McDonalds BF&GF Commercial - Philippines & India Versions

What McDonald's is Trying to Teach the Advertising Agencies

1. Value in Every Culture. Value in Every Race. 

Through the years, McDonald's has done many commercials that really touch the heart of the Filipinos. Perhaps everyone in the Philippines, both the young and old alike, would always remember the "Gina Po" commercial wherein the grandfather showed his favoritism on his apo (granddaughter) - Gina. It's a trait that every Filipino could relate to. Favoritism is just something that we have not only for particular members of our family but even in friends. McDonald's know just that. 

2. Different Strokes for Different Folks

McDonald's (or should I say, it's advertising firm - hands down!) understands that every country has different culture. What might tickle in Asia may not work as effectively in the Middle East or in the US. Therefore, I was quite surprised to see different versions of similar concept commercials for McDonald's BF/GF commercial. Trying not to compare which is better than the other, I couldn't help but notice that each video gave emphasis on what each country values. Take a look at each version of the commercial and you will see that in advertising, it is very important to remember that John has different preferences than Juan. It is therefore essential to give focus on what every country value's and bank on that.

McDonalds Philippines BF & GF Commercial - Philippines Version

McDonalds Philippines BF & GF Commercial - India Version

Touching Filipinos Hearts through Family and Love - Advertisements

Filipinos probably are the most family-oriented people in the world. We put too much value and effort in keeping our families together even to the point wherein three generations live in the same roof or compound.

With such emphasis with the family, various brands knew just how to tickle the fancy of the Filipino people with advertisements that put value in traditions and love in the family. Below are just some of the most viral video advertisements in the Philippines.

1. Nestle Philippines TV Commercial: Nestle 100 Years "Pag-Ibig"



2. Mc Donalds Classic Philippine TV Commercial / Karen 



3. McDonalds Philippines New Commercial 2011' BF GF' FRIES



McDonald's Commercials

McDonalds understand that Filipinos could always "relate" to family-oriented advertisements and they definitely do a great job in creating such ads until their BF/GF commercial wherein a girl asked the boy if they're already in a relationship and the guy responded no because girlfriends demand a lot. The little girl then responded that she only wanted "McDo Frenchfries". Most responses were, "Aww,cute" and "Ah, sweet". But the Catholic Church thinks differently. While I respect the religious group's view, I don't think that it gives such a negative notion with today's generation's view of true love.

Therefore, when I saw this photo of Starbucks, I thought it would be a perfect response from Starbucks,

  "Gusto ko lang naman ng Starbucks, eh". 

A little girl enjoying her Starbucks coffee ;-)

3 Most Common Mistakes in Promoting a Site or Brand

1. Pushing too much. As in too much

Let's face it, all marketers and sales people love to promote their websites and brand to the point that they become too pushy. Some marketers don't even know the value of targeted marketing and would blast all their pitches in just about everywhere. Email blasting is disgusting. Too much sales pitch is, well, just too much, and could scare prospective clients away instead of attracting them. 

2. Not listening

There's nothing worse than dealing with a sales person or marketer or brand that doesn't listen to its consumers. Without properly listening to what people thinks, a brand could eventually get lost in what truly keeps most successful brand alive, interactive and interesting. Be sure to keep have a listening ear so you can easily learn about what truly makes your consumers and followers to stick around. Remember, people don't care how much you know unless they know how much you care. 

3. Casting the stones everywhere and to anyone
One of the most common mistakes of advertisers and internet marketers alike is that they don't know who exactly their target market is and even if they do, they have a habit of simply scattering the ads or promotional products to just about anyone. It happens not only in traditional advertising but also in Facebook where friends would clutter your feeds with updates and even invite you to events that don't interest you the least. If you know what you want, you would know how to get it and the way to get it is to make every campaign succinctly targeted. Just as Warren Buffet once said, people only diversify because they're not sure about what they do. The same is true with advertising, know who you'd like to sell your products to and direct your promotions to them. Be sure not to cast the pearl to swines as you would never make money with these people and swines get irritated too.

Those are just three of the many mistakes that advertisers and marketers commit. It is therefore very important when you're about to promote your product, brand or website to go with those who do it for a living as they know best. Taylor Herring has many years of outstanding service to its clients have scooped 10 major industry awards for our creative, stand-out campaigns. They have successfully worked with various huge brands in creating long lasting campaigns.

This post is sponsored by TaylorHerring.

Famous Publicity. Cath Taylor founded Cath Taylor Associates in 1997 and joined forces with James Herring to launch Taylor Herring PR in 2001.