EATQUAL

Short List
TitleEATQUAL
BrandMCDONALD'S
Product / ServiceMCDONALD'S
CategoryG07. Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility
EntrantDDB MUDRA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation DDB MUDRA Mumbai, INDIA
PR DDB MUDRA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Rahul Mathew Ddb Mudra Group Creative
Aditya Kanthy DDB Mudra Group Planning
Ashish Phatak DDB Mudra Group Creative
Shagun Seda DDB Mudra Group Creative
Siddhesh Khatavkar DDB Mudra Group Creative
Harshada Menon DDB Mudra Group Creative
Vilsen Gonsalves DDB Mudra Group Creative
Roy Sebastian DDB Mudra Group Creative
Vivek Bhatia DDB Mudra Group Creative Team
Shruti Parulekar DDB Mudra Group Creative Team
Asha Deora DDB Mudra Group Creative Team
Urja Patel DDB Mudra Group Creative Team
Aishwarya Likhite DDB Mudra Group Creative
Rahul Sharma DDB Mudra Group Creative
Anurag Tandon DDB Mudra Group Business Management
Murli Krishnan DDB Mudra Group Business Management
Debjani Roychoudhury DDB Mudra Group Business Management
Anchal Bhojwani DDB Mudra Group Business Management
Gaurav Magotra Ddb Mudra Business Management
Sonali Savla DDB Mudra Group Business Management
Bunsi Issar DDB Mudra Group Business Management
Mehak Jaini DDB Mudra Group Planning
Jaiprakash Tekwani DDB Mudra Group Planning
Somdatta Roychowdhuri DDB Mudra Group Planning
jay Gaikwad DDB Mudra Group Agency Production
Hrushikesh Inamdar DDB Mudra Group Agency Production
Avadhut Hembade QENCH STUDIOZ Photographer
Sunil Naik Sunil Naik Photographer
Vishal Sane Vishal Sane Photographer
Harshik Suraiya Vanilla Films Director
Kashif Memon Mothership Production Producer

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Millions of people around the world, with limited hand mobility, can’t eat a burger the way others can. With two able hands. A burger often strips them of their dignity and self-reliance. On 3rd December 2020, International Day of Disabled Persons, we launched EatQual. A case specifically designed with the help of ergonomic experts, disability specialists, NGO’s and the differently abled community. The case holds your burger for you, so you can eat it even with one hand. This simple case became the face of our campaign. EatQual engaged customers and helped deliver our message of equality and inclusivity.

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 (30% 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 (20% of vote)

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 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. 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.

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 how the brand purpose inspired the work

McDonald’s has always stood for equality and inclusivity. People feel at ease at our restaurant, it has an unintimidating atmosphere where people can be carefree and socialise. They can spill their drink and yet there will be smiles around, drop ketchup on clothes, no one will bat an eyelid. These are the little things that make our store experience & brand inclusive. Yet, there was a set of audience that wasn’t feeling it - our differently abled customers. For them, their disability shines the most in social situations where they feel they are being watched and it’s uncomfortable when you have to depend on others for a basic activity like eating. A lot of our restaurants have amenities like ramp & PWD washroom but the McDonald’s experience is not just about offering the best burger it comes down to the experience of enjoying a burger.