All my life I have grown up thinking that a quality product was a very good product. A quality pair of jeans look fabulous and last a long time. A quality stereo sounds great, has many features and is technically advanced. A quality product is highly desirable because it is made well and serves its purpose better than lesser products. The problem with quality is that it is expensive. Quality jeans cost more than cheap jeans. A quality stereo is not cheap. A quality product demands a higher price than lesser goods. Or, to put it bluntly, quality is expensive.
With this in mind, I’m rather confused by a recent ad by burger giant McDonalds. They claim to offer quality food at a quality price. This is to be expected, as I argued above, but I don’t think that’s what they mean. The gist of their commercial seems to be that you can get quality food at a bargain price. It’s a good sentiment but a very bad way of expressing it. Walmart has it right: “Save Money. Live better,” they say. Home Depot does a good job as well with their slogan “More Saving. More Doing.” McDonalds misses the mark completely.
Of course, the whole idea behind those slogans, for better or worse, is to draw customers into the store. McDonalds, Walmart, Home Depot and most other places are about making a profit by selling stuff. They aren’t really in it for the customer; they are satisfying their shareholders. Whether it’s offering the nonsensical “Quality food at a quality price,” or the more logical “More Saving. More Doing,” we customers are enticed to spend money; that’s the ultimate goal of those messages.
The Christian message, the Good News of the Gospel, is not about getting folks to spend anything. It is a clear, simple message of hope and possibility. It talks of God’s love; it proclaims Jesus’ care for humanity; it invites us to live better lives without any hidden agendas.
Sometimes the message does get confused. Sometimes good folks get caught up in the hype and miss the point. That’s the risk and reality of human beings trying to do Godly things. Sometimes what we preach and what we do line up so that our message is seen as much as heard. When we get it right we don’t have to say anything: no mottoes, slogans or pithy sayings are needed because our actions speak far more eloquently than words ever could.
It’s not a matter of saying that we offer a quality product; it’s a matter of letting the quality of a Christ-like life improve the life of others. It’s not about spending less and living better; it’s all about living the best we can without considering the cost; it’s certainly not about less saving and more doing; Jesus wants to save everyone from their pain and emptiness and invites us to help in the process. And here’s the best thing about the life Jesus offers: we can have a quality product for no price at all. Jesus paid the price already; all He asks is that we love Him as He loved us.
With this in mind, I’m rather confused by a recent ad by burger giant McDonalds. They claim to offer quality food at a quality price. This is to be expected, as I argued above, but I don’t think that’s what they mean. The gist of their commercial seems to be that you can get quality food at a bargain price. It’s a good sentiment but a very bad way of expressing it. Walmart has it right: “Save Money. Live better,” they say. Home Depot does a good job as well with their slogan “More Saving. More Doing.” McDonalds misses the mark completely.
Of course, the whole idea behind those slogans, for better or worse, is to draw customers into the store. McDonalds, Walmart, Home Depot and most other places are about making a profit by selling stuff. They aren’t really in it for the customer; they are satisfying their shareholders. Whether it’s offering the nonsensical “Quality food at a quality price,” or the more logical “More Saving. More Doing,” we customers are enticed to spend money; that’s the ultimate goal of those messages.
The Christian message, the Good News of the Gospel, is not about getting folks to spend anything. It is a clear, simple message of hope and possibility. It talks of God’s love; it proclaims Jesus’ care for humanity; it invites us to live better lives without any hidden agendas.
Sometimes the message does get confused. Sometimes good folks get caught up in the hype and miss the point. That’s the risk and reality of human beings trying to do Godly things. Sometimes what we preach and what we do line up so that our message is seen as much as heard. When we get it right we don’t have to say anything: no mottoes, slogans or pithy sayings are needed because our actions speak far more eloquently than words ever could.
It’s not a matter of saying that we offer a quality product; it’s a matter of letting the quality of a Christ-like life improve the life of others. It’s not about spending less and living better; it’s all about living the best we can without considering the cost; it’s certainly not about less saving and more doing; Jesus wants to save everyone from their pain and emptiness and invites us to help in the process. And here’s the best thing about the life Jesus offers: we can have a quality product for no price at all. Jesus paid the price already; all He asks is that we love Him as He loved us.
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