Thursday, March 12, 2009

Is McDonald's Advertising Unethical?

McDonald's spend over two billion dollars each year on advertising: the Golden Arches are now more recognised than the Christian Cross. Using collectable toys, television adverts, promotional schemes in schools and figures such as Ronald McDonald the company bombards their main target group: children. Many parents object strongly to the influence this has over their own children.

McDonald's argue that their advertising is no worse than anyone else's and that they adhere to all the advertising codes in each country. But others argue it still amounts to cynical exploitation of children - some consumer organisations are calling for a ban on advertising to children. Why do McDonald's sponsor so many school events and learning programmes? Are their Children's Charities genuine philanthropy or is there a more explicit publicity and profit motive?

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Will This Work?

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes hopes to put more TV on the internet, but he's going to make consumers prove they've paid for it. His plan is to put all cable programming on the web in places such as Hulu, MySpace, Yahoo TV, or even YouTube. Of course, there's a catch. To get it you'll have to prove you subscribe to pay TV through cable, satellite, or telco. I believe it is going to be hard to get consumers to pay for something that they are used to getting for free. There are so many shows available for free online now that it will be difficult to get consumers to pay for shows online. For this to work, all internet T.V. providers are going to have to stop giving away free access.

Interesting Quote...

“Advertising in a down economy is even more important than advertising during the good times,” says Joyce Gioia, president of the Herman Group, a firm of strategic business futurists in Greensboro, N.C. “That’s when you can build market share. That’s when you have less competition for share of mind. While others are in a cocoon, hibernating until things blow over, it’s a great time to invest in your business."