Time for a New McStrategy?

In case you missed it, Mickey D's announced today that it will print nutrition facts on the wrappers of its infamous Big Macs, fries, etc. All of this is in response to mounting pressure that fast food causes McObesity and could lead to a McHeart Attack.

McDonald's: We get it. You're trying.

But what about a totally different strategy — a complete 180. Come out and say, "Eating here every day can lead to all of that but it's no different than dining out anywhere else every day. Go make a burger and fries at home and it's not going to be much healthier. Our food is meant to be a treat or a convenience food — not a key component of your daily sustenance." The golden arches have been 'responding' for so long that they've stopped doing anything remarkable.

Tom Peters talks about the Detroit auto assembly measure of TGW (Things Gone Wrong) for measuring assembly line efficiency. He points out the fundamental shortsightedness of this and encourages thinking in the more Eastern view of Things Gone Right.

McDonald's should supersize this strategy. For proof they need look no further than their competition, gaining traction by not being too big to change it up through innovation. By inventing a Thickburger like Hardee's or touting the extreme customization of BK's "Have It Your Way." McDonald's would rather print packaging defending the old model than take a bold stance one way or the other — either drop the menu that's gotten them into trouble (risky) or embrace it and build on it ("Yeah, we make burgers and they're about as healthy as burgers can get but they are also the best burgers in town").

The McPoint? Don't spend all of your valuable resources educating your customers on the box you've let yourself get confined to. Innovate your way back out of the box. What's sad is that this isn't rocket science. I'll bet you someone in a strategy meeting at the McDonalds HQ had this thought and was either too scared to say it or was laughed out of the room. There are worse things than being laughed out of the room. After all, it's easier to smugly sit on big ideas, saving them for the inevitable "I told you so" after the fact, than it is to bravely put the big idea on the table in front of your peers. Go forth and speak up at your next meeting.

P.S. I've written two fast food-themed blogs in the past week! Maybe I should be checking the nutrition facts on my wrappers more closely...