Did Morgan Spurlock Damage the McDonald’s brand?
I remember with great joy and glee when I would request going to McDonald’s during my early childhood and I clearly remember it meant anything – Arby’s, Burger King, KFC or Wendy’s – just fast food please. I also think I remember this word usage in college, but it doesn’t seem to be the case today in casual conversation. This may not even be a reasonable observation by the extremely focused group of folks I interact with, which are effectively 30+ yrs old for the most part.
So the question I have is – Has the McDonald’s brand been permanently damaged for the 30 somethings due to Morgan Spurlock? This question came about due to another post I made on Culinary Gizmodo:
So we all like McDonald’s, most will probably not admit it and seldom not feel guilty after a visit – but we DO like McDonald’s. All of us have new way of referring to a quick stop as Micky D’s. Ever since the movie Super Size Me from Morgan Spurlock we refer to McDonald’s with euphemisms: “grabbing something quick” or “getting a burger”
I’m not saying we never admit we eat at McDonald’s, but if we do the admission somehow includes a salad and Dasani. I think many of use say fast food instead of McDonald’s as well. So my hypothesis is that at some point since Super Size Me in 2004, Morgan’s work could quite possibly have demoted the McDonald’s brand to a less than synonym status of the like of Coke or Kleenex.
The other option is that Spurlock didn’t erode the brand and my cohort group just isn’t a naturally strong demographic. Thoughts?
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Technorati Tags: Arby’s, Burger King, KFC, Wendy’s, Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me
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[...] again – More of a joint piece, but spurred a piece for me as [...]