Australian flavour: McDonald's adopts local name

Sydney – For Australia’s national day, on 26 January, McDonald’s has changed its regular signage to spell out ‘Macca’s’ at selected locations in the country.

Macca’s is an affectionate Australian nickname for the brand, unique to the country. McDonald’s has rolled out the modified logo across its website, social media platforms and branches. The promotion includes a Facebook app, Do the Macca’s Run, which encourages players to ‘get home before the seagulls eat your fries’.

To compensate for its global scale, McDonald’s often highlights local loyalties in campaigns and menu items. ‘What better way to show Aussies how proud we are to be a part of the Australian community than to incorporate the name the community has given us across all our channels, even our signs?’ asks Mark Lollback, chief marketing officer at McDonald’s Australia.

In our Brand-jacking microtrend, we reported how small brands are hijacking the logos of larger ones. McDonald’s is now hacking its own logo to show that being big does not mean being out of touch.