McDonald’s Fights the Dictionary Definition of McJob
June 10, 2007 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
Unbeknownst to most of us, the word “McJob” has been in the dictionary since 2001. A quick search at Dictionary.com provides two definitions:
Random House Dictionary definition of McJob: an unstimulating, low-wage job with few benefits, esp. in a service industry.
American Heritage Dictionary definition of McJob: A job, usually in the retail or service sector, that is low paying, often temporary, and offers minimal or no benefits or opportunity for promotion.
Based on those definitions, I’m not surprised McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is not happy and wants the official definition of McJob changed to, “reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding … and offers skills that last a lifetime.” The fact that the word and negatively toned definition appear in authoritative reference books can only do one thing for McDonald’s, and that’s bring negative publicity. For many years, McDonald’s has waged a public relations and advertising war to try to give their brand a more upscale image. I can understand why they don’t like the word McJob or its official definition.
On the other hand, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, many people have never heard the word “McJob” and many more had no idea it was in the dictionary, but I’m guessing they do now. You can bet McDonald’s is getting a lot of attention from their attempts to change the dictionary definition of McJob and corresponding public relations stunts (see this article on Time.com for more details). I’m not sure if its the kind of publicity they had hoped for. Based on what people are saying at Consumerist.com, I don’t think so, but if you’d like to sign the McDonald’s petition to change the definition of McJob, click here.
McDonald’s campaign to change the dictionary is a bizarre example of a kind of corporate censorship tat we can’t tolerate! Sign the counter-petition here.