McDonald's slips on the health track, sets the regulator on edge

A recent spat between the QSR brand and FSSAI illustrates why food brands need to rethink the advertising narrative

Recently McDonald’s India pushed out a meme on its social media handles that offered up their burger and soft drinks as a far more palatable option to a staid home-cooked meal of ghia-tori (both members of the gourd family of vegetables); it was aiming for the tongue-in-cheek humour that makes such tweets and posts viral. Instead, the ad set off alarm bells. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has served McDonald’s a show-cause notice that it must reply to, by the end of the month.

“Tendency of the food companies to disparage freshly cooked food and vegetables that are healthier is a matter of grave concern. Such advertisements are against national efforts for promoting healthier and right eating habits, especially in the children,” read an official note from the regulators. 

Fast food brands are skating on thin ice when it comes to issues such as good health, nutrition and sustainability. Therefore brands must move forward with caution, say brand experts. Not only are consumers wary of wolfing down high-fat, high-carbohydrate fare, regulators too are more vigilant. Increased vigilance comes in the wake of the government’s recent Eat Right campaign that seeks a ban on the sale of packaged chips, cold drinks, burgers in school cafeterias. 

Fast food brands need to contextualise their communication. “It is important that they respect local habits, cuisine and food consciousness before disparaging any, albeit even in a small manner,” said Harish Bijoor, founder of Harish Bijoor Consults.

Priya Lobo, CEO of consultancy firm Ormax Compass said, “The Ormax Ping Lunchbox Study that we recently carried out threw up some important insights. The Indian mother operates from this premise that my child’s food should be healthy, because she believes that the best, most healthy food is the homemade food. Therefore, she always puts a lens and filter to every food item, product and every brand she invites in their lives, be it fried snacks or ready-to-eat food. This holds true especially for brands she goes to, with her child/children to give them a treat and a fun-filled time (outside the home).” 

Advertisers must understand that mothers, generally believed to be gatekeepers to a nutritious home, want brands they can trust their children with. By belittling the food that is being put on the table, McDonald’s is breaking that trust, said experts. It is not enough to just talk about health and nutrition, but brands must also turn the menus around. “The chicken egg muffin breakfast (at McDonald’s) is a good example of a healthy addition,” 

Lobo added. 

Change is already around us. Pizza chains are introducing healthy options such as hand-stretched whole wheat crust to cut down on calories, Mondelez (chocolates and confectionary) has pointed out in its research that Indians are snacking a lot more during the day. Hence, the company is tuning its ad narrative to ‘snacking right’ and has launched products and line extensions with less fat and salt in the recipes. “In 2018, we reduced sodium by another 0.9 per cent and saturated fat by 1 per cent across our global snack portfolio,” informed the American multinational. 

Even Indian biscuit makers are turning their backs on sugar and repositioning their brands as healthy snacking alternatives. Britannia has started ‘The Nutri Movement’ and repackaged its NutriChoice brand of digestive, sugar-free crackers and aims to make is a Rs 1,000 crore brand in the next five years. ITC’s Sunfeast Farmlite range has also claimed that it does not use refined flour. The brand ran a campaign ‘Grains your granny trusts’ to build affinity with health conscious consumers, by including more traditional ingredients in its product mix.