Vegans and vegetarians are afraid to tell people that they are vegan or vegetarian since they feel attacked when they divulge their lifestyle.
Usually, peers act defensively and with aggression when they find out that their friends are vegan. This judgement comes from a place of insecurity
over their morals and ignorance of veganism and the variety of foods vegans eat.
Veganism is perceived as a restrictive lifestyle of bland food and health issues. This makes people concerned for vegans.
The main objective of the Vegan Fridays campaign is to make it easier for vegans to tell people that they are vegan by reducing judgement and
ignorance of veganism. Part of this is to make reducing meat consumption second-nature by making vegan food accessible to everyone.
The solution is to make McDonald's adopt Vegan Fridays. McDonald's will adopt a vegan menu that's the same as its current menu, but every item is vegan for R5 less.
This makes it easy for customers to choose the vegan option from a brand they trust and see everywhere. On Fridays however,
the vegan menu will be the only available menu.
Friday evenings are the busiest times for fast food outlets. Customers often blindly choose their favourite outlets, and might forget about Vegan Fridays, but end up still ordering
from McDonald's since they are already at the fast food restaurant.
For the first month from Vegan Fridays' launch, McDonald's will include a free mini vegan sample of the meat-based meals in a customer's order. Customers will then have
no reason not to taste
the vegan option and realise that it tastes as good as the meat-based food.
McDonald's staff will need to be trained to ask customers if they want the vegan or meat-based option when ordering, and know how to respond to angry customers with
reasoning as to why McDonald's is adopting a vegan menu.
Veganism is one of the most effective ways individuals can reduce their impact on climate change. McDonald's is thus adopting Vegan Fridays as their green initiative as a caring brand.
This stance will appeal to their younger audience who cares about climate change and supports brands that align with their values.
The Vegan Fridays campaign and packaging for the vegan meal options will all remain distinctly McDonald's. The aim is for the move towards veganism to feel natural
and not in everyone's face. People instantly turn away from food items labelled as "vegan" due to their judgement thereof.
By McDonald's keeping its
vegan options familiar, customers might be more open to trying it. It additionally makes veganism feel natural, and not something that should remain separate.
from the mainstream.
In the same way, McDonald's will keep the campaign advertisements familiar to customers. Social media, print media where consumers might be on their way to a McDonald's and a TV commercial will all remain recognisable as McDonald's.
