McDonald's consoles customer who missed out on Super Mac Burger competition

McDonald’s is giving an unhappy customer a voucher after he missed out on their Super Mac Burger competition.

Douglas Norval complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after he went to the Beyers Naudé branch in Johannesburg only to find that their in-store displays promoting the competition were out of date.

The competition ran from June 1 to July 31 and the displays stated among other things:

• R150 million in guaranteed rewards;
• Prizes to be won: Fashion vouchers‚ kids’ activities‚ toy vouchers and more;
• New Grand Big Mac. R59.90 Medium Meal. Limited time;
• While stocks last. R2 will be added if a sugary drink variant is chosen.

McDonald’s said it had instructed all branches to remove the advertisements after the competition ended.

“It appears that the Grand Big Mac promotional material had not been removed from the Beyers Naudé Drive restaurant on July 31 2018 or on the date that the restaurant issued its final voucher.”

McDonald’s offered Norval a voucher as consolation.

“It should be noted that certain restaurants still had rewards vouchers available during the month of August and as such‚ and in accordance with the promotion rules‚ were permitted to display promotional material and issue rewards vouchers to customers beyond 31 July 2018.”

McDonald’s added: “It is clear that this situation was a service level error at the particular McDonald’s restaurant in question rather than misleading advertising. The restaurant (and all other McDonald’s restaurants) has again been informed to remove all outdated promotional material for the promotion.”

The ASA accepted the undertaking to remove outdated advertisements.