Behind the Work: McDonald’s Brings Aussies Back Together
Nothing sounds better than combining family, friends and some great flavours to kick-start a great Australian summer. And McDonald’s teaming up with DDB Sydney seems to be an even better combination to deliver to Australians exactly what they were anticipating this season. They have debuted a new creative platform called ‘Together & Lovin’ It,’ which shows audiences that when we get a good balance, great things come to fruition.
This summer is expecting Aussies to get together again - road tripping, visiting family and friends and having the perfect meal - all showcased in the spot. To ensure people stay ‘Together & Lovin’ It,’ McDonald’s is introducing, from now until the end of summer, a range of brand partnerships, promotions and brand new menu items, like the Tim Tam McFlurry, the Chicken Big Mac and Big Mac Bacon, as well as many more.
Singalongs, rooftop drinks, mates, drive-throughs and a muchl-needed McMuffin all come together to portray the best summer ever, just as we remember it and just as we imagined after a long period of separation. Fun times, like we know and have missed, but made even better this time!
Jack Nunn, DDB Sydney’s creative partner spoke to LBB’s Zoe Antonov about how combining unexpected flavours led to some unexpectedly good results.
LBB> What was the brief for this campaign and the initial conversations surrounding it?
Jack> The brief was to land a food belief about flavour combinations, launch the summer menu, and create a campaign that tapped into a cultural tension. We had all kinds of initial ideas ranging from Nicki Minaj music vids to non-alcoholic beers. But the more we got into it, the more we leant into the notion of togetherness.
LBB> Tell us more about the platform "Together & Loving it."
Jack> It’s an expression of the fact that food, people and life are better when good things come together. A bit of a 1+1=3 philosophy. Beef, cheese and pickles are fine on their own, but together they become something more. It was also important to us that a platform had the flex to work with partnerships and collaborations between other brands, people and products and this does - expressed in a distinctly Macca’s lovin’ it way. We’re excited for what’s in the pipeline.
LBB> What was the most challenging part of the production of the campaign and what was the most fun?
Jack> The campaign has a standalone menu component, a brand ad, social, merch, PR and activations... so the sheer size of it all was a huge challenge. For the brand ad specifically, shooting a summer idea in the pouring rain was tricky. It was a four-day shoot and rained for about two and a half days. Thankfully, our director Tim Bullock and his awesome production team at Scoundrel did an amazing job working around this. The casting process was a lot of fun and I think it shows in the final spot.
LBB> What were the main messages that the campaign aimed to convey to audiences?
Jack> Togetherness, fun and a celebration of our Aussie-ness. It’s not McDonald’s here, it’s Macca’s, and that’s something we’re proud of. The food layer of the campaign very much celebrates great ingredient combinations.
LBB> What has the response of audiences been?
Jack> Positive. It really seems to have struck a chord with Aussies. Bon Jovi, mullets and a mid-ad Macca’s bathroom break are all ingredients for a fun summer spot.
LBB> How did the choice of the track come about and how does it tie in with the ideas behind the campaign?
Jack> We wanted to capture togetherness over the summertime, which is best epitomised by a road trip singalong. So we spent ages trawling through list after list of iconic sing-a-long tracks – Bohemian Rhapsody and a Wayne’s World vibe came pretty close but Livin’ on a Prayer was the undisputed champion on that front.
LBB> We loved seeing the NU663T licence plate! Are there any other easter eggs or details hidden around the ad?
Jack> Good spotting! We hid loads of easter nuggs throughout. Half of them didn’t make the final edit which was a shame, but there are many more to be found. I won’t give all of them away as we’re using some as part of our social extensions, but we even got fake nugget tattoos made up which you can see on a certain sleepy passenger.
LBB> Any final thoughts?
Jack> Making a fun ad that people genuinely like is much harder than it seems. We’re lucky at DDB Sydney to have some great creatives and equally great clients. Tim Kenward and Liz Whitbread were our awesome client partners on this and helped shape the campaign every step of the way… in lockdown no less.
