I love when "research studies" reach obvious conclusions. And so it goes for a study by Stanford researchers that concluded that McDonald's marketing works, even on pre-schoolers. According to the study, preschoolers generally think that food in a McDonald's wrapper tastes better than the same food packaged in a plain wrapper. Well, duh! If you spend a billion dollars annually on marketing, you'd certainly hope that you could convince someone that your product is better than the one in the generic wrapper.
And if there was any doubt about how early the McDonald's brand takes root in the minds of little children, let me recall a story from K1's youth. A child who was not yet three at the time, K1 accompanied me and my friend, Wanda, as we were out and about shopping and doing miscellaneous girl stuff. I promised K1 that we would stop at the next McDonald's we saw to get her a Happy Meal, before returning to my conversation with Wanda. Just minutes later, K1 exclaimed, "McDonald's, McDonald's!" I scanned the freeway looking for a sign; Wanda searched for some indication of a McDonalds. Neither of us saw anything to suggest there was a nearby McDonald's. But K1 was insistent. Finally Wanda and I, by squinting, could see a golden dot, on the horizon, many miles ahead, which indeed appeared to be the golden arches. I saw first-hand the power of McDonald's marketing.
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