Latest news with #Kotler
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Six things an MBA students should know beyond curriculum and books
Every MBA student thinks they are becoming ready for the business world through case studies, class discussions, and those venerable Kotler and Porter reads. To be fair, they do, to a certain degree. The actual world, however, is not like a nicely wrapped Harvard case once you leave the cozy light of projector-lit classrooms. It's illogical, tech-heavy, chaotic, political, and incredibly human. But if you want to stroll into that last interview and leave the HR professional blinking with happy surprise, here's something you really need to know but weren't taught in B-school. 1) Real businesses are not polished case studies; they are incomplete stories. You have probably dissected a dozen renowned case studies during your MBA journey. The businesses in those situations are the exceptions, not the rule, as you might not be aware. The majority of real-world businesses aren't spectacular success stories; instead, they are constant battles with inconsistent data, changing objectives, and an excessive number of WhatsApp groups. Nearly 70% of company transformation initiatives fail, according to a 2023 McKinsey study, not because of bad strategy but rather because execution breaks down in the face of uncertainty. How to deal with this ambiguity—how to make judgments when stakeholders are contradicting one another on Zoom and half the information are missing—is something that isn't covered in class. The greatest MBAs are able to say, 'We don't know yet—but here's how we'll find out,' rather than memorizing quotes from models. 2) You have a logical spreadsheet. Humans aren't. Learning regression analysis and valuation models will take hours. Even so, your customer will pick the rival with the more ostentatious package and inferior product. Why? Because people prioritize their emotions over their rationality, and your financial model failed to take Instagram advertisements, nostalgia, and ego into consideration. Irrational Labs data shows that emotion, context, or cognitive bias account for more than 65% of customer decisions. You must start studying human psychology and move beyond market sizing. This isn't limited to consumers. Your vendor, your supervisor, and your investor are all motivated by stories rather than just statistics. Behavioural economics isn't just a catchphrase; it's your best friend when it comes to figuring out why the client's cat-loving CFO could reject your million-dollar presentation. 3) Culture is the operating system with the power to destroy your best plans. Yes, strategy is cool. However, culture determines its success or failure. Consider presenting a daring innovation agenda to a group of people who think that 'doing things differently' entails using Calibri rather than Times New Roman. Less than one in five CEOs feel they have created the proper culture, despite 82% of them believing it is a competitive advantage, according to the Deloitte Human Capital Trends study. That's your hint. In addition to being prepared to spot possibilities, an MBA must also be able to spot cultural landmines. Consider this: How are choices actually made here? Which actions are rewarded or penalized? What is understood but not spoken? You won't just lead teams—you'll change them if you can analyze culture with the same level of accuracy that you apply to balance sheets. 4) A freelance jungle gym has replaced the corporate ladder. After earning your MBA, you're undoubtedly daydreaming about your dream job—a title, a team, and a workstation with good lighting. The catch is that modern occupations resemble jungle gyms rather than ladders. You move industries, take on gigs, climb sideways, and occasionally hang upside down for a while. According to the NITI Aayog, the gig economy in India is expanding at a 17% CAGR. Nearly one-third of professionals worldwide now hold freelance or project-based jobs. Therefore, you will require more than simply leadership and analysis skills. Agility, self-branding, and the capacity to work with strangers across time zones on Slack are all necessary. Learn how to lead projects if your MBA taught you how to oversee departments. Because influence, not headcount, will be the key to leadership in the upcoming ten years. 5) A tool isn't technology. It is the New Business Language. You may be tempted to claim that technology isn't your thing. However, in the modern world of finance, that is the equivalent of declaring, 'I don't do math.' According to a 2023 World Economic Forum survey, 'technological literacy' is ranked second only to analytical thinking as the most important talents for the workforce of the future. And no, understanding Python alone isn't enough. It's important to comprehend how automation changes workflows, how APIs facilitate integration, how data flows impact return on investment in marketing, and how ChatGPT and other AI are stealthily consuming a lot of entry-level manual labour. If not tech-fluent, the MBA of 2025 must be tech-comfortable. Making friends with product managers, understanding how to ask the correct questions in tech meetings, and monitoring how analytics dashboards and no-code tools are changing decision-making at all levels are all part of it. 6) Your reputation is more important than your resume. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, understand that while your résumé helps you get in the door, your reputation determines whether you are allowed to stay. In order to assess applicants, recruiters are depending more and more on unofficial sources, such as recommendations, social media footprints, and referrals. According to LinkedIn's own data, candidates who are hired through referrals have a fourfold higher retention rate and perform better throughout their first year on the job. What makes you stand out in a world where everyone has an MBA is how others view your dependability, honesty, and teamwork. You don't have to start doing live performances now. It entails being there in every discussion, on group projects, and during internships. Create a reputation for being someone who 'gets things done, and done well' by quietly building trust. Because your reputation will eventually become your most valuable asset. Be the MBA that you weren't prepared for by the MBA. Methodologies, models, and frameworks are taught in B-schools. The true test, however, starts when you enter a business where half of the staff is passive-aggressively opposing change, the client is upset, and the numbers don't add up. The rising MBAs are not only intelligent, but also perceptive. With emotional intelligence, tech fluency, cultural sensitivity, and strategic curiosity, they embody business reality rather than only quoting business theory. So feel free. Surprise your recruiter by describing why ambiguity is a strength rather than a weakness, without quoting Michael Porter. In this way, you become the candidate that everyone remembers.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Kotler vs Sharp Debate: How do brands really grow?
