McDonald's Happy Price Menu spreads happiness

Inflation has been on all our minds lately with vegetable prices and the like hiking up at alarming rates more than ever before. Indians are cautious about spending for frivolous items and are trying to curb their expenses in an otherwise expensive world. In current times like this, where everyone thinks twice to buy even onions, could brands make an impact and connect with their consumers to buy?

Leo Burnett India believed it was possible when McDonalds wanted to promote their Happy Price Menu which still started at Rs. 20.

Rameet Arora, Senior Director, McDonald's India (South & West), says, "As one of the world's most loved brands, and India's most loved quick service restaurant, McDonald's has always been that place for Indians - Food you love, at prices you love, at a place you and your friends love. The question was, how to up the ante and drive Happy Price Menu's unique value proposition of "still only Rs 20" to a greater portion of today's street food loving, canteen hanging youngsters in a way that not only pushes sales but also makes them love McDonald's even more"

Leo Burnett worked on this simple insight that people are always short of money - rich, middle class or poor, no one ever feels they have enough to be genuinely happy and satisfied with life. Most of the youngsters live a very full life despite their constraints on money. This is possible because of the fact that they believe happiness doesn't cost that much. Nitesh Tiwari, ECD said, "It's not about how much money you have that makes you happy, it is about how happily you make the most of it". And this is where McDonald's came in. The Happy Price Menu ensures that the happiness of enjoying a wonderful meal at McDonald's still costs just Rs 20."

McDonald's previous campaigns included "purane zaaane ke daam" (Dev Anand) and "aap ke zamaane mein baap ke zamaane ke daam" (Amitabh Bachchan) and the like. The challenge now was to find a real and fresh and instantly memorable idea that connected directly to the target audience while touching everyone else with its simplicity and warmth.

KV Sridhar 'Pops', NCD, elaborates, "Leo Burnett used stories of young protagonists faced with the supposedly tricky prospect of a treating someone else with or no money in their wallets, and how McDonald's allowed them to do so and helped them put the smiles back on the faces of their friends or loved ones".

Told simply and really, the stories immensely bring a smile to your face and are immensely enjoyable even when you watch them over and over again. What's more they fit in beautifully with McDonald's global brand philosophy of simple, easy enjoyment.

With over 400,000 views on Youtube, McDonald's hopes that the campaign spreads as much joy with its message as it does with its uniquely affordable but wonderful food experience.