After 10 years, McDonald’s has unveiled the next generation of uniforms in China, at the “All Star” event on 16 July, co-hosted with fashion magazine ELLE. Each year, McDonald’s holds an All Star competition between its employees and the event marks the start of the competition this year. The event also coincides with the 7th anniversary of McDonald’s changing its company name to “Golden Arches”.
The new uniforms include 8 styles, for different positions, from manager to cooking staff, as well as baristas at McCafé. The uniform design uses brighter colours than the previous generation and focuses on the comfort of staff as well as being eco-friendly. The new attire was modelled by real employees at the event, as well as a promotional video and the ELLE photoshoot.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “McDonald’s new uniforms” (#麦当劳新制服#) reached number 13 on the Hot Search list with 40.88 million views. From 17 July, if you take a picture of the new uniforms when dining at 40 selected restaurants in China, post the pictures on Xiaohongshu (RED) and show it to a member of staff, you can get one of three gifts: stickers, a notebook or socks. This is not the first time McDonald’s has made the headlines with fashion, as the fast-food chain has collaborated with designers and brands before.
Aiming to expand to its 10,000 restaurants in China, McDonald’s has been doubling down on its localisation efforts. It recently celebrated its 30th anniversary in Shanghai while launching a three-piece set for cooling down in the summer based on the Beijing lifestyle. The likes of Louis Vuitton and Mini bring the spotlight to the culture and lifestyle of Beijing with their hyper-localised campaigns. It has been inspiring to see how McDonald’s continues to provide “emotional” value to Chinese consumers.
