Loud Music, Bright Lights... French Fries?

Posted by mleishear

By using the Frith method, we can break this advertisement down into three categories.

Surface Meaning:  A solid black background is broken up by a racially ambiguous hand with multiple wristbands holding an order of McDonald's french fries.  The words "Open All Night" are written in white to the right of the hand

Advertiser's Meaning:  No matter what hour of the night or whatever you might be getting into (let's say, club-hopping, for example), McDonald's is open all night to feed that late night hunger.

Cultural Meaning:  We as Americans live in a society that has events such as clubs and raves going on all hours of the night.  Because of this many young adults who fit this scene may want something to eat late at night.  McDonald's has already advertised for years that they are one of the only fast food restaurants that i open all night, so they switched their emphasis to an audience that is also up all night.  Assuming they have enough business during the day, McDonald's has made a billboard that is 100% targeted towards the club scene which dominates our youth and the radio today.  In other countries that have similar economies to the U.S. this billboard would speak universally, as the audience is bounded more by age than race.  The hand shown does not give off any particular sign of race, and I assume to advertise this billboard in another country, the only thing McDonald's would need to change is the language of the text.  This is an excellent example of advertising by utilizing what is popular in the media and the youth.  As the club scene becomes more popular, so will stopping by McDonald's on the way home from Baltimore or D.C. at 3 AM. 

     I'm not the biggest fan of McDonald's, but like with the Axe advertisement, some of the best ads are ones that don't necessarily please every single viewer, but have a strong idea of their target audience.  This ad is right on schedule as far as following the "trends" of high school and early college students, and I'm sure that McDonald's will be ready for the next big thing.