HighlightsPhilip Kotler, regarded as the Father of Modern Marketing, emphasised the importance of understanding customer needs and creating value beyond just price and distribution. Byron Sharp, through his concept of 'mental availability', argues that brands must not only be physically accessible but also easily recalled by consumers in buying situations to drive growth. The article concludes that building customer loyalty requires consistent product quality and emotional connection, alongside strategies for increasing brand penetration. A Toast to the Living Legends of Marketing! In this series, I discuss the work of some of the key marketing thinkers in the context of my own experience of working with love-mark and emergent brands. In the first write-up, I share my 'S.C.H.O.O.L' of thought taking on fundamental insights from Kotler & Sharp and find harmony and progression vs. conflicting ideologies (perhaps because I've been using both for years now)!! The Birth of Modern Marketing For decades, Philip Kotler , now 93 years, has been regarded as the Father of Modern Marketing. He was the Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Kellogg's School of Management, and he wrote over 80 books that contributed to fundamentals of marketing. This famous quote below is perhaps why I found a career in marketing and consumer insights so compelling and rewarding. At the heart of his teachings, Kotler advocated a greater focus on meeting customers' needs and on communicating the benefits received from a product or service beyond just price and distribution. He also broadened the concept of marketing from selling to the art of communication and value creation and how it can be applied to charities, political parties and other non-commercial situations. None of us can potentially dispute these contributions which have stood the test of times. Today, all organizations, decode the sentiments of their 'consumer base', build their policies and market their brands based on these principles. Premium brands like Apple outsell cheaper alternatives by solving for consumer needs around design and functionality but also deeper image and lifestyle desires. A clear case of needs and benefits building over the price and distribution mindset of utilitarian theories of economics, of his time. Why then the outcry and claims that Kolter's theories may not be relevant for the modern world? New Insights based on Empirical Evidence Many of the debates around Kotler's work can often be directly linked to the work of another Marketing thinker of our times, Professor Byron Sharp, who is a Professor of Marketing Science and Director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute – the world's largest centre for research into marketing. His book "How Brands Grow: what marketers don't know " has been called one of the most influential marketing books of the past decade (Warc, 2015). In his first book, he made a rather scathing attack on how brands are so often mismanaged using brand voodoo and evidence-free claims that people 'love' brands, are 'loyal' to a brand or want to have 'relationships' with brands (and as intended it received a lot of attention!). In my personal view, the tone and messaging of Part 2 is more balanced and insightful on how to grow brands. Let's discuss 2 foundational frameworks or 'laws' as from Prof Byron. Grow your brand by being available While marketers highlighted awareness' as a first step to brand-building; Byron's work takes the concept further and talks of salience as a mix of physical presence and 'mental availability'. Physical availability is about being easy to buy; wide distribution, easy accessibility, and presence in the right places at the right time. Mental availability on the other hand is the ease with which a brand comes to mind in buying situations. In this concept, Byron pointed out that it's not just enough to build generic awareness—rather building situational salience is key. Your brand must be top of mind in contexts that the consumers think of buying your category (for example soft drinks try to build associations with spicy and fried food or hot weather because of high fitment to consumption in these occasions). Further, the brands assets must be distinctive and help the consumer recall the brand in that moment of decision-making. These could be logos, colours, taglines, jingles. For example, ' kuchh meetha ho jaaye ' helps one think of Cadbury as a choice when thinking of indulging in a sweet. Jingles like ' Amul doodh peeta hain India ' or ' Hamara Bajaj ' are deeply embedded in the consumer psyche or how some brand logos like the Mc Donalds Arch, the Nike Swoosh help consumers remember the brand instantly. These are not just logos or sounds—they're shortcuts to the brand's meaning. These elements do the heavy lifting of memory encoding in buying situations. A good case study from recent times is DOMS that competed with established players like Nataraj, Apsara, Camlin but succeeded by crafting mental availability through its own distinctive branding, fun and user-friendly packaging that made it a favourite with its key target audience – the kids. It also built a strong presence in both local stores and modern retail. The result: a brand that