This is so weird, especially since I was just reading about McDonald's on Dr. Tantillo's marketing blog, where he praises McDonald's for being so flexible and adapting to demand but prefaced this with: "The big things about McDonald’s cosmetic image (i.e., colors, designs, clown mascot) have never essentially changed. Neither has the basic serving and restaurant setup." Guess they are even more flexible though... Tantillo's full post This is just supposed to be temporary/buzz marketing, though (according to an official McDonald's press release..according to a few other blogs, at least). I wonder if cultivating this sort of aesthetic wouldn't make sense for them, though--a move to diversify their holdings (they own a significant portion of Chipotle, or did last I knew) and expand/diversify their customer base (Ex. their 'unsnobby coffee' campaign. Tantillo did a post on Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts mentioning McDonald's coffee, too.

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I wonder if this was really a mistake on Absolut's part, or if they just thought stirring things up with a seeming gaffe would get them some great PR (in the form of advertsiing - along the lines of..any publicity is good publicity). Dr. Tantillo argues, at least, that the way they 'pulled' the ad when the campaign was actually already finished was done in order to bring more attention to the campaign and their brand: http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/2008/04/08/marketing-101-absolut-controversy.aspx

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