Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

In a country where disability has always been a blind spot, McDonald’s created a simple Brand Experience design with its EatQual packaging, which allowed people with limited upper limb mobility, to truly enjoy the burger eating experience despite their physical limitations. Thus, effectively changing the narrative around disability from simply access to experience; something that was crucial in India’s Retail ecosystem.

Background

2% of India’s population is disabled, that’s nearly 27 million people - more than the entire population of Australia. 27 million individuals who are routinely left out of marketing efforts, national initiatives and even the most basic experiences, because of our deep-set apathy towards the disabled. Disability is an invisible problem in India, with the government and most companies doing the bare minimum. As McDonald’s, our mission was to ‘Make Delicious Feel-Good Moments Easy For Everyone’. But when we discussed disability, we somehow only fixated on the easy i.e., access and not feel-good experience. We realised that for many people with limited upper limb mobility the feel-good burger experience probably rated zero. Our objective was to right this wrong in a way that drove true inclusivity at McDonald’s – capturing the country’s attention, improving people’s perception of our brand and inviting audiences that had long been ignored by Food Retail.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Everyone loves a burger, unfortunately it takes two able hands to hold the burger and bite into its delicious, juicy goodness. Introducing, EATQUAL: A small step in designing experience for the disabled, A giant leap for access and inclusivity in food retail. We worked with NASEOH (National Society For Equal Opportunities For the Handicapped) India to understand the challenges and requirements of the target group. Prototyping and running trials until we found the perfect solution. We were a team on a mission, looking to prove that the joy of eating a burger isn’t reliant on whether a person has both their hands. And thus, a unique packaging design solution was born that reimagined the McDonald’s experience for millions of people struggling with limited upper limb mobility. A hexagonal packaging system which locks the burger and its contents into the package so that our disabled customers can enjoy it.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

For most, eating a burger has been a very familiar experience. In pop culture and even in everyday life, the two-hand hold became an iconic code for burger eating. But for people with limited upper limb mobility, eating their favorite burger often meant loss of dignity and independence, and a whole lot of embarrassment. Our research revealed that instead of being able to focus on the taste, they worried about making a mess or looking clumsy in a restaurant. “She refuses to eat her burger with everyone at the party because she’s afraid it will all fall apart, and they’ll make fun of her” – Mother of a girl with limited upper arm mobility. Many even confessed to not having eaten out in public in years due to the stares and looks of pity they usually get in restaurants.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We announced EatQual initiative and packaging on 3rd December 2020, International day of Persons with Disabilities, as a promise to make the experience of eating a burger equal for everyone, via press release and social media. In-store events were organised in three cities: Mumbai, Pune & Chennai; where children with disabilities were invited to enjoy our burgers with the new packaging. A video showcasing the experience of a differently-abled girl, who had lost her hand in an electrocution, enjoying the burger in the EatQual packaging was captured & was communicated via traditional media outlets, content publishers and picked up organically. On social media, we collaborated with influencers from the differently abled community like Deepa Malik - a Paralympic winner , Suyash Jadhav - Indian Para Swimmer and Dhaval Khatri - a differently abled painter. And today, we have EatQual packs available across our stores, for anyone who might need them.

List the results (30% of vote)

EatQual Captured the Country’s attention • Impressions: 13.4 Million • Reach: 11.1 Million • Earned PR worth ₹7.2mn with just a meagre ₹200k spent on marketing • Garnered 300k+ organic views in just 10 days • Overall giving us a 35x return on investment Improving McDonald’s Brand Scores • 33% Increase in Brand Trust • 67% Increase in Brand Interest Inviting new audiences that had been long ignored by Food Retail • Usage of our EatQual packs grew 7x in last 3 months – That’s Nearly 1000 Disabled guests enjoying burgers equally Eatqual received unprecedented love and praise from our fans and from the disabled community, successfully changing the narrative of inclusivity in an apathetic country who sat up and took notice of a problem that we had long overlooked.

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

Everyone loves a burger. But not everyone is able to enjoy one. Millions of people around the world, with limited hand mobility, can’t eat a burger the way others can. With two able hands. Their favourite burger often strips them of their dignity and self-reliance. McDonald’s as a brand has always stood for equality and inclusivity. We partnered with NGOs and disability experts to create a case called EatQual. A specially designed case that holds the contents of a burger together for those with mobility issues, so they can eat it with just one hand. We launched our full-fledged campaign with a digital post on 3rd December 2020, ‘International Day of Disabled Persons’. We followed it with a film, that featured a real-life electrocution survivor with limited hand mobility. Print, social media, radio, instore communication drove home the message of EatQual.