The latest McDonalds campaign celebrating 50 years of Big Mac’s is using their own version of a global currency to promote the celebration. By offering a branded coin that can be used anywhere around the world (i.e has purchasing power parity); they are also tapping into The Economist’s guide of Burgernomics or the “Big Mac Index”. Nice tie-in in these days of a shrinking world and hype around crypto-currencies.
Commemorative coins and buttons have been used as promotional items for a long time. In the early days of the United States, commemorative buttons were issued to honour the inauguration of George Washington. These small brass buttons had “Long Live the President” engraved around Washington’s initials in the centre and then the initials of all of the current states were engraved around the outer edge of the button. There was a small hole for a ribbon so that the button could be worn on a lapel—in other words, a promotional product!
P.S you can pick up a George Washington commemorative button at Ebay for $2,000 USD+
Matthew Bywater
Marketing Strategist
For more marketing insight from Matthew check out his blog –
www.matthewbywater.com
