand carefully and intelligently.

Thanks for asking. Really great question!