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Merry Christmas from McDonald’s
Season’s greetings to you from Mickey D’s!
In the spirit of Christmas, I’ll let the Golden Arches cut in a long queue of ads with products posturing as Christmas trees. The food stylist could’ve added some Twister fries to this and—voila!—Christmas tree ornaments!
Dare I say however, the ads’ bleak-blue backdrop is no more Christmas-y than a witch is a good Valentine’s Day decor. Red and green, so far as I know, are the traditional Yuletide colors. At least she says so:
Look at this ad from 2005:
Or this one:
Maybe the choice of color is ultimately McDonald’s doublespeak for “economic blues.” It can’t be all that queasy though; McDonald’s French fries in the US and Canada are now devoid of trans fat, if it’s any consolation. McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner himself announced that the fries are now cooked with canola-based oils. And as Ronald McDonald is wont to tell anybody, a 2.5 oz serving of his fries account for only 230 calories. Every day, the McDonald’s suppliers in the US conduct 95 different checks on potatoes.
Even so, I just couldn’t imagine serving French fries on Christmas Eve. On the 24th, I usually prefer home-cooked to fastfood.
Unless I live in London, that is. In the United Kingdom, McDonald’s had the foresight to create a special “Festive Menu” for the 2008 holidays. Britons get to dine on five items that could find its way to just about any Christmas dinner except for The Queen’s. The main offering, Big Cheese & Bacon, boasts of pure beef patty. The other, Chicken Fiesta, is basically cheese-slathered Focaccia bun enclosing chicken breast patty amidst sauces, lettuce, and nachos. Festive Pie, on the other hand, has a custard-and-mincemeat filling while the Cheese Wedges come with onion dips. The fifth item is ice cream with Matchmaker confectionery.
Festive Menu is currently being promoted by TV spots all over the UK. Directed by the Leo Burnett agency, the new commercial shows a man biting into a Festive dinner after wrangling with a game of charades back home.
First, viewers see the man letting his family guess a movie in vain. Slowly, he disappears behind the Christmas tree and escapes through a tunnel. To the tune of The Great Escape soundtrack, he rides on a motorcycle towards a McDonald’s restaurant. Just as he was about to take a bite, his family pulls over and his grandma asks, “Is it Free Willy?” Back when times were simpler, ad agencies just had to grapple with Ronald.
StillAd wishes you a happy new year ahead!
Advertising Agency: TBWA\Neboko, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Art Director: Edward Romunde
Copywriter: Robert den Bremer
Photographer: Thomas Pelgrom
Published: December 2008
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