Friday, December 4, 2009

McDonalds going Green (literally)


McDonald's is going green — swapping its traditional red backdrop for a deep hunter green — to promote a more eco-friendly image in Europe.

About 100 German McDonald's restaurants will make the change by the end of 2009, the company said in a
statement Monday. Some franchises in Great Britain and France have already started using the new color scheme behind their Golden Arches.

"With this new appearance we want to clarify our responsibility for the preservation of natural resources. In the future we will put an even larger focus on that," Hoger Beek, vice chairman of McDonald's Germany, said in the statement.

WAIT. What? That's how McDonalds is going to go green? The press release did state that, 'The company has warmed to "greener" practices, including environmentally friendly refrigeration and converting used oil into biodiesel fuel.' but so what. Changing your background won't fool anyone.

Aren't there hundreds of market research studies that prove why fast food companies use bright bold colors such as red and orange over darker greens and blues? AIGA takes a closer look at that theory
here.

My point: I'm not a fan. Stick with the Red and Yellow.
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2 comments:

KT said...

Seems a bit like a case of greenwashing (literally).

Sarah Cowen said...

I read an article in the LA Times the other day, things to say goodbye to in 2010, "green" was on this list, thankfully. Not that I endorse not being environmentally conscience, I'm just very suspicious of all these big corporations going green, it seems more like a marketing ploy. McD's, green? Yeah, right. Don't know where to begin with that...