McDonald’s seems to be using social media to reach children in poorer countries more than wealthier ones: Study

A new study has uncovered early evidence of a “concerning” tactic used by McDonald’s in an area not really researched before.

McDonald’s appears to target kids in poorer countries with social media marketing more than those in wealthier nations, a new observational study has uncovered.

The research, published in the BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health Journal on Wednesday, analysed Instagram accounts linked to 15 counties before coming to the conclusion.

They were grouped into high income countries, which included Australia, upper-middle income and lower-middle income nations, which was made up of Indonesia, India and Egypt.

The researchers, mainly from New York University’s school of public health, then collected all the posts from each of the fast food giant’s Instagram accounts for each country over four months between September and December in 2019.

All the followers, likes, comments and video views to those posts by April 2020 were then added up and analysed.

A total of 849 marketing posts were identified.

The study found that McDonald’s posted 154 per cent more to the lower income nations compared to the higher income ones.

McDonald’s Instagram posts over four months were analysed across 15 countries.

Disturbingly it also found that child-friendly posts were also more common for the poorer countries.

Around 22 per cent of posts were child friendly for the lower income countries compared to 12 per cent for the high income ones.

“By targeting certain subsets through child-targeted ads and price promotions, McDonald’s’ social media ads may exacerbate healthcare issues in the most vulnerable countries in the world,” the researchers said.

“As social media use grows, fast-food companies’ social media ads may have unprecedented effects on dietary options, especially in lower-income countries.”

The Instagram accounts for the higher income countries, like @mcdonaldsau (McDonald’s Australia), were also more likely to have posts depicting healthy habits (5 per cent), compared to low income (2.5 per cent).

Just 14 per cent of the posts in high income countries included price promotions and free giveaways compared to 40 per cent in the lower income nations.

“Price is a key component of a marketing mix and is often used to aid consumer purchases, particularly among lower income communities who may use price as a decision point,” the researchers said.

An example of a McDonald's India Instagram post mentioning children found by NCA NewsWire. This post was not used in the study.

The researchers noted that the findings of the observational study should be interpreted cautiously because of the uneven sampling, the small number of countries involved and the lack of information on the purchasing behaviours of those following the McDonald’s accounts.

But they said it was an important area that needed to be looked at and there was a growing need to tackle the globalisation of food and drink marketing in the developing world where there is poor diet, obesity and illnesses related to these issues.

“This study offers early but crucial insights into the impact of advertising, a relatively neglected area of research,” the authors said.

In a statement McDonald’s Australia said that it was aware of its responsibility to deliver age-appropriate content for its audience.

A spokesperson said they followed the Australian advertising code with regards to marketing to children.

“Social media is used by McDonald’s Australia to share information about our menus, great value promotions, our farmers and suppliers, our people, and the communities we’re proud to serve and support,” the spokesperson said.

“We have always encouraged McDonald’s as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle.”

The 15 countries looked at:

High income: USA, Australia, UK, Canada, UAE, Portugal, Panama

Upper-middle income: Romania, Lebanon, Malaysia, Brazil and South Africa

Lower-middle income: Indonesia, Egypt and India