Nate Riggs points out an interesting article in Advertising Age: “McNuggets Are Good, but Branded McNuggets Are Even Better / Study: Kids Prefer Foods in McDonald’s Packaging.” Author Emily Bryson York tells us: “A new study, certain to fire up the already heated debate over kids’ marketing, finds that kids aged 3 to 5, when presented with identical foods — one in a McDonald’s wrapper and the other without — overwhelmingly rated the branded one as tasting better.”
This reminds me of when I asked for “chicken tenders” at a McDonald’s. My order was translated into Chicken McNuggets. I thought it was a pesky difference, but clearly the counter person was well trained. The name matters. A tender is a tender is a tender, but a McNugget is a branded treat.
And I’m reminded of one of our children, when very, very young, just learning language, looked into the microwave oven in our home and requested, “McNuggets, no sauce.” She clearly enjoyed that the microwave door looked like the speaker at a drive through. This forced the Mrs. and me to discuss: just how often are our kids eating at McDonald’s? (The AdAge article reports that, of “63 children aged 3 to 5 who were also enrolled in Northern California Head Start programs,…about 30% ate at McDonald’s more than once a week and more than 75% had McDonald’s toys at home.”)
Anyway, so packaging not only sells, it makes the contents taste better. How’s your product packaging? Moreover, how’s your personal packaging? Is it time to wash the car, get a haircut, wear a bow tie?