punched above its weight. The insight? Great brands don't just rely on being seen or bought ; they build distinctive brand assets that consumers recall and find easily. Penetration being key to growth One of the most important frameworks by Byron was what he describes as the Law of Double Jeopardy. This law states that brands with less market share have so because they have far fewer buyers (first jeopardy), and these buyers are slightly less brand loyal (second jeopardy). Data Source: How Brands Grow Part 2, Sharp and Romaniuk Start-ups and brand builders love Byron Sharp for providing this clarity on where the focus needs to lie especially in the early stages of brand-building. There is no denying the need to focus on gaining penetration and customers experiencing your brand to 'start' to grow the brand. However, how do brands gain penetration and is it possible just via distinctive assets? A lot of people use Byron's work to jump to the conclusion that performance marketing is the answer to all problems. Indeed, performance marketing is a great tool, especially given the ability to slice and dice audiences and 'acquire customers' from Google or Meta – options that didn't exist in the mass advertisement world of Kotler. However, lets pause to think about today's love marks – not just Apple, Nike, Coke, but even more home-grown brands which have scaled -Boat, Mamaearth, Minimalist, Swiggy, Zomato, Lenskart.... how did they grow? Did they only focus on paid customer acquisition as a strategy to grow penetration? Eventually significant gain in penetration for any brand is only possible by servicing Expanding to newer geographies for solving same set of consumer needs. Growing relevance of existing products to a larger set of consumers by growing relevance to newer occasions or use-cases. Launching product innovations that allow you to address newer cohorts. Sometime back we were consulting a health tech start-up providing diabetes solutions and in our consumer research found that all consumers inundated by multiple 'solutions' (as they would have searched content on diabetes) on and just like we block any calls that look like spam, they had 'mentally blocked' such messages even as they were being physically delivered to the audience. How then can one break-through? In another case, we worked with an ecommerce app which saw growth marketing ROI falling and realized the need to sharpen their understanding of their target audience and their proposition to make these efforts impactful. In both cases, the way to drive 'mental availability' or relevance was built on a thorough understanding of consumer's psyche'; their barriers and motivations, their decision-making context - which in turn helped sharpen both the performance marketing messaging and branding strategy. In his book, Byron references to Category Entry Points, as the means to build mental availability, (which sound exactly like the 6Ws framework we have been using for a long time) and originally attributed to Professor O.C. Ferrell, Professor of Marketing at New Mexico. Love V/s Loyalty Just recently, we were speaking to the marketing director of the leading restaurant chain of India, and how their ability to drive customer loyalty and retarget their customers was one of their key strengths vs competitors, especially in a crowded market where customers are always seeking new experiences. Hence, there is perhaps another way to decode the same data shared by Byron on penetration and frequency: brands that grow meaningfully over time are those that crack both penetration and frequency! Wouldn't it be impossible to drive penetration beyond a certain level without delighting existing customers and providing the best-in-class product experience? For example, a brand like Lays continues to attract new customers and gain repeat consumption in a crowded snacking category in India with many strong brands like Haldiram, Bingo because of its superior taste and consistent quality that consumers experience each time. Retention is of course much harder to drive than acquisition. Loyalty isn't something that can be bought with discounts or fleeting media impressions—it can only be built through consistent product quality, great experiences, emotional resonance and 'rewards' for loyalty. In conclusion, Byron's work builds on the work of giants before him. Especially in the current era of emotionally distracted viewers, inundated with more media clutter and multiple choices, loyalty is harder to build and efforts to build penetration are critical to grow. However, even as per Byron's work: to grow penetration, one must decode the key category entry points and own these key associations. So, in summary, my 'S.C.H.O.O.L' of thought building on the work of these learned gentlemen!!S: Don't just build generic awareness; build situational salience. C: Cut through the clutter with memorable and distinct brand assets.H: Heighten the ROI of customer acquisition by hitting consumer's underlying triggers and barriers.O: Own key contextual associations most hardwired to your category's consumptionO: Don't make the mistake of overlooking existing customer's and your actual product experience.L: Latch-on and reward loyalty when you can find it 😊!
