I was recently in a doctor’s office for one of my twins when I picked up February issue of People magazine (the only time I get to read this gossip rag). I was somewhat surprised to see an ad for McDonald’s Fish McBites, which were on promotion during the Lenten season earlier this year.
The picture in the ad featured the McBites package on a wall plaque with “Biggest Catch of the Year” underneath it. The package had a simple “M” that millions of consumers worldwide recognize as the iconic golden arches of the McDonald’s logo. There was a small message at the bottom of the ad “From an MSC certified sustainable fishery,” next to the Marine Stewardship Council’s blue and white logo. My daughter Ashley looked over my shoulder at the ad and asked “What’s MSC mean”?
This is the exact same question that most other consumers probably asked too. While the ad included the MSC’s website (in 6-point type that was barely legible) the organization has been caught up in acronym overkill. This was just one of several acronyms I’ve seen in the past few weeks that left me asking “Why?” Some I didn’t understand, others like the MSC lost an important branding opportunity for mainstream consumers.
Everything these days has been shortened to a three- or four-letter batch of letters that can be easily written on a smartphone. Oh my gosh is OMG, laugh out loud is LOL, even our parent company is guilty of the need to shorten words: SeafoodSource is SS, Seafood Expo North America is referred to as SENA, Seafood Expo Global is SEG and so forth. A companywide meeting becomes a streaming mention of letters that leaves any outsider raising a questioning eyebrow as to what it all means.
The MSC (there it is, another acronym!) was most likely not responsible for the ad that McDonald’s placed — I’d wager they were only allowed to submit the logo and tagline. But let this be a good example as to why marketing shouldn’t be a bunch of acronyms if we want the consumer to walk away with a memorable message.
