McDonald's pushes McDelivery app through adorable new spot

With so many food delivery apps to pick from, will the consumer see merit in downloading the McDelivery app?

How many times have you promised to take your parents to dinner but have had to cancel because of last minute work commitments? Ever wondered what your parents or loved ones are going to eat because of this last minute change? That's probably what this latest McDonald's ad spot tried to answer when suggesting their delivery app.

Mrs D'souza and Mr Damle, both in their golden years, are bickering neighbours, living all by themselves. However, when Mr Damle's son cancels dinner plans with his father, Mrs D'souza keeps the squabbling aside and orders him dinner from McDonald's via the McDelivery app.

The ad has been conceptualised by Leo Burnett and was released on McDonald's YouTube channel on January 30. So far, the ad has got above three lakh views.

Today, there are multiple third party apps such as, Zomato, foodpanda and Swiggy that are well established and the most recent, Tapzo - the all in one app. But would mobile users want to have so many apps in their smartphones? Only recently, Ankur Singla, founder and chief executive officer, Tapzo, told afaqs!, "Most apps compete with WhatsApp for space."

We asked our brand experts about the biggest download barrier for apps and whether consumers would order from brand apps when third party aggregators could do the same for them, while doing many other things?

Sridhar Ramanujam, founder and CEO, brand-comm, a brand consultancy, says, "I am not sure advertising of this nature will motivate the average consumer to download yet another app. Today consumers, like me, are already unhappy with the slow speed of their mobile services and are increasingly reluctant to try more apps unless there is a strong incentive or an imperative, recurring need to use that app. I feel this is really a brand promotion for takeaway and not so much an appeal to download the app. That appeal is sort of tucked away amidst the welter of situations and emotions."

Adding about the execution, he says, "As commercials go, it is interesting, as people who live in Mumbai for instance, have met, experienced and often been annoyed by neighbours like this who are perhaps insensitive and yet, one takes them in our stride given their age and the length of association we've had with them. The idea seems to be that people are basically good even if they have forbidding exteriors or behaviour. But today, the acid test of a commercial is whether it will be shared or not and I am not if sure that will happen."

We asked Sridhar if people would construe this ad as one targeted at elderly folks only? He says, "It does seem a departure from the traditional appeal of young families with children, making me wonder if the brand is looking at new audiences. Or it could be the creative execution leading the way without too much strategic intent."

He continues, "I am not sure showing old people in the commercial makes the ad for older people. It's a mere creative device and I am sure the McDonald's consumer is savvy enough to figure this out."

Harish Bijoor, brand expert and founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., says, "The creative is sweet, but long and circuitous. In the app space, the download sentiment is related to the fact whether the app is a deep vertical or a narrow horizontal. Sweet on execution but long on delivery, of the message of course."