That fast food kind of funny

Last Thursday McDonald’s tweeted a picture of “Mayor McCheese” confirming that “Ronald, in fact still loves McDonald’s and the next day, again, McDonald’s boldly posted on Facebook, a picture of Ronald McDonald squatting down, petting Taco Bell's Chihuahua with the caption “Imitation is the best form of flattery.”

On Thursday, Taco Bell launched a marketing campaign aimed to promote its new breakfast menu which stars the Waffle Taco and … Ronald McDonald.

Taco Bell took their sense of humour in marketing to a different level when all its advertisements featured everyday men who happened to have the same name as the clown with bright red hair wearing a yellow jumpsuit - the McDonald's mascot!

The advertisements were successfully produced by Taco Bell’s ad agency, Deutch LA where a few men whose real name is Ronald McDonald from all over the United States were selected and endorsed, testifying their love for Taco Bell’s Waffle Taco.

Can we say that Taco Bell’s witty gambit is a perfect example of brand-jacking? – An activity whereby someone acquires or otherwise assumes the online identity of another entity? For the purpose of acquiring that business brand's equity?

In other words, stealing something as iconic as the name Ronald McDonald and using it not only to promote its product, but to provide a direct nudge to its competitor in a friendly, hospitable way?

Is this healthy competition? Do we really see this kind of competition in our country?

We asked Malaysia’s marketing communications connoisseurs, Harmander Singh a.k.a Ham of Sledgehammer Communications and Maharis Azman a.ka. Ari from DraftFCB what they thought about this.

Ham who has over 20 years of success in the advertising and marketing region, thinks that Taco Bell’s sense of humour has given the market a shake.

“Obviously seeking out people named Ronald McDonald is a radical, brave and awesome idea! They have woken up the market!” said Ham.

Ham added that one needs to be really creative to pull off this kind of marketing ‘stunt’ in Malaysia and you don’t really find this kind of competition in the country.

“Americans are quite adventurous and for me Taco Bell is a different product from McDonald’s, a different category except it happens to be a fast food too. They are just basically having fun and this may mark the beginning of a product comparison campaign involving taste tests” said Ham.

For Ari, a young Head for Digital Creative Group, he too thought Taco Bell’s campaign was brilliant even though he admits to feeling a little disappointed with McDonald’s.

“I thought Taco Bell's "Guess Who Loves Taco Bell's New Breakfast" ad was brilliant, with the best disclaimer ever at the end. McDonald's responses have been pretty lame, so far. I think McD could have either planned their move more tastefully or just not respond at all, more so since they're the dominant brand in that market. Or perhaps I'm disappointed because I'm a huge McD fan!” said Ari.

When asked whether this is a healthy competition or not, Ari said it really depends on the parties involved.

“Whether the practice can provide for a healthy marketing competition or not, it's really down to the parties involved. Very few brands have done them well and gotten away better off. Also, as long as we're clear here that the term "brand-jacking" is not to be confused with the unethical practice of piracy or identity theft" Ari added.

Ari said that he remembers one campaign in Malaysia that came closest to Taco Bell’s campaign and even that, the success of the campaign is questionable.

“For some strange reason, the one local brand-jacking campaign that has stuck in my head is "The Truth About Prepaid" telco war way back in 2006. I don't think any one of the telco brands involved came out a winner. In fact, the whole episode only exposed the ugly truth that they were all cheating their customers one way or another.”

In the end, both Ari and Ham agreed that cheekiness alone will not survive in creating that healthy marketing competition especially between giants. What is vital would be the concoction of serious wit and a lot of gray matter - and of course not to forget that grand sense of humour!