Greggs vs McDonald’s: The Fast Feud
There’s a strange satisfaction in watching the mighty McDonald’s get nibbled at by a northern bakery that once sold four sausage rolls for a quid. Greggs vs McDonald’s: The Fast Feud Channel4 isn’t just a documentary — it’s a morality play for our times, with pasties as protagonists and PR as the real power behind the throne.
I make an appearance, attempting to decode how Greggs. with its vegan stunts, clever collaborations, and anti-corporate charm, managed to rebrand itself as the cheeky chap the nation wants to have breakfast with. Meanwhile, McDonald’s, armed with billion-dollar budgets and baffling self-belief, continues to behave like the entitled multinational uncle no one really invited.
Greggs has achieved what most brands can only dream of: being both mass and cult. Ubiquitous and beloved. It’s the PR equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a sausage roll. And let’s be honest, they did it not by playing safe but by understanding the mechanics of modern fame: borrow cultural currency, hijack the headlines, and make it look like it was all an accident. It never is.
It’s a reminder that in the theatre of modern marketing, the illusion of authenticity trumps actual scale. The stunt is the strategy. The pastry is political. And timing — as always — is everything
Link here for those who enjoy a fab doco: https://lnkd.in/e8gmHhCb
