McDonald's Markets Girls

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McDonald's Angles for Loyalty

Of Little Girls With Fancy Dolls

 

By SHIRLEY LEUNG

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

 

McDonald's Corp. Friday plans to start distributing a

promotional version of the most expensive toy in the

Happy Meal's 25-year history: the Madame Alexander

doll.

 

Little girls who dine at the nation's No. 1 burger

chain can get a miniature edition of the classic

Madame Alexander, an elaborately dressed 8-inch doll

that sells for $50 or more at high-end retailers such

as FAO Schwarz and Neiman Marcus. For boys, meanwhile,

McDonald's is offering Happy Meals with Matchbox

classic cars -- a toy that retails for as little as

$1.29.

 

Why the gender gap? McDonald's says it doesn't have a

strategy for targeting girls. But marketing experts

say it's clear the hamburger chain has to work harder

to woo girls than boys. Boys, it seems, don't need

much coaxing when it comes to hamburgers, fries and

the whole McDonald's experience. Indeed, they grow up

to become the fast-food industry's most loyal

customers: young men.

 

 

McDonald's miniature version of Madame Alexander's

Little Red Riding Hood doll.

 

 

But as girls grow older, they lose interest in dining

at McDonald's more quickly than boys do, some research

data suggest. According to Children's Market Services

Inc.'s Kid Trends survey, 45% of six- to

eight-year-old girls say McDonald's is their favorite

restaurant; only 22% of nine- to 11-year-old girls

choose the chain. Boys, in comparison, are more

steadfast: 47% of six- to eight-year-old boys favor

McDonald's, compared with 37% of nine- to

11-year-olds.

 

At around 11 or 12, girls and boys begin to exhibit

very different eating habits, dietitian Tammy Baker

says. Boys develop voracious appetites and don't think

twice about downing burgers, fries and milkshakes.

Meanwhile, girls at that age start to become aware of

their looks. Many gain weight during puberty and start

to diet. They begin to gravitate to salads and yogurt.

According to Vegetarian Resource Group, a Baltimore

education group, girls are twice as likely as boys to

grow up to become vegetarians.

 

Boys and girls also have different role models, Ms.

Baker says. " Boys start looking at sports heroes, " she

says. Girls " are influenced by the models and movie

stars who are underweight. "

 

So McDonald's is lavishing attention on girls, and the

efforts go well beyond toys. Recent innovations -- a

yogurt parfait, new salads, a smaller value meal --

are clearly targeted at females. " For McDonald's,

almost every choice they are making are choices

designed to keep women in the food, " says Doris

Derelian, a San Diego dietitian and past president of

the American Dietetic Association.

 

McDonald's won't say how sales of Happy Meals break

down between the sexes. " We're here to appeal to all

children, " spokeswoman Lisa Howard says. " We're about

the most innovative and most fun toys. "

 

The McDonald's version of the Madame Alexander doll is

just 4¾ inches tall and will be available in eight

characters, including Little Red Riding Hood, Peter

Pan and Caucasian and African-American versions of a

bride and groom, for three weeks. The small dolls will

come complete with the signature open-and-shut " sleep

eyes, " rooted hair, delicately painted faces -- plus a

burger, fries and drink, of course -- all for $1.99.

 

 

McDonald's has been offering gender-specific Happy

Meals for at least a decade, toy experts say. It isn't

unusual for the girls' Happy Meal to be based on a

more-expensive product. Every year there is a Happy

Meal promotion featuring tiny Barbies for girls and

Hot Wheels for boys. Regular Barbies sell in stores

starting at $4.99; regular Hot Wheels sell in stores

for about 99 cents.

 

Industry experts say the gender-specific Happy Meals

have helped close the gap between boys' and girls'

loyalty. The effort appears to be working. A 1996

survey by Teenage Research Unlimited, of Northbrook,

Ill., found 62% of 12- to 19-year-old girls had eaten

at McDonald's in the past seven days, compared with

67% of boys. The same survey taken within the past

year found no difference between the sexes.

 

Some toy experts say the extra effort and expense

devoted to girls' Happy Meal toys reflect the belief

that little girls are simply harder to please. " Girls

are more discerning, " says Robert J. Sodaro, a Happy

Meal toy collector and author of " Kiddie Meal

Collectibles. " " To boys, a car is a car is a car. "

 

McDonald's says it chose Madame Alexander because the

dolls appeal across generations. But for many

McDonald's customers, the $50-and-up price tags of the

real dolls put them out of reach. " We're making Madame

Alexander dolls available to people who can't afford

to buy them at retail, " says Douglas Freeland, the

chain's director of national marketing.

 

Alexander Doll Co., based in the Harlem section of New

York, has been making the dolls for about 80 years.

McDonald's says it approached the dollmaker last year

after internal research showed the line would appeal

to five- and six-year-old girls.

 

At first, Alexander Doll worried McDonald's wouldn't

be able to mass-produce the dolls while retaining

their high-quality features. After working closely

with the burger giant, the dollmaker says it was

confident McDonald's supplier would accurately

replicate the " sleep eyes, " sculpt of the faces and

quality fabrics.

 

" It was something we felt strong about, " says Jane

Abrahams, Alexander Doll's director of marketing. " It

was a challenge they set for themselves. "

 

Ms. Abrahams says Alexander also wanted to expand its

customer base, which primarily consists of collectors

in their 40s. " We really looked at it as a new

business, a new approach for our company, " she says.

" It's the younger generation we want to get our arms

around. "

 

McDonald's says it doesn't expect the Madame Alexander

dolls to inspire the same frenzy that its Teenie

Beanie Baby Happy Meal promotions have touched off in

recent years. But it does expect them to be popular.

McDonald's declined to reveal its costs for

manufacturing the dolls or the number it has produced,

but says it is confident it can meet demand.

 

 

 

 

 

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