Recalling McDonald’s Japan’s Biggest Marketing Mistake!

With this summer being the absolute dud that it is (#ThanksCovid), I have decided to concentrate more on happier times (i.e. last summer) and remembered this little gem…

The Japanese fast food industry is a widely creative place. From fried chicken scented bath bombs to “Low Odor Fried Chicken”(so as not to upset the entire subway car) to the sheer insanity that is their television advertising, Japan’s fast food market is a pop culture study onto itself.

As we will soon find our, even innocent intentions can have unintended, and very non-innocent, outcomes.

Last summer (2019), McDonald’s Japan launched a promotional drink, the McFizz, that came with their own special plastic cups.

The seasonal product was directed at the younger demographic enjoying their summer break and featured refreshing flavors such as Lemon Ginger, Blue Hawaii, and Blood Orange.

Per  GajiinPotBlog, the intention was that the cups would showcase a boy and a girl who “line up and share an innocent intimate moment. Rotate the cup and you’ll get a kiss on the cheek or peck on the lips, depending on the design.”

However, as dirty minded Twitter users in Japan quickly noted, depending on how the emptied cups were held, the illustrations of falling in sweet innocent love could be turned into much more suggestive depictions…

Ummmm….

ohhh boyyy….

I guess there is something for everyone…

Or worst of all…

Yikes!

The obvious question comes to mind: Was this simply an unforeseen mishap that could not have been predicted by senior marketing staff or a crafty intentional marketing plow to increase sales among their targeted teenage demographic?

If this was any nation not named “Japan”, I would say this was all a successful hidden marketing ploy. But in Japan, the land of Sailor Moon and Maid Cafes, I believe this boils down to an unintended outcome.

However it does raise another, even greater question: Who should be getting more creative credit: The conscripted artist who created these cups (if it was intentional) or the unpaid consumers who discovered these?