Big S'Mac....

I haven't had lunch, yet. So, I'm a little hungry. Maybe that's why this
story caught my eye....

Crain's Chicago Business reported that LivingSocial and McDonald's are
offering a special promotion today: $26 worth of Big Macs and fries for
$13. (If you're feeling hungry, too, you can get in on the deal at:
http://bit.ly/bigmac13 .)

What makes the story interesting is that Groupon and McDonald's are
based in Chicago, but LivingSocial has managed to broker this deal right
in Groupon's backyard.

Groupon, which went public with an IPO last month, has seen it's stock
price decrease. So it seems LivingSocial, with about a third of the
subscribers of Groupon, has worked this deal to put their name in
headlines and try to boost it's subscriber base. They want to smack the
competition while they appear down.

So, what does this mean to you (other than a good deal if you like Big Macs)?

It means that just because your competition may be bigger than you,
there are still opportunities to position yourself to make a leap forward.
A good way to do that is to ride on the coattails of a big brand. Perhaps
it will have a halo effect on your brand.

Or it could become an embarrassment.

McDonald's is capping the deal at a million. As I write this, 152,440
people have signed up for this deal. That seems like the deal isn't
generating all that much excitement.

I'll give my follow-up on this when the deal is over.

Meantime, I thinking about Burger King...