McDonald's New Great Tastes of America Ad Is Directed by Bobby Farrelly

McDonald’s ‘Great Tastes of America’ is back supported by an integrated campaign from Leo Burnett London.

The campaign comprises of four ads focusing on a different burger in the range; The New York Stack, The Mississippi Stack, The South Carolina Stack and The Kansas City Stack. With each ad running for two weeks whilst each burger is available.

The work was shot in Atlanta by the comedy giant Bobby Farrelly, marking it his first ever UK advertisement campaign. Having written and directed seminal blockbuster comedies including ‘There’s something about Mary’ and ‘Dumb & Dumber’, Bobby worked with Leo Burnett and McDonald’s to create four unique characters to promote the new Great Tastes of America range.

Each of the 30” second films show characters from New York, Mississippi, South Carolina and Kansas City talking passionately about delicious flavours from each of their regions such as Carolina Gold BBQ sauce and rich and sticky BBQ. Each character holds an invisible burger whilst letting the audience know they can only get it in the UK and Ireland and not in America and all the spots end with the strapline ‘Sorry America’.

Targeted at new and existing customers, the campaign breaks this week and will run for eight weeks, with each sub-campaign running for two weeks across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Comprising of TV, radio, social, print and DOOH the radio spots and social media activity follow a similar construct emphasising the burgers consisting of authentic American flavours but are only available to buy in the UK.

Graham Lakeland, creative director at Leo Burnett London, said: “This year’s Great Tastes of America campaign builds on the irreverent fun of our previous campaigns, playing with the irony of American inspired burgers that aren’t available in America. Sorry America. The campaign has been great fun to make, especially with the addition of the wonderful Bobby Farrelly, and the end results reflect that.”

Michelle Graham-Clare, marketing director of food and beverages at McDonald's, said: “We know customers are always on the lookout for new twists to our much-loved burgers. The Great Tastes of America range really hit the spot last time with their tasty ingredients, but we wanted to bring an even more totally unforgettable experience to them on this occasion.”