The priorities of a society are often most observable from its advertising campaigns. Advertising agencies spend a great deal of time researching what their prospective target audiences want, and then they put their creative people to work in order to find the best campaigns to reach those niches. Of course, some campaigns are more memorable than others: the simple image of Mean Joe Greene swapping a game jersey for a Coke for a kid on the way down to the locker room has become an iconic television spot for decades in the United States, while the much more expensive and elaborate Michael Jackson spots for Pepsi ended up being widely panned. Because the cultural mores in Saudi Arabia are so different from those in the United States, it makes sense that advertising would be radically different as well. The advertising priorities in the United States, particularly within the service industry, focus on humor and often cater toward children. In Saudi Arabia, the advertising priorities focus on a more adult level. This article looks at two different marketing approaches for the same product – the McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish sandwich. The ways that McDonald’s markets this sandwich in the two cultures has a lot to say about the two societies.
The McDonald’s ad campaign for the Filet-o-Fish in Saudi Arabia uses the thirst running rampant in a desert culture. The image is an aquarium in the shape of a Filet-o-Fish sandwich, complete with the square piece of fish, with a fish swimming inside. This might not seem like the most alluring image to an American audience, but most people in the United States are not surrounded by sand.
An American billboard for the Filet-o-Fish shows an octopus with a sandwich in each tentacle, with the slogan “Octopi are suckers for them.” This ad uses humor in the play on words (“suckers”) to make the sandwich seem appealing. This is different from the ad from Saudi Arabia in a couple of senses. First, there is the use of the aquatic imagery. Living in Saudi Arabia, while there is still humor in their advertising, the images are less likely to use the lower-level humor that equates to word plays. In a desert nation, aquatic advertisements are more likely to focus on refreshment as opposed to exotic animals. Second, the niche in Saudi Arabia for McDonald’s is slightly different from the one in the United States. In many other countries, the target niche for McDonald’s marketing is older, as eating at the restaurant is seen as an adult or whole-family experience. In the United States, McDonald’s is much more child-focused. Evidence for this is rampant, beginning with the fact that most locations here have attached Playlands, while in other countries, not only are the playgrounds missing, but the locations in many countries serve alcohol. While beleaguered parents chasing their young charges down in the tunnel network might want a margarita or two afterward, selling alcohol is not a part of the McDonald’s identity here. The ad in Saudi Arabia is more targeted toward adults, with its smooth, polished veneer; a Filet-o-Fish seems like a splash in a pool. In the American ad, it seems like something an octopus would like – an image much more appealing to children than to adults. Both ads appeal to their target niches; the differences between the ads show how different those niches are.
Works Cited
Edwards, Jim. “This is What Islamic Advertising Looks Like in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Other Muslim Countries.” Business Insider 16 August 2012. http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-what-islamic-advertising-looks-like-in-iran-saudi- arabia-and-other-muslim-countries-2012-8?op=1
“Home-Grown Illustrator Makes Big, Comes Home.” St. Louis Today 23 March 2011. http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/arts-entertainment/PR03231109085650
