Does McDonald's market disproportionately to black people?

[astro]

I was discussing dieting and a fast food this afternoon at the gym with an acquaintance, and he told me that in seeing the various TV ads for McDonalds he believed McDonalds was really focusing on black people as the core marketing group they wanted to appeal to these days.

He said the ads show black people (men specifically) taking their families and girlfriends to McDonald's for lunch and dinner as some big treat, but he said he can't recall the last time he saw a McDonald's ad showing the same for a white family or white couple.

I haven't had a broadcast TV for about a year so I can't verify his observations. Blacks are only about 14% of the US population so this seemed somewhat unlikely to me. Any truth to his supposition?

[Simple Linctus]

I don't know about American adverts but over here that is not the case; what they show instead is something that tries to appeal to absolutely every body. That will include black people and if you're a racist (I'm not saying your friend is) you will notice the black people and wonder about what's going on there, while ignoring all the other colours.

Also note that if they tried to represent a few ethnicities then there would be a lot of brown/yellow people that your friend may have seen as black.

[Jake Jones]

I don't know if they are marketing disproportionately to black Americans. They are making a concerted effort to target that demographic, but I certainly don't think they're ignoring the rest of the market. So, I guess I would ask you to clarify your question.

Disproportionate to what? To their competitors and most US consumer product companies? Almost certainly. To other minority groups in the US? Definitely. To the amount they spend on general advertising that is arguably targeted primarily to white Americans? Almost certainly not. I don't have their ad spend numbers, but I'm fairly confident in my speculation.

[Little Nemo]

I've always felt McDonalds is aiming at the broadest possible demographic. It's not looking to be a niche product. It markets to everyone.

[bump]

Originally Posted by Jake Jones

Disproportionate to what?

That was my question too... just because a target demographic that apparently spends a lot of money at their restaurant happens to be an ethnic minority, doesn't make it racist, wrong or even worthy of scrutiny.

There are plenty of companies that market heavily toward different demographics- daytime TV is notorious for commercials for rent-to-own places and ambulance chasers, while you don't see much of that during the day.

Market segmentation isn't inherently racist, sexist or any "ist". It's just smart business.

[astro]

Re clarification the clear implication in his conversation was that he thought McDonalds was doing this because the (white) middle class increasingly does not consider McDonalds to be particularly desirable or healthy food these days, and McDonald's was quite deliberately recalibrating it's marketing to target more vulnerable and less nutritionally informed/aware populations.

[Nawth Chucka]

The last 5-6 years I've noticed more advertisements overall w/ a broader range of people represented. There was an SNL skit back in the 90's where ad executives were horrified at the sight of an interracial couple in a commercial for their product, their discomfort was supposed to be funny but it made me pay closer attention to who I saw in ads. Until somewhat recently, unless a product was aimed very specifically at one group you didn't see much more than physically-fit white people. It's good to see that's changing.

McDonald's wants everybody's money and has for a few years had a diverse appeal in their ads. I don't agree w/ your acquaintance about their commercials.

[Farmer Jane]

First hit

In fact, many of McDonald's ads now feature only African Americans. Of the 10 most-aired TV ads from the past 12 months, compiled by ad tracker Nielsen IAG, five had all-black casts. While the ads usually push specific products or deals, many use situations aimed directly at ethnic consumers. In a recent commercial called "Big Day," a young boy at a wedding looks bored while watching the bride and groom kiss and jump over a broom—an African American matrimonial tradition. His eyes light up, however, when he gets to his seat and finds a Happy Meal.

The bottom line: McDonald's is increasingly taking its marketing cues from minority groups, which it considers to be trendsetters for white America.

[Queen Tonya]

I think it depends on where you're watching those commercials. I live in the Detroit area, here our Mcommercials feature plenty of black actors. Just got home from visiting the parents in a very white area upstate, and all their Mcommercials featured white actors. They target the market they're in, that's all.

[ioioio]

Originally Posted by Queen Tonya

I think it depends on where you're watching those commercials. I live in the Detroit area, here our Mcommercials feature plenty of black actors. Just got home from visiting the parents in a very white area upstate, and all their Mcommercials featured white actors. They target the market they're in, that's all.

