When I saw this advertisement I laughed. Not because the ad itself is funny, actually I think the overall visual design of the ad is rather appealing. However, in my opinion, the idea behind the ad is silly.
Free WiFi at McDonald's, or any other fast food restaurant seems pointless to me. For a while McDonald's has been trying to position their brand as a cool and hip cafe with the start of the McCafe and new additions to the menu such as the McFrappe. They have also been remodeling most of their restaurants in order to make them look more chic and to give off a fancier dining vibe than previous McDonald's restaurants. While these are all great efforts to draw in a broader, more affluent crowd, it will be very difficult for them to change the brand position forever.
Most people who have grown up eating McDonald's and watching their commercials prior to 2005 will always see McDonald's as a fast food restaurant for late night munchies, and greasy, salty food on the go.
The main point is, McDonald's is generally a place to grab food quickly and on the go. It is not a cafe, no matter if they spruce up their beverage options or give their buildings a face-lift, or even if they add free WiFi to all their restaurants. I probably still won't go to a McDonald's, pull out my lap top and sit there drinking a McFrappe.
I agree with you, I think that the ad is catchy and humorous but I do not think the idea is going to work on the current and past customer base simply because of the association of fast food being, well - FAST.
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