The first impressions given by the USA McDonald's website and the impression of the Spanish website could not be more different!
The Spanish website features clean, layered fragments of the McDonald's logo with a blue sky background and strong "graphic design" image. Animated panels offer information about McDonald's specials and nutrition, and every few minutes a cheerful video plays advertising McDonald's "Calidad" -- or, Quality -- with fresh ingredients flying across the screen in slow motion, with those tiny little water droplets as if the lettuce were JUST washed.
The ETHOS is that McDonalds is a hip, modern corporation that values good health and quality ingredients -- just like you!
The PATHOS is the guilt-free satisfaction you can enjoy from eating McDonalds, with all those positive associations of fresh, healthy vegetables and high-quality beef.
The CHRONOS (sp?) or context of the website is that you can know what your food is made of, and be responsible for what goes into your body. A corporation that is up-to-date with modern values of healthy eating and civic responsibility is supposed to have the clean graphic approach that McDonalds has worked hard to display.
The LOGOS of the website is clear, with easily navigated links across the top, to tools such as finding a restaurant, applying for work, looking up nutrition facts, or finding out information about the corporation itself. Additionally the scrolling animation promotes features that McDonalds would like to highlight, such as new menu items and offers for children.
The USA website, on the other hand, is just painfully stereotypical American. A giant Angus Chipotle BBQ Bacon Burger dominates the front page. As if the sheer amount of meat in the advertisement was not enough, the slogan underneath emphasizes the sensuous, indulgent qualities of the meal: "Chipotle is here for a good time, not a long time. Smothered in the sauce that's sensationally smoky, deliciously bold." The background is a drippy sauce-colored image that adds to the over-the-top promotion. The whole thing is totally sexed up: lighting, colors, testosterone-charged Cowboy vocabulary...even the Angus Axiom has thinly veiled sexual connotations ("for a good time call...") Meanwhile the add urges viewers to "seize the bold" -- adding to the manly cowboy image of the site.
ETHOS: McDonalds knows its business with MANLY MAN FOOD. We don't mess around with piddly little sissy stuff. We've got what you REALLY want.
PATHOS: McDonalds food is SEXXXXYYYYYY.....! You know you want it. Look at our clean, sexy meat. Beef beef beef. This entire ad is intended to make you salivate and subconsciously consider the various applications of the phrase, "Seize the Bold"...
CHRONOS: the context of this advertisement is the understanding that Americans want big, chunky, manly meals. Our priorities are not strongly aligned with health and quality. Instead, this ad tries to seduce us with sensory information about appearance, texture and flavor.
LOGOS: In a sidebar on the left, users can navigate information about the food, promotions, company background info, services, locations, and contact info. At the bottom of the Angus ad are some more visually appealing ads for McDonalds products, as well as a link to information about the beef quality.
This post is getting really long so I'm going to break it into 2 parts
Lena, I love your description of the USA's McDonald's website. It makes me proud that our food of the motherland can be downright sexy.
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