BACKGROUND
Gen Z no longer saw McDonald’s as a cool employer. Job applications were down in the group that is the primary source of fast-food restaurant employees. The goal was to get more new employees. Based on market research and insights from past campaigns, it was clear that words were not enough, McDonald’s would need to show actions to engage Gen Z. Fashion was an ideal area to work with: young Finnish designers have earned international plaudits recently and it meant working with a perfect symbol of working at McDonald’s: the uniform. Collaborating with up and coming local Gen Z fashion designer Jimi VAIN, McDrip was born – upcycled fashion from used McDonald’s uniforms. The collection included 13 unique looks and 27 individual pieces and was only available to McDonald’s Finland employees – Want the drop? Get the job!

THE CREATIVE IDEA
How to make the McDonald’s uniform something Gen Z was ready to wear with pride? To do that we worked directly with the uniform: the source material for the fashion collection was used McDonald’s workwear. Fashion designer Jimi VAIN had creative freedom to create a collection that would resonate with the target group. He worked with the brand identity playfully, integrating recognisable elements into the unique items. Making McDrip available only for McDonald’s employees also sent a message that you can be cool and work for McDonald’s. Since you could only get the drop if you worked for McDonald’s Gen Z applications shot through the roof – the “Want the drop? Get the job!” message was heard loud and clear. And McDrip emphasised the role of McDonald’s as a welcoming and inclusive workplace for youth with no prior work experience. Communication was focused on social to engage Gen Z.

THE EXECUTION
The McDrip fashion line included 13 unique looks and 27 individual pieces. The designer Jimi VAIN integrated recognisable McDonald’s brand elements into the clothing, and the brand was present throughout since 90% of the fabric used was from used McDonald’s workwear – the remaining 10% from waste fabric in the textile industry. The fashion line was launched in McDonald’s Kamppi, central Helsinki. The fashion show was experienced both on-location and live on TikTok. The aesthetic extended to other launch executions: videos and posters combined the street fashion meets high fashion meets the McDonald’s brand aesthetic. To promote the fashion line, from the launch onwards all activation was on social and mostly through organic influencers (in addition to VAIN and McDonald’s Finland own channels). The collection was raffled off to McDonald’s Finland employees – both new and old employees. On social media McDrip snowballed, and a look ended up worn by rapper star Lil Uzi Vert, who was captured in McDrip on Drake’s Instagram to his 136 million followers.

THE RESULTS
The brief’s goals of increasing job applications to McDonald’s Finland and engaging Gen Z on their own terms were reached. Applications incerased by 63% – a record-breaking number of total applications for McDonald’s Finland. There’s no longer a shortage of applicants for McDonald’s jobs in Finland.

Reach / cultural impact
Earned media reach was 228 million – to put it into proportion, that’s equal to 40 times the Finnish population.

Earned media value was 11MEUR – that’s over 700 times the media spend.

Having Lil Uzi Vert wearing McDrip during a Drake gig and Drake posting a pic of it on Instagram to his 136 million followers was a welcome addition to the attention.

Value added to brand and consumer + Brand perception in the targeted 16-24-year-old demographic:

Employer image by 52%
Brand responsibility image by 69%
“It’s a brand I trust” perception by 65%
“Is a brand for someone like me” by 30%.

CULTURAL CONTEXT
Finland is not known for many things, but design is one of those. Finns themselves are very conscious about this perception around the world. Yet Finnish design greats are largely from half a century ago. In the past decade, fashion has been a field, where young Finnish designers are collecting plaudits and cool positions around the world (Sasu Kauppi working on Kanye West’s fashion collection 4-5 years ago to name one). Therefore, fashion felt like a field where McDonald’s could gain credible traction with the Gen Z crowd if working with a local, rising force with valid international potential. Especially, since for a small nation getting attention abroad always generates amplified buzz on home turf – and so it did in this case. McDrip became inspiring and empowering for the young generation of Finns.