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Big Numbers: Taking a closer look at new store designs
This story was originally published on C-Store Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily C-Store Dive newsletter. 3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry. Convenience retailers regularly innovate their store designs. From 7-Eleven planning to implement a new food-forward format at hundreds of stores to local operators that tailor their corner stores to what the neighborhood needs, upgrading both the look and offer inside helps keep up with customer expectations and turn stores into destinations. In this week's '3 Big Numbers,' we look at the investment Arko Corp. is making in a food-focused format, the size of Kent Kwik's latest location and the operational impact of Murphy USA's updated store design. The upper end of what Arko is spending on its new locations. Arko has been teasing its new food-focused convenience stores since last summer. In its latest earnings report, leaders shared that construction on the first of these seven sites has now begun. These locations will feature Arko's new proprietary foodservice program, Fas Craves, which will include hot and cold grab-and-go foods, baked goods, pizza, roller grill dogs and other fresh-prepared items, Chairman, President and CEO Arie Kotler said during the company's earnings call last week. Arko isn't skimping on these projects. The company expects to spend between $700,000 and $1.1 million on renovating the sites to accommodate Fas Craves, Kotler noted in the call. The square footage of Kent Kwik's upcoming food-focused store. Kent Kwik, which is owned by The Kent Companies, is testing out a new food-focused format, with its latest iteration expected to open next month, according to its website. The location, which is being built in Midland, Texas, will feature a 6,200-square-foot store and a made-to-order kitchen. The site has more to offer than just food. It will also have a drive-thru, the company's second-ever Kent Dog Wash and a two-bay car wash, according to Kent Kwik's website. Local reporting even notes that a Kent Lube Fast Oil Change Center will be coming to the site. The difference in merchandise margin between Murphy USA's new and old designs. Murphy USA has been operating its new stores in some markets for a while. Anyone interested can even take a peek inside via our coverage of its recently remodeled site near El Paso, Texas. But thanks to a recent earnings call, we can also look inside the books for these stores, too. According to company data, these revamped designs outperform older stores both inside and out. In the forecourt, stores with the new design are seeing about 20% more fuel gallons sold, CFO Gallagher Jeff said during the call. The difference is even more stark inside, with a roughly 40% increase in merchandise margins. 'These new stores are driving value and winning new customers, which is while we're aggressively working on our new store pipeline,' said Jeff. Recommended Reading Murphy USA's new store design was the star of Q1
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Kotler's fifth P: Can it work for brands?
