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July 23, 2007
McNuggets and ethical taffy
In 2006, Fernando Sosa was munching on some McNuggets from McDonald's while waiting to perform at Chicago's Second City theater.
A whiff of inspiration came over Fernando's friend and comedy partner Thomas Middleditch, who improvised a rap jingle about the fried chicken pieces. Fernando jumped in as an accompanying human beatbox.
Their compatriots at the theater loved the bit, and told them to start the show with it. Another friend suggested they film it as a portfolio piece. Soon they were in front of a McDonald's near Wrigley Field; 20 minutes later, their "ad" was finished. Total cost of production: $1. For the McNuggets.
Friends posted it to StupidVideos.com and YouTube. Word spread.
More than a year later, McDonald's paid the duo for rights to the work, edited it slightly, and released it as a broadcast commercial on the East Coast. (RSS readers click here to watch.)
This story might end here as another example of the growing influence of citizen marketing on commerce and culture. But this story has a twist: When we interviewed Fernando and Thomas in 2006 for Citizen Marketers, we asked if they were fans of McDonald's. Thomas blanched. "I try to stay away from it; it’s pretty bad for you… I helped this big evil corporation out -- for free. Oh, it’s so bad.”
He said this like a comedian would. We laughed. Fernando nodded along but was mostly quiet. They scolded the company for its "I'm lovin' it" campaign, which they imagined being created by 50-year-old white men hoping to appeal to urban teens. They said McDonald's should learn the value of customer participation, especially with its marketing. It was savvy stuff from two young guys with no marketing backgrounds. (Thomas was a dog walker at the time; Fernando worked at an accounting firm.)
That two guys whose flash of inspiration, wit and quick work would turn into a handsome payday (Fernando told us he is sworn to secrecy on the amount; he won't even tell his mom), creates an ethical taffy: Must citizen marketers be unimpeachable supporters of a company and/or its products in order to maintain their aura of authenticity?
What if the company is huge and has multiple divisions or units whose work is disagreeable? What if some products aren't worthy of devotion or are outright bad?
Must evangelists or citizen marketers support a company's broad portfolio of work to remain credible, especially if they turn momentarily pro like Thomas and Fernando? Or do they get branded as sell-outs, capitalizing on an unexpected payday?
Virginia raises this issue, and a few of her commenters take Thomas and Fernando to task. What's important to remember about citizen-created content is the original context. Thomas and Fernando created their ad as a lark, poking gently at the company's calculated hip-hop marketing. It wasn't necessarily a love note. A true firecracker effort. Nor were they long-time critics of the company, so suggestions that they're selling out are a bit harsh and probably unfair.
If anything, withholding an opinion for the promise or desire for a payday is probably more inauthentic than anything.
I chatted with Fernando last week about the news; he said he occasionally eats at McD's but wouldn't call himself a fan of the company. That may well describe tens of thousands of customers, too.
Fernando was offended by the notion that taking the company's money makes him less credible. They never expected to be paid for the video. It was just a fun thing to do.
That McD's offered them money, and that the Fernando and Thomas took it, just makes the subtle irony in this story a bit richer.
And kind of funny, too.
UPDATE (7/27/07): McDonald's NY marketing director says the commercial, which has been running on about seven New York TV stations for two weeks, has helped increase sales of McDonald's chicken nugget meals "and the buzz that has been generated has been substantial. I've heard radio station DJs chattering about it. You can't pay for that."
This isn't the only YouTube video that McD's is using as a commercial. The company is running this video in some midwest markets, created by two 18 year-olds from Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Other blogs that reference McNuggets and ethical taffy:
» Consumer-generated McMedia Ethical Dilemma from Solutions Talk
Notable Quote: Fernando was offended by the notion that taking the company's money makes him less credible. They never expected to be paid for the video. It was just a fun thing to do. - Jackie Huba, from her blogpost [Read More]
Is it true that "actual user generated content" appears at the bottom of the ad? Joseph Jaffe mentioned that it did?
A bit lame on McDonald's behalf if it does, methinks.
Topic hits close to home as one of the creators of Ghetto Big Mac (750k views between youtube and myspace).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO6Bq4lQRZ4
Yes we've eaten these burgers and probably more McDonalds than anyone should but no we didn't want to just end up doing a free endorsement for the mega-corp built by selling us our eventual early deaths.
Despite the "how to get over on McDonalds" angle, the unhealthy hosts and the uncleared rap music... we were still accused early on of this being a fake video made by McDonalds.
Ben,
Yes, the commercial version of the video does include the "actual user generated content" subtitle. I agree...it seems a little weird.
The video I embed/linked to in the post above is the commercial running on TV with the subtitle. Check it out.
Insightful post, Jackie. I enjoyed watching this--the first time I saw it was during your presentation at the WOMBAT conference in SFO--if my "50 year old white guy brain" remembers correctly. You hit the nail on the head with regard to the ethics and irony of money changing hands(between the "evil" giant corporation and the recently empowered "little guys") in this case.
The question is can you fake the passion in an attempt maybe to cash in further down the line?
I'm not so sure most people can, but at proper marketing & advertising agencies people schill for products the don't nesc believe in
All ethical questions aside, these young men have displayed creativity and talent. They add a funny, energetic twist to a mediocre product and it has obviously benefitted McDonalds. They deserve to get paid whether they did it for the money or not.
RJ
