EatQual: the original packaging initiative

Read the campaign story

McDonald’s India’s EatQual initiative introduced packaging intended to make holding and eating a burger easier for people with limited upper-limb mobility. The One Show dates the announcement to 3 December 2020 and credits DDB Mudra Group and Vanilla Films. In a Spikes Asia interview, Rahul Mathew describes work with NGOs and ergonomic experts and a pack that supports the burger upright. The launch included in-store activity and collaborations with disabled creators. This study focuses on the original packaging, while treating later EatQual extensions as the same family.

Editorial interpretation: the campaign moves inclusion from the message into the moment of use. A customer may be able to enter a restaurant yet still encounter difficulty with an ordinary product interaction. Changing the pack addresses a different layer of access. The communication becomes more concrete because there is something people can request and try, rather than only a statement that everyone is welcome.

The sources establish the design intention and launch activity, not universal suitability or independently measured improvements for every user. Disability is varied, and one packaging format cannot remove every barrier. Current availability in any particular restaurant is not verified here. The practical lesson is to examine the whole customer task with affected users, then make the useful option discoverable and reliably available without requiring an intrusive explanation or a public demonstration of need.

Observe the task beyond the entrance

Map the experience from choosing and ordering through carrying, opening, holding, eating and disposing of the packaging. A business may have improved one stage while overlooking another. Invite people with relevant lived experience to identify difficulties and compensate their design work. Do not rely only on staff imagining what disability feels like. The solution might involve packaging, layout, instructions or service choice rather than a new product. Define the task precisely enough to test whether the change helps, and record the situations where it does not.

Offer choice without a test of deservingness

An accessibility option should be easy to request through several channels. Staff should know what it is and how to provide it without asking for medical proof or making assumptions about someone’s body. Some people may prefer the standard pack, another aid or assistance from a companion. Respect that choice. Explain the option in plain language and include it in ordinary service information. If an adaptation is only available during a launch event or to people comfortable identifying themselves publicly, the communications promise exceeds the practical access offered.

Test the support system around the object

A new pack needs stock, assembly instructions, food-contact compliance, waste handling and staff training. Observe whether it still works during a busy shift and for different menu items. Include user comfort and independence alongside operational speed. Do not make the accessible option harder to obtain because staff are rewarded only for rapid throughput. Gather feedback privately and allow users to report failures without becoming campaign testimonials. A useful design intervention earns trust through repeat availability, not merely through an emotionally persuasive launch film.

A bounded test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: a local food business could commission an accessibility review of one takeaway item with paid adult participants and a qualified packaging specialist. First test non-food prototypes for opening, grip and stability, then obtain appropriate food-contact and operational review before any live trial. Offer several options and compare them with the existing pack in a controlled, voluntary session. Record both helpful and unhelpful experiences. Keep participation separate from photography consent. The goal is a better service choice, not copying EatQual’s proprietary structure or claiming that one design works for all disabled customers.

Measure task completion, comfort, unwanted assistance, ease of requesting the option, assembly errors and reliable stock. Evaluate outcomes by relevant use situation rather than averaging away people the design does not help.

Do not launch if safety or food-contact requirements are unresolved, users report new difficulties or staff cannot provide the option consistently and respectfully.