Mcdonald’s Manipulation

Manipulation It’s not always so easy to spot the tactics companies use to advertise. Many consumers may believe it’s the design or the neatness of an advertisement that sells the products. Although the neatness and boldness of color of the two burgers being displayed help to draw the attention of the consumer, it is not always what is noticed right away that wins someone over.

Consensus, Reciprocation, Commitment, and Availability, are all advertisement principles effectively being used in this McDonald’s advertisement in order to get their food into the stomachs of as many consumers they possibly can. The bold green color of the lettuce all the way to the whiteness of the sesame seeds are portrayed perfectly to entice the consumer. Companies such as McDonald’s take days of preparation work to perfectly put together these uneatable sandwiches being shown in the advertisement. With some paint and a little glue the consumer gets the illusion of a perfect sandwich.

What may not be noticed right away, above the one burger is a stamp that says “100 % Angus” and “NeW’ (McDonald’s) and inside the stamp is the letter A, in this sense McDonald’s is sing the Consensus Principles by appearing to be dominate in their beef. By saying that their burgers are 100 % Angus beef, gives no room for a competitor to have a more premium Angus burger, meaning McDonald’s must have the best. Let’s say at this point McDonald’s has gotten the attention of the consumer. They might start getting hungry but their still not dead set on going to Mucky Ad’s.

That’s why companies like McDonald’s use more than one advertisement principle to try to reel the consumer in. Reciprocation is probably the most successful of the advertisement principles for a fast food chain. The reciprocation principle, “Which suggests that we are obligated to give back to others the form of behavior that they have given to us. So if someone does us a favor we are significantly more likely to say yes when they ask for a favor in return. “(Calling) Fast food chains like McDonald’s use this very successful advertisement tactic by using coupons.

Coupons are incentives for consumers that make the consumer almost compelled to buy. Some companies may give out a coupon that gives a discount on an item or a consumer may get a coupon to get something free with the purchase of another item. In the eyes of the consumer they are getting something for free, and free is always good. In the lower corner of this McDonald’s advertisement is an example of the reciprocation principle. McDonald’s offers a coupon that can be cut out and taken into the store to redeem a free chicken sandwich with the purchase of another chicken sandwich.

So at the price of one chicken sandwich the consumer now has two. This is not only beneficial for the consumer but also for the company, now they have the business of the consumer. McDonald’s and similar companies understand that by getting the consumer to come n and get their free chicken sandwich, a whole world of possibilities has now been opened. Now the consumer is wondering do they want fries on the side and what do they want to drink. Commitment, not to be confused with reciprocation, is another advertisement principle that can be associated with coupons.

On the bottom corner opposite the side of the chicken sandwich coupon is an example of McDonald’s trying to get the consumer more committed towards them. They offer a free Big Mac sandwich with no purchase necessary, the catch is to obtain the burger first the consumer has to register on their internet webbing. This is a great strategy used by many companies. What makes this such a great advertisement principle is the fact that once the consumer registers they are in the clutch of McDonald’s for good.

With the email address the consumer registered with or the address they gave them the consumer is sure to see many more advertisements follow. The repetition of advertisement after advertisement would have an enormous influence on the consumer to buy more in the future, maybe even if a consumer was unsatisfied with the initial visit by repeating the reciprocation principle. Although the coupons may ever stop coming in they do have an expiration date which brings us to the last of the advertisement principles McDonald’s uses in this particular advertisement, Availability.

This particular advertisement from McDonald’s doesn’t use much of the availability principle except having only a limited time to use the chicken sandwich coupon. This is an effective strategy by making many consumers want to come in quick and use their coupons, and in partner with the commitment principle the coupons keep coming in making a loop. In similar McDonald’s advertisements they may advertise that the Mac’ Rib is back for a limited time to get it while it lasts. Consumers are always eager to try a limited time offer in fear of never having the chance again.