The recent “I’d Hit It” ad campaign from McDonald’s illustrates the perils of trying to tap into hip subcultures from the outside.
Andrew Teman of “World Champion” originally pointed out the ad, a Flash piece appearing at the top of ESPN’s Page 2. (It’s still there at the time of this writing.)
The ad features an unkempt fellow with an odd smirk, and features the following text:
Double Cheeseburger?
I’d hit it.
I’m a dollar menu guy.
Unfortunately, the phrase “I’d hit it” has a slightly different meaning than they probably had in mind. According to Urban Dictionary:
I’d Hit It. Vernacular, commonly used by males, meaning, “I would like to have sexual relations with that female.”
Suddenly, that guy’s smirk is just a little bit creepier.
Everyone knows that comedy must inevitably result from someone attempting to affiliate themselves with a subculture they don’t understand. Television and movies thrive on such foolish characters. In fact, you probably know personally at least one clueless caucasian who wants to be “down with his homies.”
Marketing firms seem oblivious to this syndrome, however, and so they try again and again to infiltrate various subcultures with hip, contemporary advertising.
In the thousands of attempts that have been made over the years, I don’t think that any agency has ever developed an advertisement that has successfully tapped into a subculture of which they weren’t already a part. It comes across as corporate fumbling every time.
Update:
Shortly after I first wrote this post, MTV kindly volunteered to serve as an example of such corporate fumbling, getting busted trying to generate buzz by planting moles in chatrooms, message boards, etc.
Deceptive marketing campaigns are destined to fail in a world where a company’s background, board of directors, history, reputation, and complaints can all be brought up within seconds. Those whose careers depend on being able to fool the public ought to think about taking some night classes, because they’re going to be looking for a new job soon.
The public cannot be fooled anymore. They not only understand the media, they are the media.
