You can never go wrong with food history especially when it involves a local twist. A true David and Goliath story that revolutionized the food industry back in the 1970’s. Enjoy the story as we had fun working with Jack on it.
The year was 1979. Jack Goldenberg was the Creative Director of Frankel & Co, one of McDonald’s 85 marketing and promotional agencies at that time. McDonald’s was losing money on a local promotion called the Happy Meal. It wasn’t bringing in enough business. It was so unpopular it only ran in local markets for 6-12 weeks a year. Promotional products like Happy Meals have a short promotional window, while products, like a Big Mac, are on sale all year long. Even though the Happy Meal was not successful locally, McDonald’s executives wanted to release it nationally. Franchise owners complained that releasing it nationally was a losing proposition. The loudest objections came from the top, the all-powerful founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc, or “Kroc” as he was more commonly known.
Kroc finally agreed to make the Happy Meal a national product if it would be delivered in a bag instead of a box .Kroc was a known penny pincher. He was always conscious of saving money. Switching the Happy Meal from a box to a bag would save McDonald’s $300,000 a week or $15.5 million a year. In 1979 that was a lot of money. When it came time for Goldenberg’s thirteen art directors and six copywriters at Frankel & Co. to create marketing materials for the Happy Meal, Jack refused to put it in a bag. Goldenberg knew he was probably fighting a losing battle. But men of vision rarely give up. Ray Kroc sent his top lieutenants to meet with Goldenberg and insist the Happy Meal should be sold in a bag, “We can’t tell Mr. Kroc no, it just isn’t done” said one of the men Goldenberg met with. “There is a first time for everything,” Goldenberg replied. Goldenberg knew he would never get to meet with the legendary Kroc. So on the third meeting he hand wrote a note to explain why the national Happy Meal was sold in a box and he requested that the men deliver the note on his behalf. In his note to Kroc, Goldenberg explained he wanted to make Happy Meals collectible by merchandising movies on the side of the boxes. Toys inside the boes , McDonalds called them “prizes” would also carry the theme of the movie. Today, that doesn’t seem like such a big deal but in 1979 it was considered revolutionary. ~~~