HighlightsPhilip Kotler's four P's of marketing—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—have long been foundational, but he recently introduced a fifth P: Purpose. Purpose-driven branding can backfire if not aligned with a brand's core values, as demonstrated by Unilever's struggles and Procter & Gamble's Gillette campaign failures. Research indicates that consumer loyalty based on stated social purpose is low, with only 18% of consumers consistently buying from brands for their social initiatives. Successful purpose-driven campaigns, like those by Patagonia and Nike, are rooted in the brand's authentic mission rather than being retrofitted for marketing appeal. Cultural and market-specific sensitivities are crucial; what resonates in one region may fail in another, highlighting the need for careful consideration in purpose-driven messaging. The foundation for all marketing strategies has been the four P's of Philip Kotler : Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For decades marketers are sworn by his bible, Principles of Marketing Management. Just recently, Kotler has started promoting a fifth P: Purpose. A purpose-driven branding may appeal as noble, is it practical? Brands that had force-fitted purpose into their identity have seen setbacks on bottom-line, probably due to consumer scepticism or brand dilution. Unilever CEO had publicly admitted this as a major issue for under-performance and moved away from the practice. Experience of Gillette and many other brands also paint a picture that purpose cannot find universal application like the other P's. In Kotler's opinion, purpose is about aligning a brand with a higher societal goal such as sustainability , gender equality, or social justice. He argues that today's consumers, especially the Millennials and Gen-Z, prefer brands that stand for something beyond profits. But, purpose cannot be an afterthought or an artificial construct – Consumers can see through that and will quit buying from such brands. Unilever's is a classic example of backfired purpose. Its proclaimed purpose-driven branding under the then-CEO Alan Jope has not delivered results for many of its brands. Seems over-emphasising purpose above business goals is a bad idea. There have been some successes like the Dove's 'Real Beauty' campaign, but this was built organically over time. When the other brands tried to force-fit purpose, confusion and declining profits ensued. Take the example of Hellmann's mayonnaise, which attempted to justify its existence with sustainability messaging. Consumers rightly questioned: 'Do we buy mayonnaise for sustainability?' Unilever's overemphasis on purpose led to investor backlash, with activist investor Terry Smith famously accusing the company for 'losing the plot.' Consequently, they had to scale back the purpose-centric approach after profit margins fell short of expectation. P&G's Gillette experienced the mishap by over-moralising, when it launched its 'The Best Men Can Be' campaign, addressing toxic masculinity. The ad was aimed to redefine masculinity positively. But it alienated a large segment of core consumer base because they saw it as virtue signalling rather than genuine advocacy. When the sales plummeted, they brand quickly recalibrated the messaging. Costly lesson? The purpose must align with core brand values and consumer expectations. Simply put, brands cannot afford to lecture their customers. Similarly, many Indian brands has struggled with purpose-driven messaging. FabIndia faced severe backlash when it tried to market its Diwali collection under the name 'Jashn-e-Riwaaz.' It was trying to be inclusive, but was perceived as an unnecessary deviation from tradition. Tanishq faced controversy when it showcased interfaith marriage – a blasphemy in the New India in the time of Love Jihad rhetoric. The company was forced to withdraw the campaign, of course, causing substantial dilemma for many other brands. Purpose may attract diminishing returns in India. The Western society has evolved into social activism over many years, and deeply ingrained into the social fabric. Indian consumers are more price- and quality-conscious. While ethical business practices matter, over-emphasising purpose can alienate many Indians who look at affordability and reliability first. Is consumer loyalty through purpose a myth? Many marketers, perhaps inspired by Kotler, believe that purpose imbibes deeper consumer loyalty, but research suggests otherwise. A 2021 Forrester survey found that only 18% of consumers consistently buy from brands due to their stated social purpose. Most consumers still evaluate quality, price, and convenience. Purpose-driven messaging might appear inauthentic, and lead to consumer scepticism. Brands like Pepsi (with its failed Kendall Jenner protest ad) have learned this the hard way. Does purpose work for any brand? While purpose has failed for many brands, there are cases where it has worked – but with crucial distinctions. Patagonia, for one, has successfully integrated environmental activism into its brand DNA. The key difference is that sustainability was part of Patagonia's mission from the beginning; it was not retrofitted onto the brand for marketing appeal. Similarly, Nike's advocacy for racial justice has worked because it aligns with the brand's long history of supporting athlete activism. That brings up the question of when Kotler's fifth P works and when it doesn't. Here are four scenarios: Purpose should be organic, not force-fitted: If a brand's core identity doesn't align with a purpose-driven cause, force-fitting it can be detrimental. Hellmann's attempt at sustainability messaging failed because consumers don't associate mayonnaise with ethical consumption, or Vim's #NazariyaBadlo campaign backfired because most Indians culturally don't accept men washing dishes. Purpose should not replace product and profitability: Unilever's experience demonstrates that a brand cannot afford to put purpose over financial performance. Companies exist to generate profits, and consumers buy products primarily for their utility, not their moral stance. Avoid over-moralising and alienating consumers: Gillette's failure shows that if a purpose-driven campaign comes across as judgmental or preachy, it can backfire. Marketers must strike a balance between advocacy and engagement. Market-specific sensitivity matters: As the examples of FabIndia and Tanishq show, cultural and political sensitivities can heavily impact how purpose-driven campaigns are received. What works in one market may fail in another. Kotler's fifth P of Purpose is not inherently flawed, but its indiscriminate application is problematic. If purpose is aligned authentically with a brand's identity, it could work. When purpose is force-fitted, it risks alienating customers. Marketers must remember that consumers buy products for their intrinsic value, not because of a brand's promoted ideology. In the end, the Four P's remain more than sufficient to drive successful marketing strategies; purpose is best left for brands that can genuinely integrate it into their DNA.
