The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2020–2022
McDonald's India's EatQual pack lets people with one hand enjoy a burger with dignity
McDonald's India and DDB Mudra design a hexagonal one-handed burger pack with disability experts — 35x ROI, ADFEST 2022 Design Gold.
McDonald's India (West and South) · DDB Mudra Group
What it had to solve
McDonald's mission is to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone, yet roughly 2% of India's population — nearly 27 million people — are disabled, and many with limited upper-limb mobility could not hold and eat a burger. For them the experience stripped away dignity and self-reliance.
How it works
McDonald's India (West and South) had a mission to make feel-good moments easy for everyone, yet people with limited upper-limb mobility couldn't eat a burger the way everyone else does. Nearly 27 million Indians are disabled — about 2% of the population — and for many of them the burger experience stripped away dignity and self-reliance.
With DDB Mudra, the brand partnered with NGOs and disability experts to design and ergonomically test EatQual: a specially shaped hexagonal pack that locks the burger and its contents upright with firm bottom support, so it can be held and eaten with one hand. Made from the same low-cost food-grade paper as existing packs, it launched on 3 December 2020, International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The launch film starred a real-life electrocution survivor with limited hand mobility, and the campaign added in-store sampling events, NGO partnerships in every restaurant's catchment area, community influencers and staff training. The pack was available in all stores and for delivery, and its usage grew sevenfold in three months — nearly a thousand disabled guests enjoying burgers equally.
Results included 13.4 million impressions, 11.1 million reach, 300,000+ organic views in ten days and ₹7.2 million of earned PR on just ₹200,000 of spend — a 35x return — along with a 33% lift in brand trust and a 67% lift in brand interest. The work won a Design Lotus Gold at ADFEST 2022.
Why it lands
- It solved the problem in the product itself, so inclusion was experienced rather than advertised.
- Designing and testing with NGOs and disability experts gave the pack credibility with the very community it served.
- A tiny change — same paper, new shape — meant it could roll out to every store and delivery order without a cost barrier.
- Measurable results, from 35x ROI to 7x pack-usage growth, proved that inclusivity could be both right and commercially sound.
What it did
Within months: 13.4 million impressions, 11.1 million reach, 300k+ organic views in 10 days and ₹7.2mn of earned PR on just ₹200k of marketing spend — a 35x return — plus a 33% rise in brand trust. EatQual pack usage grew 7x in three months, and the work won a Design Lotus Gold at ADFEST 2022.
What you can take
Inclusive ideas change the product, not just the message: a small, expert-tested packaging change made a brand's equality claim something millions could experience — and it paid for itself.
Since then
EatQual became a permanent platform for McDonald's India (West and South) rather than a one-off pack, with the brand and DDB Mudra committing to diversify and strengthen it every year. The ADFEST 2022 Design Lotus Gold made it a reference case for inclusive packaging in the region, and it is cited in Indian industry coverage as a template for turning accessibility into brand experience.
Sources
- ADFEST 2022 Lotus Awards winners announced
- EatQual — ADFEST 2022 winner entry (Design Lotus)
- EatQual — ADFEST 2022 entry (PR Lotus, results)
- Behind the new inclusive packaging of McDonald's India
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