McDonalds – A Day Offline

McDonald’s today invited bloggers to catch a preview of their upcoming social initiative ’A Day Offline’ , which will be marked on September 28th. Senior management of McDonald’s MENA highlighted the concept as a responsible social step towards bringing families together, by simply asking everyone to just switch off their mobiles, tabs, laptops, and televisions for one day on Sept 28th, and just get back socializing with each other in person.

A 2012 study conducted by Regus, revealed 45 per cent of workers in the Middle East are experiencing higher stress levels than they were just one year ago. Roughly 70 per cent of respondents agreed that flexible working practices would reduce workplace-related stress, and over half (52 per cent) agreed that flexible working practices would allow them to spend more time with family.

George Khawam, Marketing Director of McDonald’s Kuwait commented: “Kuwait is undoubtedly a family-oriented country, and one that greatly values the importance of family relationships. However, increased workplace demands often result in decreased time for family bonding”.

“We at McDonald’s have developed the A Day Offline initiative to bring mums, dads, children and loved ones together to enjoy uninterrupted family time. We believe in cultivating family relationships and are demonstrating our commitment by providing venues and opportunities to spend quality time together.”

Khawam commented on the importance of uninterrupted family time. He said: “Simply spending time around family is not enough – especially when mobile devices may be flickering in the background and creating unwanted distractions. To make the most of the time we spend with our loved ones, we must mentally and physically switch off the triggers that cause us to disengage.

“Spending time in the presence of loved ones has been shown to dramatically reduce stress, and the McDonald’s A Day Offline initiative is providing opportunities for families to join together and reconnect without interruptions. A concept like this is long overdue in Kuwait, and I see tremendous potential for this to become an ongoing event with fantastic results for families.”

One of the interesting concepts that they have comeup with is a phone vault which is basically a simple envelop inside which you can place your phone and seal it when you are spending time with your family. McDonalds will be distributing these throughtout the campaign phase.

So mark your calendars…Sept 28th…and shut off all those devices for the sake of your loved ones, and make it a successful ‘A Day Offline’

Here are some snaps from the event: