McDonald’s Hummer Bummer

September 16, 2006      Admin

I'm a big fan of cause-marketing relationships that spring from sincere public service commitment on the part of businesses, and provide genuine win-win benefits to both the corporate and non-profit parnters.

But here's a case of McDonald's, who touts its corporate responsibility in many areas, including the environment, totally screwing up.

How? As reported by B.L Ochman, by giving away Hummer replicas with their Happy Meals! What fool at McD's thought this up? More importantly, how could such a terrible message make it through the typical corporate vetting process?! And even more importantly, what are they going to do about it … and how are enviro groups currently partnering with McD's going to deal with the situation?

This is a classic example for Guy Kawasaki's “Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things.”