11 ms·

Except for calories, I would not be able to understand what means the information on nutrient icons without having the corresponding word next to it.

dmd 9y ago
And doesn't most of the world use kJ, not kCal?
- rhblake 9y ago
  Typically (or perhaps always) in EU countries, both kJ and kcal are specified on nutrition labels. And in my experience most people only ever talk about calories (kcal), much like in the US.
- vinay427 9y ago
  To add to the other comment, kJ is almost entirely unused on labels in many countries I have visited (e.g. India). kcal is likely more universal.
johan_larson 9y ago
Ditto. I suspect they could have gotten better international recognition by just using the English words. It would have pissed off the French of course, but that goes in the win column. ;-)
- nicky0 9y ago
  The point was not to get optimal international recognition. Almost the opposite: every symbol should be inoffensive and connote no negative or inappropriate ideas in 108 countries.
  - tbabb 9y ago
    And they accomplished that, by designing symbols that convey no meaning whatsoever.
    - libeclipse 9y ago
      Y'all down-voting this but it's true. Of course McDonalds is in an excellent position to slowly give these symbols meaning through constant exposure, but inherently the way they're designed does not convey anything at all. They might as well have just used colours or shapes.
      - nicky0 9y ago
        Exactly but what shapes? How about a cross, a six pointed star and a crescent? They are simple and distinctive...
        johan_larson 9y ago
        I'm thinking the swastika is due for reinterpretation. Let's make it mean "fat".
    - throwaway2048 9y ago
      Symbols, in origin, fundamentally have no meaning.
      - goldenkey 9y ago
        Yet 99.9999% of the world are no longer babies. So symbols do..not in origin/pouch...have meaning. Why not go with symbols that have inherent meaning rather than unsupplemented ones?
      - gumby 9y ago
        How true is that? A started as a cow (flip it upside down). That meaning is lost, true, but the Sackcasse (no exit) street sign, or a "T" junction street sign both abstract a physical system. The Korean alphabet shapes relate to the shape your mouth adopts to make the sound. Many Hanzi have structural association (even ignoring the radicals, which you could consider for the purpose of this discussion analogous to spelling) And the meaning of the chemical symbols (e.g. "Fe" as the symbol for iron) made a lot of them easier for me to learn, though if you don't grow up with the right set of languages they are somewhat arbitrary. And, of course, they provide employment for semioticists.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
nicky0 9y ago
From TFA: > “We realize that some of the visuals may not already be strongly linked in consumer minds to the nutrient they are meant to depict in all markets.” > “We intend to promote understanding of the images through supporting materials in Europe, from web sites to images explained on tray liners and via in-store displays,” ... > “After repeated exposure to these images, customers should eventually grasp their meaning, with or without printed labels next to them.”
- goldenkey 9y ago
  "Just keep eating at McDonalds. Once you become a frequent consumer of our Lardo-o-Lay, you will DEFINITELY know the McUniversal symbol for fat." - Ronald McDonald
- skookumchuck 9y ago
  After repeated exposure to these words, customers should eventually grasp their meaning, with or without printed translations next to them.
  - jhbadger 9y ago
    Yeah -- think about a lot of commonly accepted icons, like for nuclear radiation or biohazards. Or even the weird icons like those for "pause" and "record" on media devices -- these aren't intuitive icons, we've just gotten used to them.
    - gumby 9y ago
      I remember when those (>> for fast fwd, etc) were introduced by Japanese cassette tape companies in the early 70s. They were somewhat controversial!
    - skookumchuck 9y ago
      None of the icons McDonald's chose as their final ones had any meaning to me without a translation chart. How is that different from learning what a word means? Didn't anyone at McDonald's dare to question the basic idea of this?

dmd 9y ago

And doesn't most of the world use kJ, not kCal?

rhblake 9y ago
Typically (or perhaps always) in EU countries, both kJ and kcal are specified on nutrition labels. And in my experience most people only ever talk about calories (kcal), much like in the US.
vinay427 9y ago
To add to the other comment, kJ is almost entirely unused on labels in many countries I have visited (e.g. India). kcal is likely more universal.

johan_larson 9y ago

Ditto. I suspect they could have gotten better international recognition by just using the English words. It would have pissed off the French of course, but that goes in the win column. ;-)

nicky0 9y ago
The point was not to get optimal international recognition. Almost the opposite: every symbol should be inoffensive and connote no negative or inappropriate ideas in 108 countries.
- tbabb 9y ago
  And they accomplished that, by designing symbols that convey no meaning whatsoever.
  - libeclipse 9y ago
    Y'all down-voting this but it's true. Of course McDonalds is in an excellent position to slowly give these symbols meaning through constant exposure, but inherently the way they're designed does not convey anything at all. They might as well have just used colours or shapes.
    - nicky0 9y ago
      Exactly but what shapes? How about a cross, a six pointed star and a crescent? They are simple and distinctive...
      - johan_larson 9y ago
        I'm thinking the swastika is due for reinterpretation. Let's make it mean "fat".
  - throwaway2048 9y ago
    Symbols, in origin, fundamentally have no meaning.
    - goldenkey 9y ago
      Yet 99.9999% of the world are no longer babies. So symbols do..not in origin/pouch...have meaning. Why not go with symbols that have inherent meaning rather than unsupplemented ones?
    - gumby 9y ago
      How true is that? A started as a cow (flip it upside down). That meaning is lost, true, but the Sackcasse (no exit) street sign, or a "T" junction street sign both abstract a physical system. The Korean alphabet shapes relate to the shape your mouth adopts to make the sound. Many Hanzi have structural association (even ignoring the radicals, which you could consider for the purpose of this discussion analogous to spelling) And the meaning of the chemical symbols (e.g. "Fe" as the symbol for iron) made a lot of them easier for me to learn, though if you don't grow up with the right set of languages they are somewhat arbitrary. And, of course, they provide employment for semioticists.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

nicky0 9y ago

From TFA: > “We realize that some of the visuals may not already be strongly linked in consumer minds to the nutrient they are meant to depict in all markets.” > “We intend to promote understanding of the images through supporting materials in Europe, from web sites to images explained on tray liners and via in-store displays,” ... > “After repeated exposure to these images, customers should eventually grasp their meaning, with or without printed labels next to them.”

goldenkey 9y ago
"Just keep eating at McDonalds. Once you become a frequent consumer of our Lardo-o-Lay, you will DEFINITELY know the McUniversal symbol for fat." - Ronald McDonald
skookumchuck 9y ago
After repeated exposure to these words, customers should eventually grasp their meaning, with or without printed translations next to them.
- jhbadger 9y ago
  Yeah -- think about a lot of commonly accepted icons, like for nuclear radiation or biohazards. Or even the weird icons like those for "pause" and "record" on media devices -- these aren't intuitive icons, we've just gotten used to them.
  - gumby 9y ago
    I remember when those (>> for fast fwd, etc) were introduced by Japanese cassette tape companies in the early 70s. They were somewhat controversial!
  - skookumchuck 9y ago
    None of the icons McDonald's chose as their final ones had any meaning to me without a translation chart. How is that different from learning what a word means? Didn't anyone at McDonald's dare to question the basic idea of this?