Another day, another new innovation that comes to market which promises to make our life infinitely easier. Yet this one is something that makes me really question whether the ‘benefit’ derived is actually helping the individual and society at a wider level.

Imagine a world where it’s so hard to verbally communicate a breakfast order to a drive-through attendant that you pre-program an electronic tag to send your order to the store instead. I give you Hungry Jacks’ new Brekk-e-tag.

As a result of some research that told the brand that breakfast is a habitual meal (which I’m not against and, here at BrandHook, our own research has found this too), Hungry Jacks developed the tag as a means of speeding up the process of ordering at their restaurants. Only at trial phase so far, if successful, the brand has expressed interest in rolling this out Australia wide and at all times of day.

Now, I’m not usually one to knock new technology and innovations, but when it comes at the expense of human communication plus further removing the need to actually expend any energy and get out of the car to order food I begin to question its worth. Some would argue that ‘driving thru’ is already a sedentary act and that the tag isn’t having a negative physical impact, but anything that makes the process easier is just compounding the problem.

With no end in sight for the pipeline of innovations delivering ‘faster, easier’ experiences you’ve got to wonder what the future will look like. It’s no secret that obesity and a static lifestyle leads to an early death, and governments have had to spend vast sums warning the population to stay fit & healthy. Even back in the 80’s it was the case (remember Norm from the ‘Life. Be In It’ campaigns anyone?), and that was before mobile phones.

More than ever, brands need to be transparent and socially responsible (see Jackie’s blog), maybe it’s a new angle for brands to head towards. Insurance companies currently lead the way in offering free gym memberships, etc. as part of their packages to keep members active (which of course is a financial benefit to them), but perhaps fast food brands should act more responsibly by encouraging more physical activity rather than less?

Written by Chris