Posted on 07/06/2005 7:22:42 AM PDT by Mike Bates
Would you like fashion with your fries?
Ramping up its bid for a hipper, more youthful image, McDonald's plans to hire top designers to remake its uniforms. The Oak Brook-based hamburger giant recently hired a marketing whiz with ties to the hip-hop community and is contemplating deals with fashion figures ranging from Sean "P. Diddy" Combs to Tommy Hilfiger.
"It would be pretty cool if our employees liked their uniforms so much that they would also want to wear them while they were not working," said McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman.
McDonald's successful "I'm lovin' it" ad campaign, launched in 2003, used hip-hop music and images of with-it youngsters to broaden the Golden Arches' popularity. Justin Timberlake and Destiny's Child both recorded the "I'm lovin' it" jingle.
SNIP
McDonald's has hired Steve Stoute to guide its fashion quest. Stoute, who started his own entertainment marketing firm, has brokered several partnerships between pop stars and corporations, pairing rapper Jay-Z with Reebok for a new line of shoes, and forging a deal between Hilfiger and Beyonce Knowles for a new perfume. Stoute also brought Timberlake and Destiny's Child aboard for the "I'm lovin' it" campaign.
In redesigning the uniforms, Stoute said he would solicit proposals from Russell Simmons' Phat Farm, Combs' Sean John label, Jay-Z's Rocawear, American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren's Polo and Giorgio Armani. McDonald's will put one new design in use at a time, but change the look from time to time.
"We're going to work with more than one designer. We're going to keep it current and fresh," Stoute said.
The new uniforms could cost McDonald's as much as $80 million, according to AdAge.com. Whitman said the project was in the early stages and the company had not started negotiations with any designers.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Ringtones? Why in h*** would anybody in their right mind pay cash money for that?
My daughter tried that -- once. I threatened her within an inch of her life if it happened again.
You ask them where you are and I'll ask here in Georgia. Let's check back in and compare notes. I think we may be starting to uncover a vast conspiracy -- especially if their stories don't agree.
I tell people that I am the "black hole" of marketing departments because if I really, really like a product it is sure to be discontinued.
I thought we all wanted to BUY the WORLD a coke, not wear the uniform.
Me too! Somewhere, buried in a closet, are dozens of the old paper order sheets with obsolete prices. I'd get a bunch of them for scratch paper every time they changed prices.
Ahhh, the good ol' day of adding up the entire order in your head because the cash register could only ring up the total.
I got busy in a Burger King bathroom, yo...
I guess a Jones for a Big Mac is better than a Johnson for a Big Mac.
haha that was a dumb one too.
Wendy survivors:
LOL!
And then of course you have all those not-so-cool people who will be convinced that throwing down a burger at McD's will transform them.
Ah, marketing...
Chicken McGristle is more like it.
They occasionally have "Mighty Wings" and the good 'ol "McRib" on the menu from time-to-time...and I must admit that those two babies are pretty good.
I had a job that required alot of in-town driving. I ate fast food at least once a day. My blood pressure went from 118/78 to 153/100 in less than a year, and I gained over 20 lbs. Yikes!
I'll bet I haven't walked into a McDonalds in over 8 years. As you get a little older, one tends to value their health more.
I agree. See #74
Fads are like fireworks, when all of the edges meet in the middle the whole thing explodes and is forgotten.
That's rather funny, in a tragic way.
It's a great marketing idea...wearing your uniform as a fashion statement? It's brilliant.
She looks like a ho.
After this lovely photo op, the foursome went to a "real" restaurant to dine like civilized people. No kidding.
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