So recently, McDonald’s announced its partnering with the NFL to have their happy meals accompanied by figures representing the 32 NFL teams. The toys are supposed to be part of a strategy by the NFL to increase their reach with children, targeting a popular product often consumed by children. Apparently kids drawn into this are ‘locked for life’ in a grim summation of exactly what companies are trying to achieve with their marketing – lifelong, high-value customers.

Kids who are supporters of the NFL are almost always locked into being a fan for life. The NFL has seen this as a strong opportunity for a sustainable marketing venture and jumped at the chance.

On the other hand, McDonald’s is taking this opportunity to piggyback on the lifelong effects of brand association. If a kid becomes an NFL fan for life, guess what he/she’ll go on and look for when it’s half time and they’re hungry, that’s right – McDonald’s. Growing up with brands has been a strongly documented phenomenon in consumer behavior. It’s been shown in clinical tests documenting the blind taste test that taste centers were activated in the brain when products were known. When taste tests were conducted blind, judgement centers in the brain were actually activated more, leading to a stronger preference in Coke, which has been forged into a lifestyle brand.

It’s always been interesting to see the effects of these kinds of things on consumers, and while there isn’t a strong digital component to this marketing campaign, it’s infinitely interesting to see how easily and strongly influenced people can be.