For Sale - The Tick
Call me naive.
Tell me I’m gullible.
I thought a Tick from the Heart Foundation was something a product had to earn.
A mark of approval from an official authority which implied that a product was healthy and good for you.
Like I said, call me naive, because I came across this ad in Marketing magazine this morning.
An ad for the Heart Foundation Tick. Who’d have thought!?
I cropped the copy off the scan, as it was too small to read. Here’s what it said:
"Nearly 70% of grocery buyers would buy a food with the Tick over one without it.
So it makes sense that the Tick on your product can add value to your brand.
To find out how the Tick could help you stand out from the competition and increase sales, please call…."
No need to call me naive anymore. Just call me cynical.
posted by Stan Lee at 12:15 am
7 Comments:
Maybe it's a genuine push to give companies an incentive to make healthier food?
But then again, it's about money...
I like the advert on the left more. It sounds yummy. ;-)
Just when you think it's safe to eat "healthy" food, you find out something like this. Makes you wonder how many other of these marks are sold in the asme way...
I worked with these guys a few years ago and their main agenda was to keep pushing up the cost. Meanwhile, Macca's have the tick - nice work for the magical clown, but not sure it's the right move for the NHF long term.
The Heart Foundation Tick is a brand in decline. When the meaning was misunderstood they got away with it. Now that brands like McDonalds qualify there is some explaining to be done. The implication that the brands endorsed are in some way superior ot others in their category has never been the truth. The truth is that any product that meet the minimum standard in its category that is willing to pay the license fee qualifies for the use of the tick.
Ultimately it renders the Heart Foundation endorsement as irrelevant. Because money is involved there is a clear conflict of interest.
McDonalds has made a clown out of the Heart Foundation (who don't own the brand - as I understand it).
These people are idiots. How desperate.
The tick itself is not just about some stats and fat figures. The moment they allowed their brand to be associated with the ULTIMATE ICON OF THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY AND BAD EATING HABITS they lost it. They failed to see that the "tick" is about an idea of healthy living and promoting good eating.
McDonald's will never admit this, but their "impulse" sales have skyrocketed since they introduced these healthier options. Yeah sure they're under pressure to meet society's expectations of health food, but in reality, they bank on the fact that most parents bring their kids to Maccas thinking they'll grab a Happy Meal for the youngins and a Deli Choice for themselves so they don't feel bad. Moments later they'll also grab an extra fries or sundae for desert just because they're there. Why not?
Who cares if Maccas has a healthy meal?! It's the association that damages the brand name and now that the Heart Foundation has figured this out the hard way, they're trying desperately to prove to us through ads like this that the tick is valuable?
Pfffffffft! Sorry, too late.
Of course all marks like the "tick" are "sold". They have to employ marketing managers, designers, testers, admin staff and the rest -- that money has to come from somewhere.
That doesn't change the fact that in order to license the use of the brand, you still have to meet certain minimum standards. Those standards are published, fully tested and fairly rigorous. The tick is subject to annual review, with breaches punished severely. The tick would obviously be immediately revoked, the licensing fee forfeited -- to regain the tick testing has to be recommenced from scratch.
Furthermore, McDonalds' use of the "tick" is not an abuse of a trusted icon. Rather, what it reveals is how McDonalds and some marketing geniuses have cashed in on consumer stupidity. The tick itself is only attached to a relatively small group of items which, when sold, cannot be modified in any way, with a firm disclaimer attached that if additional items are consumed, the value of the tick is lost.
Impulse buys have increased, however, because the average consumer doesn't even realise the tick isn't attached to the big mac or quarter pounder in their hands. The menu boards which display tick products have now been relegated to the store-room, they're simply unnecessary. The effect of this is that the tick's integrity itself is preserved -- but average consumers are being duped by something far more evil.
If you wanted the Heart Foundation to care about this, however, they'd need even more money.
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