McDonald's is embracing its Australian nickname, with select stores around the country changing their signage today to 'Macca's'. The world-first change, a temporary measure, comes after a branding survey commissioned by the hamburger restaurant found that 55 per cent of Australians called the company by its shortened name.
"We've been a part of Australia for over 40 years now and we're incredibly proud to embrace our 'Australian-only' nickname," said Mark Lollback, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's - Australia.
Lollback said 13 restaurants around the country would change their signage this week as part of the company's celebrations of Australia Day, which falls on January 26. Among the first stores involved on Tuesday were in the Southern Sydney suburb of Engadine and an outlet in Queensland's Kangaroo Point. McDonald's signage will return to each site from early February 2013.
Australia is the only country in the world that refers to McDonald's as 'Macca's' and the restaurant has formally submitted the word to the Macquarie Dictionary for consideration in their next update. The restaurant has said the abbreviation reflects its place in the Australian community, which has a penchant for jocular nicknames.