From Inthinking website

Cultural sensitivity

No one understands the importance of culture better than advertisers, who construct different texts for different audiences. Multinational corporations, such as Ikea, Starbuck or McDonald’s are faced with the challenge of selling the same products worldwide, be it furniture, coffee or hamburgers. They must show cultural sensitivity in their ads.

Guess the origin

You are going to view several McDonald’s ads from around the world. Guess the country from which each ad comes. Do not be afraid to discuss cultural stereotypes and prejudices. These ads may amuse you or annoy you. Make an inventory of your initial responses to the ads in the table below:

Let’s look at the first ad together:

Stereotypes

There is a risk that we run when we play a guessing game with cultures and nationalities. That risk is that we begin to classify cultures into stereotypes. It is not enough to say an ad is 'typically French'. Rather we have to identify those cultural characteristics we associate with France and question how they are being exploited to sell a product. The McCafe ad (above), for example, seems to point to a small, dainty, traditional product that the French are proud of: the macaroon. What does the macaroon stand for? How is it contrasted with the stereotypical, American hamburger? How is the color of the McDonald's logo in this French ad (yellow on green) different from the traditional McDonald's ad (yellow on red)? Are there cultural values that we associate with these colors? Do we find green more sophisticated than red, which screams of commercialism? Does this mean that the French are more sophisticated than Americans? Is the macaroon more sophisticated than the hamburger? It's amazing how one simple choice of color or product can open up a conversation on how stereotypes are constructed in the media.

Country / Cultural indicators / How an audience might respond
a)in the target country
b)in other countries
France

McDonald's ad

1) Eidmubarak

2) McDonald's baby

4) Free condiments

Footnotes

Concepts such as 'stereotypes', 'culture' and 'context' are not only key to Part 1, but to the whole course. Just as this lesson suggests that multinationals exercise cultural sensitivity in their ad campaigns, we too will want to exercise a certain level of sensitivity when analyzing various texts.

Culture and context

Culture

What is culture? How do we see cultural values in these ads? First of all, we tend to adhere to two definitions of culture: 1) the shared values of a group, and 2) the art which a group holds in high esteem. The first definition is primarily relevant to our discussion of these ads. For example, some people are offended by image of the baby clown. What cultural value do these people have that leads to such a response? Could it be that they have an aversion to the notion of branded babies? Others find the baby cute. Could it be that their culture does not have this aversion to commercialism and overt branding? In brief, when discussing these ads, we should try to define which values are being conveyed and how these values are shared with their target audience.

Context

This lesson shows us the importance of the 'context of interpretation'. This term is key to understanding how meaning is constructed. A non-Muslim may have difficulty interpreting the French-fries in the 'Eid Mubarak' ad (they are the fingers of hands that are praying). A Scandinavian may feel that their tradition of placing candles in the window at Christmas time is being trivialized in the last ad (number 10). This brings us back to reader-response theory, where interpretation of the text is in the 'eye of the beholder'.

Towards assessment

Further oral activity –You could give a lessonlike this as a presentation, in which classmates guess the origin of the ads and a discussion ensues on cultural sensitivity. This same principle could also be applied to other multinational corporations, such as Ikea or Toyota.

Written task 2 -Several ofthe prescribed questions for written task 2are applicable to such an activity on McDonald's ads. This question may be explored in relation to several ads from various cultures. Be sure, however, to focus on Anglophone cultures.

  • "How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers?"