Courtesy of Wooster Collective
McDonald’s has announced a new partnership with Weight Watchers that will promote some of the Maccas menu (including chicken nuggests!) as suitable for dieters.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that three meals marked with the Weight Watchers logo are now on sale in New Zealand and we are told Aussies can expect to see them here later this year. Apparently the deal enables McDonald’s to use the Weight Watchers logo on its menu next to chicken nuggets (1560 kilojoules), Fillet-O-Fish (1390kJ) and sweet chilli chicken wraps (1640kJ). The deal will also see Weight Watchers promoting McDonald’s to their dieters!
It seems the Heart Foundation tick was no longer marketable enough for McDonalds so the fast food giant had to go to even more drastic lengths to overhaul their image and bring new customers into their store. I like to think consumers are savvy enough to see through this latest marketing ploy and hope the Weight Watchers dieters don’t have their good intentions hampered by a big, greasy Fillet-O-Fish burger.
This is a VERY smart move for WW & McDonald’s alike.
Think of the reach both organisations have. To pointify meals like this will make it ‘okay’ and ‘safe’ for weight watchers to eat at McDonald’s – whereas before it could have been easily dismissed as point-laden and difficult to factor into a day’s meal planning. Now, it’s more acceptable within the WW and broader community to eat a cheeseburger. Some of the guilt is removed.
As disappointing as it is to those with open eyes, to many people, a Heart Foundation tick is a meaningless graphic device, signifying…oh – something about health?
Weight Watchers is about dieting and portion control. Much more relevant to today’s body-conscious, looks-driven (particularly female) consumer.