The old McDonald’s branches are opening again in Moscow – with a Russian name. But the American influence in branding and advertising is unmistakable. It would have been better if the imitation had been avoided.
The McDonald’s influence is unmistakable in «Vkusno i totschka».
McDonald’s has said goodbye to Russia. But burgers are being sold again, now with a different name, different logo and without the involvement of the Americans. Entrepreneur Alexander Gowor bought the McDonald’s branch network and reopened the first branches in Moscow at the weekend. The menu reads a little differently, the Big Mac has disappeared, and you have to get used to the new appearance of the chain: “Vkusno i totschka”. That means “delicious and period”. It’s supposed to mean “Yummy. That’s the way it is”.
This means that the new old Russian burger fryers cannot escape the American influence in their advertising – despite all the Russification. The «Totschka» dot is actually a punctuation mark. In marketing English, it is well established to reinforce a slogan with a period. “Just do it.” has been the recommendation of the sporting goods manufacturer Nike for decades. The period adds gravitas, is reassuring but not as excited as an exclamation point.
Lately it is written out more and more often as a word. Or put behind slogans that only consist of a catchphrase. Or both. But the sonorous tonality is quickly lost. The message must be able to bear the weight of the point – and should therefore not be banal. Unfortunately, the banality is spreading to the extent that marketing relies more and more on simplification and thus appears less creative. Involuntary irony is not far away when a minimum requirement for the product is raised to become a unique selling proposition. Tasty or not.
However, the McDonald’s successor in Russia can be sure that its regular customers will not visit the restaurants because of linguistic sophistry. And if you don’t like burgers, punctuation marks won’t convince you either. In the social networks, a critic suggested shortening the slogan in the middle. Then «Vkus otschka» remains. The taste of the toilet. Point.
You can refer to Benjamin Triebe, Editor for Business and Business Twitter follow.