40 M IS FOR MOM’S NIGHT OFF

The Golden Arches are one of the most instantly recognized brand icons in the world. They were originally real arches and part of the restaurant design guidelines.

They were first introduced in 1953 but by the mid-1960s there was debate as to whether or not the Arches should be dropped.

Louis Cheskin, a designer and psychologist, who worked with McDonald’s at the time, agreed that it might be sensible to move away from them as an architectural feature, but he argued strongly and ultimately successfully that “the arches had Freudian applications to the subconscious mind of the consumer and were great assets in marketing McDonald’s food”.

He went on to say that the arches were seen as “mother McDonald’s breasts, a useful association if you’re replacing home-made food”.

In fact, “Give Mom a Night Off” had been an early advertising slogan, as a trip to McDonald’s meant no cooking, serving or washing up.

The stylized M is still part of the logo to this day, and presumably those useful associations remain.

And the moral is that people react to messaging both rationally and emotionally, on a conscious and a subconscious level. What are people really taking out from your communications?