Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in Japan?
This year in Japan our friends told us a weird story about the way that McDonalds did their launch of the product that we call the Quarter Pounder.
McDonalds knew that Japanese customers wouldn't just start eating a quarter pound of ground beef if it just appeared on a menu, so they launched an elaborate PR stunt. They closed down high-profile McDonalds stores in the fancy downtown areas of Omotesando and Shibuya as if the stores had gone out of business. They put up construction signs, placed large black security guards out front, and redecorated the interiors to be stark, simple, and modern black and red design with no "Golden Arches", no Ronald, and no "McDonalds" name anywhere. They hired actors to line up in front of the stores to give the impression that something big was happening, which drew a crowd who waited overnight on the street for the doors to open.
And then they opened and sold just two items: a quarter pounder and a double quarter pounder, with rare limited edition "Quarter Pounder" T-shirts for the first 1000 customers. The novelty brought in customers like crazy. It was a huge hit, except for the minority of Japanese who had been to America and were puzzled why everyone was going crazy for the same bad hamburger that we've been eating for decades. A few weeks later the Quarter Pounder stores introduced the Mega-Mac (4 patties), the Mega Tamago (3 patties plus egg), and the Mega Tomato (3 patties plus tomato). and, if my friends in Tokyo can be believed, there was a one week period when everyone was asking each other "Have you tried a Mega-Mac? Were you able to finish the whole thing?" as a feat of bragging and gluttony. And then when *that* novelty wore down they tore down the stores and replaced them with regular McDonalds again.
McDonalds knew that Japanese customers wouldn't just start eating a quarter pound of ground beef if it just appeared on a menu, so they launched an elaborate PR stunt. They closed down high-profile McDonalds stores in the fancy downtown areas of Omotesando and Shibuya as if the stores had gone out of business. They put up construction signs, placed large black security guards out front, and redecorated the interiors to be stark, simple, and modern black and red design with no "Golden Arches", no Ronald, and no "McDonalds" name anywhere. They hired actors to line up in front of the stores to give the impression that something big was happening, which drew a crowd who waited overnight on the street for the doors to open.
And then they opened and sold just two items: a quarter pounder and a double quarter pounder, with rare limited edition "Quarter Pounder" T-shirts for the first 1000 customers. The novelty brought in customers like crazy. It was a huge hit, except for the minority of Japanese who had been to America and were puzzled why everyone was going crazy for the same bad hamburger that we've been eating for decades. A few weeks later the Quarter Pounder stores introduced the Mega-Mac (4 patties), the Mega Tamago (3 patties plus egg), and the Mega Tomato (3 patties plus tomato). and, if my friends in Tokyo can be believed, there was a one week period when everyone was asking each other "Have you tried a Mega-Mac? Were you able to finish the whole thing?" as a feat of bragging and gluttony. And then when *that* novelty wore down they tore down the stores and replaced them with regular McDonalds again.