By Simon Dell
Nothing good ever comes from a hi-jack. The very definition of the word brings a wave of fear and terror across most people. Which is why it's surprising that Hungry Jacks, apparently purveyors of the better burger in Australia, have done exactly that to a current McDonald's promotion.
We all know the Monopoly promotion that Maccas runs every now and again. Rip the tiny stickers off the fries and soft drinks and match them up to win things. I'm sitting here typing this and staring at Liverpool Street station, Bond Street and Leicester Square right now.
Campaign hijack: Free Hungry Jacks with McDonalds Monopoly Win tickets.
Hungry Jacks know that promotion well too. Hence why they've just launched 'Flame Their Mcopoly' at //flametheirmcopoly.com.au, a website where you can redeem the prizes you can win for free food at McDonalds for, erm, slightly different free food at Hungry Jacks.
Obviously Hungry Jacks don't beat about the bush distancing themselves from this having any sort of endorsement from McDonalds with the disclaimer at the bottom of the page: "in no way authorised or endorsed by you know who." But they're not really fooling anyone.
Hijack marketing isn't new. Adidas and Nike during the last World Cup, XXXX and CUB throughout the many cricket series, and even Coca-Cola have had their Coke Zero hijacked by Oxfam. Both McDonalds and Hungry Jacks have had skirmishes in the past but this looks like a full-blown war.
"It's absolutely sensational. Cashing in on Maccas coupons is gold," believes Edwina Luck, senior lecturer at QUT, and many fast food fans may think the same thing. But when a war like this breaks out, is there any way that McDonalds can respond effectively? Especially when Hungry Jacks are prodding at the Achilles heel of the promotion: that public perception is that no-one really wins very often.
"Their best response is to use PR with an omni-channel onslaught of showing real people winning prizes," suggests Ms. Luck. "Also use their greatest advocates - staff to jump online and post stories about people winning and how frequently that happens."
Does this mean Hungry Jacks are running out of ideas? Or maybe their sales are in a position that such an aggressive tactic like this is aiming to arrest decline?
But even if either of these are true, with Hungry Jacks spending little to nothing to get their message out there, the fight going viral is exactly the secondary sort of publicity that McDonalds don't want. It's win-win for Hungry Jacks. And for the fast food fans of Australia.
Simon Dell is the director of TwoCents Group, a national creative marketing, branding and digital team. He works with Australian businesses helping with tailored communication strategies.