But it is, as the Web reports about it like this, this and this suggest. And I actually think there’s some brand value in it.
Now, you would think that if you took one of the world’s most recognizable restaurant brands and stripped it down to the name of a cheeseburger, in a boring two-color, block letter theme, that you would soon be shutting the place down.
But in Japan, anything goes for McDonald’s. Here’s the outside of one of the new “Quarter Pounder” restaurants, which have replaced existing “normal” McDonald’s locations, for now:
That’s all that’s on the menu in terms of the main course, a regular Quarter Pounder and a Double Quarter Pounder. In reading some of the Web reaction from Japan, the interest has apparently been high enough early on to spark lines to get into these sleek, stripped down “golden arches” without the gold arches of course.
McDonald’s obviously can afford to try something like this. They even built a Web site for the restaurants.
Would this work in the U.S.? Probably. I think you could see it in certain areas: airports, shopping malls and downtowns, for example.
It’s not exactly “No brand” marketing. I think you could make a case that the Quarter Pounder has been around long enough for people to know who sells it. But could we see more big name restaurants or retail stores spin off their big sellers in this way?
What do you think?
Subscribe to Wheel on the Web via email
