Not So Smooth
Last Thursday, I was driving past another McDonald’s on my way home, when I saw a sign that read, ” Try Our New Fruit Smoothies.” Gross. Nothing about the infamous smell of a Quarter Pounder makes me crave a fruit smoothie.
This week I discovered that McDonald’s has pulled out of their free smoothie sample promotion initially set to launch on July 22nd. A statement by their chief marketing officer, Neil Golden, blamed “unprecedented demand” for the promotion’s cancellation. The franchise introduced the new icy items last week and the promotion was scheduled to push the new product, as part of the expanding McCafe line of “specialty drinks” (not a fan of any of those, BTW). Now there is an apparent smoothie mix shortage……wait, you didn’t actually think these fruit smoothies contained real fruit, did you?
Yikes.
Whether McDonald’s recipe had you fooled or not, canceling free handouts that you’ve already promised your loyal nationwide customers is just not a smooth move. *insert awkward laugh here*
A better strategy, in my opinion, would have been to cut the free samples back a day, reschedule the promotion altogether, or at least honor another item on the menu; maybe a shake of equal fructose content. Deliberately canceling the promotion and offering no recourse is not only underdelivering, it’s really bad for business!
My evaluation? Put sugar, yogurt, preservatives and frozen fruit into a blender, and anyone will drink it. If I’m on a health kick, I’m not going to McDonald’s. Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans who aren’t so worried about ingredients, much less accountability, and the invention and purchase of another disgusting smoothie by McDonald’s will probably be in our future. Sip on.
About the Author: Lindsay Trombatore
We can't really talk about it publicly, but let's just say that Lindsay came to us through a contact in a certain Sicilian secret family -- and it's not the Boyardee family. It's a good thing she's part of the media department since she appears to have some sort of hands on experience with "innovative negotiation methods." We were all taken aback on her first day when she was asked to make a phone call and responded with, "You want I should make dat happen? Anything for you, mi amico!" Nonetheless, we welcomed Lindsay with open arms and have embraced her roots in addition to her love of the Chicago Cubbies (RIP 2008 season).
blech! These had me turned off from the moment I saw their underwhelmingly plain billboards… I thought “if these are made with real fruit (read with sarcasm) then why have a completely white board with just the 2 images… where’s the actual fruit?!”. Tthen I saw their commercials… ugh! No better!
I hadn’t heard about them canceling their promo, but honestly that doesn’t surprise me… I pay little attention to McDon’t. Not my kind of place… especially if looking for something marginally healthy… I’m with you on that!