I agree. It seems to me that McDonald's commercials here target a black audience, but then Memphis is a black majority city.

[TriPolar]

Does Burger King market disproportionately to morons?

link

[Jake Jones]

Originally Posted by astro

Re clarification the clear implication in his conversation was that he thought McDonalds was doing this because the (white) middle class increasingly does not consider McDonalds to be particularly desirable or healthy food these days, and McDonald's was quite deliberately recalibrating it's marketing to target more vulnerable and less nutritionally informed/aware populations.

In that case, I'd say your acquaintance is full of shit. McDonalds markets to black Americans directly, there's no question about it. So what? They market to white Americans twice as much or more, on a slow day.

White Americans eat as much, if not more shitty food than black Americans. I'm sure there are way more mainstream ads than black American ads. So what? Who cares? Eat at McDonalds if you want. Who gives a fuck? What is the substance of his argument?

If your "acquaintance" is reluctant to eat at McDonalds because they market "to the blacks" then fuck him. You shouldn't have anything to do with him if you can help it.

[astro]

Originally Posted by Jake Jones

In that case, I'd say your acquaintance is full of shit. McDonalds markets to black Americans directly, there's no question about it. So what? They market to white Americans twice as much or more, on a slow day.

White Americans eat as much, if not more shitty food than black Americans. I'm sure there are way more mainstream ads than black American ads. So what? Who cares? Eat at McDonalds if you want. Who gives a fuck? What is the substance of his argument?

If your "acquaintance" is reluctant to eat at McDonalds because they market "to the blacks" then fuck him. You shouldn't have anything to do with him if you can help it.

Oddly enough, the attitude behind his position was that McDonlds was being somewhat exploitative of blacks in targeting them to push their crappy food.

[astro]

Originally Posted by TriPolar

Does Burger King market disproportionately to morons?

link

Oh the memories...

[Odesio]

Without taking a survey of the ads on television or billboards in American cities I'm not sure I can answer the question. Of the McDonald's ads I can think of over the past few years quite a few of them feature mostly white people. The ad where people were drumming on the tables and the one where the creepy old guy suggests to a young man he should order the 20 piece nuggets to share with a girl are the two I can think of off the top of my head. As far as the black ads go, well, we have the one where they're all playing pool, the recent Olympic ad with the female boxer and now I'm stumped. I do think they advertise more towards African Americans than they did 20 years ago.

[kanicbird]

Not sure about the marketing efforts to blacks, but I have noticed a trend towards a more adult clientele. Many of the McD's have been remodeled with less of the 'kiddie clown' colors and have a more refined grown-up look. Also their push towards quality coffee and other such drinks as well as more 'upscale' burgers such as the Angus ones. And their commercials way back used to feature the clown and the others such as the Fry Guys, Grimace, etc, so catering to children. Now you hardly see them expect maybe on a happy meal box


The commercial where a black b/f buys his g/f lunch at McD's may have more to do with trying to change McD's image, wanting to diminish the 'fast food' aspect and be considered more on par with other casual restaurants. That is how I take that commercial.

[antonio107]

We haven't had a Church's chicken in Canada for years, but whenever I see ads for it (admittedly on PeachTree TV), I always see black patrons being portrayed. I haven't noticed that for McDonald's or the other burger chains. Wendy's has that hot ginger chick in them these days, so at least that one isn't uniformly black!

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

I've always felt McDonalds is aiming at the broadest possible demographic. It's not looking to be a niche product. It markets to everyone.

Pardon me. Would you have any Grey Poupon?

[olivesmarch4th]

White Americans eat as much, if not more shitty food than black Americans.

I don't think that's true. The obsesity rate for black Americans is disproportionally high compared to white Americans. So are the rates of obesity-related illness. This is at least partly because poor people don't really have many healthy food options, and minorities are disproportionally poor. I'd also wager that minorities also make up a good percentage of McDonalds' employees - again, because of poverty. Marketing more to minorities than to white people would actually be fairly rational of McDonalds.

