McCafé Delivers Coffee Fit for an Aussie - Fuelling Australian Paralympic Athletes, with DDB Sydney

The campaign was built on the widely-held belief that Australia makes the best coffee, and the ongoing support McDonald’s shows to our para-athletes with a true taste of home.

McDonald’s conducted an Australia-wide search to find the best McCafé Baristas and send them more than 34,000 kilometres across the world to make sure our athletes got coffee fit for an Aussie as they competed in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

‘Takeaway Baristas’ brings to life the journey of the four McCafé Baristas who were put through their paces in a series of challenges to make sure they delivered the world’s best coffee into the hands of the world’s best athletes.

Featuring narration by triple Paralympian Don Elgin, the three-part series documents the baristas preparing for the Games, meeting the athletes in Paris, and showing the lengths they went to craft the perfect cup of coffee. From building their endurance with silver medallist Michael Roeger, to accuracy testing with Ameera Lee, to hand-eye coordination with Tristan Knowles – the series celebrates the best of Australian coffee expertise alongside some of our best Australian para-athletes.

DDB Sydney associate creative directors, Tom Lawrence and Sam Raftl, said, “Us Aussies can barely function without a high-quality cup. So when we found out McCafé was heading to Paris to make coffee for our Paralympians, we couldn’t wait to tell their story.”

McDonald’s Australia marketing director, Amanda Nakad, said, “Partnering with Paralympics Australia to support our amazing para-athletes has been a huge highlight for us this year. Whilst we can’t take any credit for their amazing success, the series is a light-hearted, feel-good moment to show just how far we go at McCafé to make sure our athletes and their families get the same great-quality, barista made coffee they’re used to at home.”

The three-part series, ‘Takeaway Baristas’, rolls out across TikTok, Meta, YouTube and 9Now from 15th August to 15th September.

The social campaign was supported by a national press office profiling the baristas and their own journey.