'Tween' scene is focus of McD's newest TV campaign

Nation's Restaurant News, March 23, 1998 by Gregg Cebrzynski

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- McDonald's Corp. has launched a series of four TV spots to increase its share of the "tween" market, kids 8 to 13 years old.

In a separate development the company has created a character called "Iam Hungry" to appear in ads targeting kids younger than 8.

Although both moves are meant to attract more kids to McDonald's and retain them as loyal customers, one marketing analyst believes a bonus effect could be additional sales among adults, which McDonald's certainly could use.

The 30-second tween spots, created by Leo Burnett U.S.A., Chicago, feature kids in unpleasant situations that suddenly become better as McDonald's food shows up to save the day.

In "Pop Quiz" a stern teacher paces the classroom, the floorboards creaking with every step. The students watch her anxiously. "OK, class," she says, "you have exactly 10 minutes to finish."

To either delight it's bags of burgers, not a quiz, that they have to finish. For "extra credit" the teacher offers them sundaes.

Another spot, "Dentist," shows a nervous boy in a dentist chair. The sound of drilling fills the air. A mean-looking dentist appears and orders him to open wide. When he does, the dentist plops a Big Mac into the kid's mouth. A dental assistant holds a shake to his mouth. "Now rinse," she says.

In "Microwave" a sorry-looking frozen dinner transforms itself into a McDonald's meal. The fourth spot, "I Want Some Fries With That," which is shot like a rock video, includes kids singing about how much they love those fries.

Each spot created by Leo Burnett carries the tag "Hey, it could happen" instead of "Did Somebody Say McDonald's?" created by DDB Needham Worldwide, Chicago.

The new ads are "a freshening up" of the chain's "McWorld" campaign, which targets 8- to 13-year-olds, said Mary Miller, McDonald's vice president of marketing who specializes in the tween market.

The spots will run during Saturday TV shows that appeal to tweens, and some may air during prime time, Miller said.

The idea behind the ads is to show that McDonald's understands the situations tween-agers have to deal with, said Lisa Bennett, managing creative director at Leo Burnett.

"We wanted the spots to have a hip, contemporary feel to them," she said, and convey the message to tweens that they "belong at McDonald's."

Youths between the ages of 8 and 12 who watched "I Want Some Fries With That" before it was completed said they appreciated that their contemporaries, not moving stars or sports figures, were featured in it, according to Bennett.

"Iam Hungry," whom miller calls a "guest character," will appear with Ronald McDonald in Happy Meal ads targeting kids younger than 8.

"He's just sort of a fun character that has a high degree of appeal to Kids," Miller said.

McDonald's also is "real excited" about its plans to release a series of videos featuring Ronald, Miller said. The videos will come out "a bit down the road," she said.

Although the tween and Iam Hungry campaigns target kids, sales could increase among adults who have to drive the kids to McDonald's, according to Irma Zandl, president of The Zandl Group, New York, which tracks trends among consumers younger than 30.

"When McDonald's targets tweens, they get the tweens and the parents," she said. "If a kid pushes to go [to McDonald's], the parents will oblige."

The obliging parents and perhaps other age groups in the family who come with them will buy meals for themselves, Zandl said.

The youth market always has been important to the chain. Figures from Technomic Inc., Chicago, place the current population of youths between 5 and 14 years old at nearly 40 million. Miller said the company "absolutely" wants the new campaigns to influence kids to stick with McDonald's as they grow older.

The problem, however, is not with attracting kids, but with developing products that will appeal to them when they become adults. McDonald's Arch Deluxe, designed for grown-up tastes, by all accounts has failed to do that.

"So much of their business is successfully built around Happy Meals," Zandl said.

Burger King, McDonald's closest competitor, also offers a kids meal, and its current "Rugrats" cartoon promotion for the Whopper Jr. has been "very well-received," a spokeswoman said.

Despite the attention to kids, McDonald's may shift gears this summer with an adult promotion.

A published report said McDonald's, which has a long-term marketing alliance with Walt Disney Co., plans a movie tie-in to the studio's "Armageddon." The promotion would target 18- to 49-year-olds and offer such prizes as a chance to meet Bruce Willis, who's starring in the film, and a trip to the 1999 Academy Awards. A special combo meal, containing too much food for a child, would be part of the promotion, according to the report.

Whatever steps McDonald's takes to increase sales to adults, its approach to youth marketing is highly successful, according to Dennis Lombardi, an analyst at Technomic.

McDonald's name recognition among children 5 and younger is so strong, he said, that "sometimes you wonder if their first words aren't `McMommy' and `McDaddy.'"