The Friday Thing #832
I'm writing this on Thursday evening as we're due a snow dump here in Seattle tomorrow. Which basically means things grind to a halt, the Internet stops working and chaos ensues. Usually.?
The Friday Thing #832 is just a bit of lighthearted fun this week courtesy of McDonald's. Love or hate McD's you can't deny their cultural significance. I mean, even The Economist relies on them to demonstrate the purchasing power parity between two currencies by using the Big Mac as a common currency. What I wasn't aware of until this week is the existence of the Chicken McNugget Theorem. This economic conundrum asks what is the largest number of McNuggets that you can’t?buy with packs of 6, 9 and 20??Honestly, this is a real thing and it's a big deal. So much so that it was included in Ilan Vardi’s book Computational Recreations in Mathematica book in 1991 and the original version of the challenge, known as the Frobenius Problem, goes all the way back to the late 1800s.?
Okay, I said lighthearted fun?right, not deep mathematics? Well, the fun comes in courtesy of McDonald's in Switzerland and their agency TBWA who came up with the "Chicken McNuggets of Love" promotion, allowing customers to buy individual nuggets for a limited time only. It solves the problem of who gets the last nugget and taps into that desire for just a single nugget to go with your Big Mac. Which apparently is a thing. Apparently ??
I love the creativity here. Identifying a common customer experience of sharing a box of chicken nuggets and the inherent tension it creates to draw out a fun, engaging and likely revenue positive campaign. Bravo Mickey D’s.?
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That's all for this week. Music is a bit of Oasis mixed with a bit of Stone Roses with the new release.
Happy Friday. Oh, and the answer is 43.?
Cheers,?
-Steve
Director, Global Public Affairs @Microsoft | Formerly, ESG/Impact Innovation @Salesforce | Sustainability Start Ups
1 年How fun & love this! A friend in college would eat fries more slowly. By eating more slowly, he often got the same satisfaction out of less. (When everyone needs less, the pieces become less important.)
Global Strategy Leader | Private Equity PortCo, Big Four, and FTSE 100 Experience | Currently Open To a Suitable New Challenge
1 年Interesting! I'll throw another theory into the mix Steve Clayton - marginal utility, just one more of something can be very satisfying...
Global Head of PR and Communications at 6sense | Strategic Comms, Reputation, Narrative, Crisis Comms, Brand Awareness
1 年Love this so much. Such a simple concept to address a common challenge in a fun, engaging way.
Helping people realise their potential
1 年Didn’t Rolo do something sinilar?