Karen D’Silva
How could you grow up in the western world without fondly thinking of all the happy meals you consumed as a kid?  My Mom would barely get out the words “we’re going to McDonalds, and don’t tell the whole neighborhood…”, as the front screen door would slap closed.  My younger sister would already be in the car, and I would be screaming at the top of my lungs, “hey everybody , we were going to McDonald’s.”  McDonald’s was always a place to go to celebrate a special occasion or make an ordinary day special. 

One of the themes we see constantly in lifestyle photography,  is the idea of a milestone.  A milestone is a life marker.  This situation can be a traditional event as in your wedding day, or something a little more abstract like the day you hit the high score on your Gameboy.  The idea is to focus on the accomplishments that shape who you are.    Here, McDonald’s is celebrating the milestone of perhaps a dance recital.  Or maybe MacDonald’s has just made a milestone out of an ordinary Thursday after ballet practice, for this little girl.  Check out the smile on the happy meal box and how it ingeniously represents the emotion of the little girl (who coincidentally could be Caucasian, Asian, or Latino). 

The choice to run the image as black and white also contributes to the emotional success of the advertisement.  Black and white is often referred to as the color of emotion.   Additionally, it adds a classic element to the image.   The image becomes timeless.  Here’s an image that appeals to all the little princesses that grew up and are now taking their kids to McDonald’s for their happy meals.  Maybe the image represents a memory cherished from her past or captures a familiar moment from her life today.

Meg Asaro
The story in the text tells us this little girl just attended her first ballet recital. As Karen points out, it is a timeless moment that connects the mother to that feeling she had when she was a little girl and earned this treat.  In that nostalgic moment, McDonald’s informs the mom that now, they offer healthy choices like apples instead of fries for the kids and salads for the parents.  ‘McDonald’s is a good choice for your family’ is what this ad is doing it’s best to convey.

From the girl’s body language, we can sense her happiness, her pride.  It doesn’t seem that she is getting out of that costume anytime soon. She looks and feels like a princess and today, princesses rule.  Anybody who has a little girl knows what I am talking about.  It is partly in our genetic makeup - girls love to be the princess and wear pink and boys love to conquer and shoot things.  Yes, it is a generalization but it is also mostly true.  I had one Barbie as a girl and my brothers constantly sent her to war to defend the house.  I just gave up, put a tutu on Stretch Armstrong and called it even.

Disney is aware of this organic attraction little girls have to princesses and have turned their business around as a result.  ‘The Princess Principle’ is being used by many companies today but Disney started the madness about 6 years ago by commodifying their top 9 princess-like characters.  This increased princess revenue from 300 million in 2001 to 3 billion in 2006.  They have 25,000 princess products on the market!  The princess franchise is the fastest growing and most profitable in Disney’s history.

Of course, there is a side of concern to this equation as well.  When my adorable 7 year old niece tells me she is getting a makeover at Disney World, I do question what all this fantasy-pushing is doing to her self esteem.  Fortunately, she opted for the princess lunch instead.  The fast growth of ‘The Princess Principle’ taps into a bigger trend.  ‘Fantasy’ has been bubbling for years what with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the Pirates of the Caribbean.  ‘Fantasy’ is a healthy human reaction to escaping from the crazy world.  Kids do it naturally, going in and out of that fantasy state for years.  Folding this insight into stock photography will make it current and, fingers crossed, saleable.


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Meg Asaro & Karen D’Silva are the Principals of Spark Visual Research. For more information about the authors visit the bios for Meg Asaro, Karen D’Silva, or www.sparkvisualresearch.com. D’Silva and Asaro also publish their own newsletter for professional photographers seeking highly applicable market research presented specifically for use in conceptual planning for commercial photography productions.