To quell the negative publicity (which reached world media) they resorted to selling vouchers for Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel dolls dressed in Chinese wedding outfits, redeemable when stocks arrived in July 2000. McDonald’s acknowledged that it was caught unawares and had seriously underestimated demand. And over 20s wanted Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel for traditional Valentine’s Day love gifts. Fathers fought for the toy for their children (again, so they claimed!). Grandparents lined for hours to get the toys for their grandchildren (or so they claimed!). And they were not all prepubescent girls. At its height, this McKitty McFrenzy generated almost 300,000 daily visits to McDonald’s. One man was charged with disorderly behavior over protests after McDonald’s opened a different door to the one he had been waiting at for 12 hours. Queue jumping led to the arrest of six people and the injury of a policeman. Kiasu led thousands of Singaporeans to wait in line all night to be the first through the doors to get the increasingly scarce dolls. What McDonald’s failed to add into their calculations was first, the broad-based appeal of Hello Kitty, and secondly, the Singaporean phenomenon known as kiasu, roughly translated as ‘the fear of missing out. When McDonald’s began the promotion on New Year’s Day 2000, it had 2.4 million dolls on hand (in 12 different sets), which according to their estimates was sufficient quantity for a six-week promotion. And the promotion-buy a burger meal and get a 22 cm high Hello Kitty or Dear Daniel for $2.60 Singapore dollars, major savings compared with the regular retail price. The kitten in question is, of course, ‘Hello Kitty’ and her boyfriend, ‘Dear Daniel’. McDonald’s in Singapore underestimated the appeal of a white kitten with a bow and no mouth and her mouthless boyfriend and the chaos caused when consumers felt they might miss out. ‘During this promotion’? They can’t possibly mean a marketing promotion, can they? The police, government and civil defence forces needed for a marketing promotion? The answer is yes-a marketing promotion, needing the forces of law and order.
THE HELLO KITTY CASE FULL
~ Stephens (2000) reporting on a full page statement by McDonald’s Singapore appearing in Singapore newspapers, January 2000.
We wish to extend our sincere apologies and thanks to the Singapore Police Force, Ministry of the Environment, Singapore Civil Defence Force,Īnd everyone who has been inconvenienced during this promotion.’
We sincerely apologize and ask for your forgiveness for any inconvenience and disappointment this may have caused. ‘We recognize and accept that we have failed to meet everyone’s expectations.
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