Though I'm really trying to keep my sarcasm in check, I do honestly appreciate the fact that Mary Jo chose the high road and actually interviewed people rather than simply rewriting AdAge's article.
Eric Herman relates that Bill Whitman's wishful thinking includes the notion that, "It would be pretty cool if our employees liked their uniforms so much that they would also want to wear them while they were not working." Which makes me envison McDonald's managers pressuring workers into showing up and leaving in their uniforms, cynic that I am.
The AdAge.com article quotes Steve Stoute in a similar vein:
“It’s very important to take [uniforms] from what they have to wear to what they want to wear. . . It’s a very important aspect of employee pride. McDonald’s has evolved and become a lifestyle brand ... since it now is relevant to our lifestyle, let’s go one step further and make its employees relevant to our lifestyle as well.”
But Business Week's David Kiley questions the idea that McDonald's is a lifestyle brand, pointing out that lifestyle brands are the "ones people want to wear and be identified with," like RocaWear and Harley Davidson, and he wonders whether or not "people by and large want to be identified with eating fast food day-to-day as a brand badge."
As usual, Kiley makes sense to me, just as he did when he revealed that Russell Simmons wanted to keep Big Mac rap lyric placements secret. Personally I think it's a great idea for McDonald's to redesign their uniforms using popular designers but a comment from Tracey, one of my readers raises something to consider:
"Will this attract kids of color to work at McDonalds for minimum wage? If so, is that a good thing?"
I don't really know, but I think it's a really interesting point. What immediately comes to mind is the U.S. military push to get more low-income young people to volunteer. I wonder if McDonald's is facing problems recruiting young workers. I also wonder when we'll hear about plans to get hip hop related designers to redesign military uniforms. Thanks, Tracey, for helping me make that connection.
Originally posted at ProHipHop.
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