How McDonald’s ‘Mindboggling’ Olympic Giveaway Backfired

In some ways, the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles represented a serious change for the fashionable Games. The sporting occasion had lengthy been famous for its monetary losses, a long-lasting burden on the overwhelming majority of host cities. In a transfer by no means seen earlier than, Los Angeles introduced company sponsors on board to assist shoulder the Games’ prices. The resolution proved worthwhile, because the ‘84 Olympics earned more than $200 million thanks largely to the influx of endorsements and advertising. However, one major promotion continues to live on in infamy and it belongs to McDonald’s.

The idea of the quick meals big’s marketing campaign was easy; upon buying an merchandise, a McDonald’s buyer would obtain a scratch-off card with an Olympic occasion on it. If the American group gained gold in that occasion, the patron would get a free Big Mac. A silver earned the patron french fries, whereas bronze gained a free gentle drink. Pairing patriotism with capitalism, McDonald’s believed they’d the recipe for a profitable promotion. Commercials would promote clients on a easy phrase: “If the U.S. Wins, You Win.”

Surprisingly, this wasn’t the primary time McDonald’s had constructed a promotion round free meals and medal counts. The firm launched into an analogous marketing campaign for the 1976 Olympics, albeit with much less publicity. That 12 months’s Games, held in Montreal, noticed the united statesA. place third within the general medal rely. The two international locations who completed forward of them had been the Soviet Union and East Germany.

It’s possible that McDonald’s appeared on the ‘76 results when estimating the number of prizes they expected to give away via their ‘84 promotion. After all, America boycotted the 1980 Games held in Moscow, due to Soviet warfare in Afghanistan. As such, ‘76 represented the most recent Olympics to reference. What their number-crunchers clearly didn’t anticipate was one other boycott.

Read More: Top 10 ‘Saturday Night Live’ Olympic Sketches

Due partly to America’s actions 4 years prior, the Soviet Union, East Germany and many different communist nations boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. With these sports activities powerhouse nations not collaborating, America’s competitors was far much less daunting.

The U.S. went on to dominate the watered-down area. The Americans took dwelling 83 gold medals, 61 silver and 30 bronze for a whopping 174 complete medals. For comparability’s sake, the U.S. gained 34, 35 and 20, respectively, in Montreal for a complete of 94.

McDonald’s catchphrase proved prophetic. As Team U.S.A. gained, so did quick meals patrons, and so they did so at a staggering charge. A 1984 New York Times article described the variety of prizes given away as “mindboggling.” The newspaper reported that some McDonald’s franchises even ran out of Big Macs because of the overwhelming quantity of giveaways. While this declare was not verified by the corporate, a spokesperson admitted there was “a real gold rush at McDonald’s.”

“We may be giving away more product, but that means more customers for McDonald’s,” asserted Chuck Rubner, a consultant for the corporate on the time. Though the quick meals conglomerate by no means revealed how a lot cash it misplaced on their Olympic promotion, guesses have been within the tens of millions.

How ‘The Simpsons’ Parodied McDonald’s 1984 Olympics Promotion

Since 1984, the advertising and marketing marketing campaign has turn into the butt of jokes. Most famously, an analogous promotion appeared inside The Simpsons. In the 1992 episode titled “Lisa’s First Word,” Krusty Burger provided an analogous promotion primarily based round Olympic occasions. The fictional burger chain banked closely that group U.S.A. would lose to the Soviet and East German groups. When these international locations boycotted, Krusty Burger, and its spokesperson clown, misplaced tens of millions.

Watch ‘Krusty Loses the 1984 Olympics’

The Olympics will return to Los Angeles in 2028, giving some folks hope that McDonald’s could revive their well-known promotion. It seems, nonetheless, that such a transfer is just not meant to be. In 2017 the corporate introduced that it might not be an Olympic sponsor, ending the connection greater than 4 many years after it started.