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Minecraft Meal Hustle—How Toys Are Part Of The Fast Food Fandom
The toys used to be an afterthought—plastic prizes doled out to get kids to finish their nuggets. But the Minecraft Movie Meal from McDonald's isn't just about the Big Mac or the fries. It's about the toy. The collectible. The chase. Released ahead of the Minecraft movie's debut, this newly launched McDonald's collab features themed packaging, a Big Mac or Chicken McNugget combo, and one of several mystery toys based on the world-building franchise. According to McDonald's official announcement, it's a limited-time release that invites fans to 'build memories together.' That framing is more telling than it might seem. 'Bought 6 Minecraft meals thinking I'd get a nice spread of toys. I got 6 pigs,' one user vented on Reddit, highlighting just how much randomness—and frustration—is baked into the experience. Over the past few weeks, I've been reporting on the rise of the Minecraft Movie Meal—first as a generational moment for families who grew up on both Happy Meals and Minecraft, and then as a piece of emotional marketing aimed just as much at nostalgic adults as at kids. But the toys themselves? They tell a story of their own—one that reflects how collecting, fandom, and fast food have become deeply intertwined. This isn't new. The emotional and economic pull of Happy Meal toys goes back decades. In a 1995 piece from the Chicago Tribune, collectors and marketers alike described McDonald's toys as 'a driving force' behind meal sales, with some adults even calling multiple locations to track down specific characters. That article ran almost thirty years ago—before TikTok hauls and eBay listings gave toy collecting a digital afterlife. In 2025, the motivation has only intensified. The Minecraft toys aren't just souvenirs. They're part of a cycle—a pop-culture-meets-capitalism feedback loop that taps into the same desire that drives sneaker drops and Funko Pop walls. You don't just want one. You want the set. According to Kotler's Consumer Behavior, this is a textbook example of completion bias—the psychological tendency to keep collecting until a series feels 'finished.' Add in the limited window and unpredictable distribution, and you've got a perfect storm: short-term availability + emotional attachment = frenzied demand. What makes the Minecraft drop especially interesting is that it's not really aimed at children—or at least, not exclusively. Decades of public health advocacy tried to uncouple toy-based marketing from fast food, especially when the meals were high in sugar or fat. In a 2015 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers argued that pairing toys with food exploits children's developing decision-making skills. San Francisco even passed legislation aimed at reducing these types of promotions. But in 2025, many campaigns are aimed at the adults who grew up with Happy Meals—nostalgia has become a core marketing strategy. From Pokémon to BTS to The Marvels, McDonald's and its competitors are actively targeting grown-up fans with brand loyalty and disposable income. This kind of fast food tie-in isn't new—but what is new is how seamlessly it cuts across generations. With franchises like Minecraft and Pokémon, there's no longer a clear boundary between what's 'for kids' and what's 'for adults.' Many of the grown-ups lining up for the Minecraft toy remember playing it in high school or college—and now they're buying Happy Meals for their own kids who play it on tablets and consoles. Fast food is no longer just co-opting popular culture—it's tapping into IPs that families experience together. That creates a different kind of nostalgia, one that's both backward-looking and present-tense. You're not just collecting a toy that reminds you of being 10. You're collecting a toy that you and your kid both recognize instantly—maybe from the same game, maybe from different versions of it. It's not just a Happy Meal. It's a cultural handoff. The real story here isn't whether the toys are high-quality (they're not) or whether people should be eating more fast food (also not the point). What the Minecraft meal reveals is how deeply collecting has become part of the food experience. When meals are designed around intellectual property instead of ingredients, and when scarcity becomes a feature rather than a flaw, fast food transforms into merch. A combo meal becomes a drop. And the drive-thru becomes the new toy aisle. In a way, McDonald's has learned from both the resale market and food media: people don't just want to eat want to feel something while doing it. And nothing stirs the emotions quite like a whiff of nostalgia—and a plastic Creeper toy you weren't expecting.