I don't think the friend was being racist, it sounds like his problem was the exploitation of minorities and/or taking advantage of people who have less nutritional knowledge and fewer nutritional options.

[grude]

The cable channel Centric which is supposed to be black themed programming but has a lot of vaguely qualifying shows like A Team reruns plays commercials for fast food places made with all black casts that aren't on the main networks. I imagine they tailor it to demographics, there were quite a few commercials in Houston featuring hispanic casts which I wondered if they were nationwide.

[BigT]

Before reading the thread (to give my unbiased opinion). No, not in any way, I don't think I've ever seen a McDonald's ad that appeared to target only black people. Sure, I've seen black people in ads, but that's called diversity, at least, in the advertising world.

Now let's see if you guys can change my mind. And, all you did was convince me that they run different ads in different locations.

[listedmia]

Originally Posted by antonio107

We haven't had a Church's chicken in Canada for years, but whenever I see ads for it (admittedly on PeachTree TV), I always see black patrons being portrayed. I haven't noticed that for McDonald's or the other burger chains. Wendy's has that hot ginger chick in them these days, so at least that one isn't uniformly black!

Church's Chickens, in the northern United States at least, are located almost exclusively in majority-black city neighborhoods. In the South they are more evenly dispersed and I have seen them in rural areas too.

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by astro

Oddly enough, the attitude behind his position was that McDonlds was being somewhat exploitative of blacks in targeting them to push their crappy food.

That seems a pretty patronising view: that black people are so naive they'll fall for the White Man's evil marketing ploys.

[Apocalypso]

I'm in the Pittsburgh area which has a pretty good mix of blacks and whites. I've noticed more black people and other minorities in television commercials in general. I don't think McDonalds advertising is targeted disportionately towards black people, there have been plenty of ads lately with whites in them. It might just stand out a little more because of the lack of black people in their ads previously.

I would also question the claim that black people have a larger percentage of obesity than white people, and black people eat at McDonalds more than white people. I don't think either of these things is true (based on my observation).

[Wendell Wagner]

Black Americans are 51% more likely to be obese than white non-Hispanic Americans and white Hispanic Americans are 21% more likely to be obese than white non-Hispanic Americans:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsobesityadults/index.html

[olivesmarch4th]

Originally Posted by Apocalypso

I would also question the claim that black people have a larger percentage of obesity than white people, and black people eat at McDonalds more than white people. I don't think either of these things is true (based on my observation).

The higher obesity rate of African Americans is rather well-established fact. Latino obesity rates are even higher, and the highest of all are American Indian. This is because of poverty and the utter lack of convenient nutritious food options in many urban (and some rural) communities. The neighborhood I work in, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the country, indicates obesity in 65% of (mostly minority) adults and about half of children. The neighborhood has about ten fast food restaurants and a single grocery store, which smells of rotting meat from the second you walk in the door. There is some produce but it's hardly fresh and the store is jam-packed with processed foods. I couldn't get outta there fast enough.

According to random google searching on the internet, over half of McDonald's employees are minorities, which would suggest that they probably do disproportionately serve African Americans.

[typoink]

I've been leery of McDonald's target marketing to African-Americans (or minorities in general?) for a few years now. It's not a case of "all black commercials all the time," but a bunch of smaller things. I'm not sure [i]why[i] it bugs me; for some reason the phrase "preying on" seems to spring to mind more than "marketing to."

Maybe I just really don't like McDonald's.

[Wendell Wagner]

olivesmarch4th writes:

> . . . Latino obesity rates are even higher . . .

Cite? My citation says that there's more obesity among blacks than among Hispanics. It could, of course, be wrong, but I'd like to see your citation.

[Taomist]

I live in a primarily latino area, and let's just say that, at 30 pounds 'normal middle-aged woman overweight', I'm the skinny one. I wouldn't say it's a higher rate of obesity than other areas, just that heaviness in general, amongst men or women, is considered normal in this community.

