This morning as I was driving on the highway I was bombarded by a two-story tall McDonald's chicken sandwich. It popped up out of nowhere, gleaming greasily on a billboard to my right. Scary, right? Even scarier were the words accompanying it. Next to the tomato, in crispy clean white letters, was in the incredulous plea "Please do not eat the billboard."
Eat the billboard? You've got to be kidding me, I thought. It's 9:00 am! I wouldn't even come close to eating a billboard meal from McDonald's, much less a real one.
Besides making me lose my morning appetite, the billboard chicken also got me thinking about advertising, and advertising audiences. If I, like so many other health-nut Californians, are turned off by the idea of McDonald's, exactly which people are turned on by their ads? What was the billboard's target audience?
A. Regular fast-food eaters
B. Occasional fast-food eaters
C. Those who don't eat fast food but want to
D. New vegetarians who are regretting their decision
E. All of the above
The answer, obviously, is E.
McDonald's is a multi-billion dollar franchise because their target audience is 95% of the population. This sounds exaggerated, but really, who doesn't appreciate a hamburger now and then?
This realization was a real downer, an Un-Happy Meal. It just didn't seem fair that the majority of America is willing to eat at McDonald's but not to listen to classical music. Classical music has the same target audience, same methods of advertising and a much healthier product than the fast-food chain, yet people continue to drive by.
Why is it so easy for McDonald's to advertise and sell their malnutritious products when classical music - an object much more worthy of our attention - is going out of business?
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