2.21% of India’s population is disabled – nearly 27 million people, more than the population of Australia – 27 million who are routinely left out of marketing efforts, national initiatives and even basic experiences, because of our deep-set apathy towards the disabled.

As McDonald’s, our mission was to ‘Make Delicious Feel-Good Moments Easy For Everyone’. However, when we discussed disability, we somehow only fixated on the easy, i.e., access, and not the feel-good experience.

We realised that for many people with upper-limb disabilities, the feel-good burger experience probably rated zero, not to mention the intimidation they feel and pity stares they get as they navigate something as simple as eating a burger.

Our objective was to right this wrong in a way that truly drove inclusivity at McDonald’s – capturing the country’s attention, improving people’s perception of our brand and inviting audiences that had long been ignored by Food Retail.

DISABILITY A BLINDSPOT IN INDIA

2% of India’s population is disabled, that’s nearly 27 million people – more than the entire population of Australia – who are routinely left out of marketing efforts, national initiatives, and even the most basic experiences because of our deep-set apathy towards the disabled.

A LITTLE INTROSPECTION

As McDonald’s, our mission is to ‘Make Delicious Feel-Good Moments Easy For Everyone’. However, when we discussed disability, just like everyone we too fixated on the easy, i.e., access, and not the feel-good experience.

Eating a burger had a ritual – grab with both hands, close your eyes, and dig in. In pop culture and everyday life, the two-hand hold became an iconic code, perpetuated by our advertising; but eating a burger doesn’t look like it does in the commercials for everyone. Burgers are messy – sauce dripping, cheese melting, lettuce hanging loose and a patty, unless held firmly, prone to escaping out of its bun encasement. We were unwittingly excluding the disabled community – whether it was people with upper limb disabilities or even those suffering from neurological issues, such as cerebral palsy. Sure, we have a few ramps and additional washrooms, but does access necessarily make up for the glaring lack of experience?

Moreover, disability is India isn’t only congenital. Annually, nearly 3 million people suffer non-fatal injuries due to road accidents alone, resulting in permanent disability. This, along with freak incidents, electrocutions, poor diet and healthcare, improper medication, cause millions more to be disabled.

SEARCH FOR A SOLUTION

With valuable inputs from NASEOH (National Society for Equal Opportunities for the Handicapped) India, we went back to the drawing board, determined to change the clamshell packaging that hadn’t changed in decades. A month later, we took our prototypes to the same group that had expressed frustration at eating a burger and embarrassment at doing so in public.

The difference was monumental. Not only were they able to enjoy burgers without worrying about spillage, for the first time they could focus on the taste, thoroughly enjoying the experience.

When it came to naming the initiative, we looked no further than the genesis of the idea; our journey to make the experience of eating a burger equal for everyone, hence the name - EatQual.

PUTTING OUR PLAN TO ACTION

The first-ever fast-food burger packaging for disabled individuals aimed at making the burger eating experience equal for everyone was launched on December 3, 2020 – International Day for Persons with Disabilities.

It was made available pan-India, in all 315 McDonald’s stores as well as for delivery and third-party food aggregators.

A video showcasing the experience of a girl, disabled after an electrocution accident, enjoying the burger in the new EatQual packaging was communicated via traditional media outlets. It was also seeded across content publishers, many of whom picked it up organically.

It was further amplified through above-the-line advertising like print ads, in-store merchandising and engagement activities such as partnering with NGOs and schools for disabled in cities nationwide.