McSkillet Buzz Rises Due to National Sample Giveaway

Advertising Age posted an article about McDonald's giving away breakfast burritos February 26, 2008. McDonald's is planning to give away more than 2 million McSkillet burritos the today (February 28, 2008) and tomorrow as part of a national sampling event.

I was not aware, but apparently McDonalds took a similar approach offering "Free Coffee Mondays" to get consumers to taste its coffee in the past. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised to see McDonald's take this approach moving forward. It is definitely "out of the box" thinking.

"Sampling is critical to any marketplace," said McDonald's spokeswoman Shanelle Armstrong, who said the McSkillet burrito, which launched last November, has "performed well" and that the giveaway isn't a reflection on its performance. "Ultimately we want to get our product in our customer's hands, and we're committed to doing that like never before."

In a study the chain commissioned from Kelton Research, McDonald's reports that about 48% of Americans grab breakfast on the go at least once a week. This particular finding is very interesting and I would have to say that I am probably one of those the 48% of Americans who eat breakfast on the go at least once a week. Therefore, it does make sense that McDonald's would give away McSkillet burritos, especially if it wants to increase traffic to its restaurants in the mornings.

I went and got a large French Vanilla coffee and "free" McSkillet burrito this morning. Overall, I was very pleased with the McSkillet burrito. However, I would recommend that McDonald's should introduce some alternative meat selections. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of sausage. I'm much more of a bacon person myself. Nonetheless, I finished my McSkillet burrito. All I can say is, "Watch out Taco Bell!" I was very pleased with the spiciness and flavor of the burrito. Additionally, I'm glad McDonald's didn't go cheap using only green bell peppers. There were plenty of red bell pepper chunks in my McSkillet burrito.

We'll, I'm recommending everyone I know to at least give the McSkillet burrito a try. It may not be for everyone, but overall I think it is pretty good. I'd give it an "A.

Below is trend chart showing buzz for the McSkillet. As you can see, online discussion on blogs about the McSkillet burrito is really taking off as a result of being given away for free. Buzz in this chart does not include posts on message boards or Usenet groups.














Let me know if you have any questions about my experiences trying the McSkillet burrito or questions about my brief data analysis.