A global brand, with locations everywhere in the world, needs to take any rebranding effort cautiously. It’s a lot of work, and there are a lot of potential missteps. So when McDonald’s decided to alter its packaging and visual marketing strategy, it started more than five years before the results were actually launched and available in stores. Along the way, it added and adapted the plan, to reflect newly arising goals and objectives.

The emerging imaging is clean and minimalistic, reflecting the sense that the packaging for Big Macs and Egg McMuffins can prioritize the McDonald’s brand, rather than needing to describe the contents. Consumers know they are getting their familiar favorites, so the packaging offers the restaurant chain an opportunity to reinforce its overall brand image and consumers’ sense of connection with it. Furthermore, the straightforward labels on packages do not feature much text that would require translation into different languages, such that they can be adopted globally and easily.

Along with the simplicity of the redesign, McDonald’s took a minimalistic-oriented perspective on the packaging itself. Having committed to achieving 100 percent recycled material by 2025, McDonald’s claims to have reached the 80 percent level. It also is testing straw-less lid options in various international markets, experimenting with wood-based utensils, and adopting more recycled fiber-sourced packaging overall.

These efforts revealed another notable and perhaps unnecessary source of plastic waste, namely, the toys contained in Happy Meals. In efforts to mitigate this negative impact, experiments undertaken in some international sites, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France, present children with toys that are made mostly of sustainable materials, leading to a 30 percent reduction in the amount of virgin plastic contained in the giveaways. In addition, the corporation has sought advice from toy engineers, parents, and suppliers to innovate new types of toys that do not require plastic, such as buildable crafts or construction kits. In creating these novel options, McDonald’s noted its goal to make the offerings appealing to adults as well, such as interactive games that would allow families to play together. For toys that still require plastic, McDonald’s is experimenting with recycling old versions or else worn-out trays, so that it can close the supply loop at least partially.

The process thus might have taken more than five years, but by allowing it to continue and develop, McDonald’s has been able to integrate growing demands for environmentally responsible packaging into its brand redesign, resulting in an overall refresh that also signals a recommitment to sustainability.

Discussion Question:

1. What benefits does a simplified brand logo and packaging offer McDonald’s? What risks might they entail?
2. Can McDonald’s achieve true ecological and environmental responsibility, considering its product offerings, global footprint, and packaging needs? Defend your answer.

Source: Brooke DiPalma, “McDonald’s Gives Happy Meal Toys a Sustainable Makeover in Climate Push,” Yahoo Finance, September 21, 2021; Sara Spary, “Here’s the Story Behind McDonald’s ‘Aesthetically Minimal’ Global Packaging Redesign,” AdWeek, February 17, 2021; McDonald’s, “Packaging and Waste,” https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-purpose-and-impact/our-planet/packaging-and-waste.html