And I have no idea what McD's is targetting these days, since the ads I see are in spanish half the time. And ALL their billboards are, lol. But hey, that's the area I live in. It's expected.

[typoink]

Part of the thing that bugs me is that the minority-focused marketing started around the same time McDonald's started trying to be "upscale" with redesigned stores, McCafe drinks, nicer uniforms, etc.

The timing may have been coincidence, but something about it read to me as, "instead of being cheap food to white people, we're gonna be fancy to black people." I'm reading to much into it, I'm sure, but it seemed like a big bundle of condescension.

[grude]

Originally Posted by typoink

I've been leery of McDonald's target marketing to African-Americans (or minorities in general?) for a few years now. It's not a case of "all black commercials all the time," but a bunch of smaller things. I'm not sure [i]why[i] it bugs me; for some reason the phrase "preying on" seems to spring to mind more than "marketing to."

.

Black people lack the willpower and education to resist greasy fast food?

I'm kidding mostly but come on, give some credit!

[Wendell Wagner]

A company the size of McDonalds always has a large department which researches the demographics of its customers. It knows surprisingly accurately the proportions of each race, sex, income level, age group, etc. of its customers. It adjusts its marketing and the mix of its products being sold to maximize its profit for that demographic mix. It may from time to time try to change its demographic profile to make the company more profitable. All this demographic knowledge and planning is usually proprietary information within the company and thus not available to the public. I know that we all like to think of ourselves as sui generis, so that a company couldn't possibly know what we are buying, but the fact is that we're not. Like it or not, there are many companies out there that are manipulating us.

[olivesmarch4th]

Originally Posted by Wendell Wagner

olivesmarch4th writes:

> . . . Latino obesity rates are even higher . . .

Cite? My citation says that there's more obesity among blacks than among Hispanics. It could, of course, be wrong, but I'd like to see your citation.

Eh, I might have got the two reversed. Neither is a good situation, in any case.

[astorian]

There is no question that SOME McDonald's advertising, and certain select McDonald's foods, are aimed at specific ethnic groups. The McRib sandwich (which isn't always available) has always been marketed primarily to black customers.

Beyond that, even if you hate McDonald's and what you think it represents, it's worth noting: in many inner city neighborhoods, McDonald's is one of the few businesses offering any kind of legal, paying jobs. McDonald's also provides the only clean, safe playgrounds for little kids.

For those reasons, McDonald's has earned some real loyalty in many black communities.

[lavenderviolet]

Eh? Whatever gave you the idea that McDonalds is targeting black people?

Originally Posted by olivesmarch4th

This is at least partly because poor people don't really have many healthy food options, and minorities are disproportionally poor. I'd also wager that minorities also make up a good percentage of McDonalds' employees - again, because of poverty. Marketing more to minorities than to white people would actually be fairly rational of McDonalds.
I don't think the friend was being racist, it sounds like his problem was the exploitation of minorities and/or taking advantage of people who have less nutritional knowledge and fewer nutritional options.

I agree with you actually. For many people in poor neighborhoods who don't have easy access to a grocery store, lack the time or resources to cook at home, etc. it would make sense to just go to the nearby McDonald's (or equivalent) and order something from the Dollar Menu.

[robert_columbia]

Originally Posted by olivesmarch4th

The higher obesity rate of African Americans is rather well-established fact. Latino obesity rates are even higher, and the highest of all are American Indian. This is because of poverty and the utter lack of convenient nutritious food options in many urban (and some rural) communities. The neighborhood I work in, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the country, indicates obesity in 65% of (mostly minority) adults and about half of children. The neighborhood has about ten fast food restaurants and a single grocery store, which smells of rotting meat from the second you walk in the door. There is some produce but it's hardly fresh and the store is jam-packed with processed foods. I couldn't get outta there fast enough.

According to random google searching on the internet, over half of McDonald's employees are minorities, which would suggest that they probably do disproportionately serve African Americans.

I believe that there are also some issues with obesity among "poor white trash" types. I was actually surprised when I went to Atlantic Canada to see all the fat white guys - I didn't really realize how poor many of the people are.