Celebrate 'Day offline' on Family Day with McDonald's

28 Mar 2013

This Family Day, Monday 1 April, McDonald's is offering fun activities (such as face painting, story-telling, interactive games for the family and a free ice cream) at specified times, at select stores throughout the country, to enhance the family time experience.

This is part of its recently launched 'Family Time Forever' campaign with a specific 'Day Offline' activation, which encourages consumers to switch off their devices for a day and rather focus on reconnecting with their family.

According to the 2012 Regus Work-Life Balance Index, regularly sitting down to a meal together as a family has a notable positive impact on the family dynamics as well as on the individuals, most importantly the kids. Creative parenting expert, author and inspirational speaker Nikki Bush agrees, "Family mealtimes are an easy place to share time, space and pace with your children. Eating a meal a day together as a family can become your daily connection ritual."

The fast food company has tapped into these insights around the importance of mealtimes for family bonding and the knowledge that the pressures of modern day living make it increasingly more difficult for families to connect. Its latest campaign focuses mainly on the platform of mealtimes as an ideal occasion to switch off from all additional distracting elements, including mobile phones, laptops and remotes and invest in family time.

The Day Offline activation highlights its 'Family Time Forever' proposition and refers to emotive images of special family moments. The use of catchy phrases such as 'read fairy tales instead of emails' and 'swop hashtags for hugs' further drives the message of the importance of focused family time.

According to Daniel Padiachy, marketing director at McDonald's South Africa, "The campaign and Day Offline activation reflects the company's continuous commitment to strengthening family relationships. We understand the demands of modern society on parents, but we also recognise the importance of making family time a priority."

The campaign will be supported by a full marketing campaign including a television tag, radio, online, print, outdoor, PR and in-store collateral as well as social media interaction. The campaign communicates an exciting opportunity for families to bond while enjoying one another's company without any distraction.