Thai Food Express: The hottest food in town
Upon my initial viewing of this ad, my thoughts flowed something like this:
“Yep another McDonalds ad…Wait Thai Food Express?.. Oh the shoes are on fire because its hot fast food… But why boots?.. Oh they’re a pair of Thai boxing boots.. Wait aren’t these Ronald McDonald’s boots?.. Oh they claim to have smoked Maccas as a competitor… Actually maybe they ARE Thai boxing boots?…No definitely Ronald’s.”
I don’t know if anybody else had the same thought process. Perhaps they jumped straight to the McDonalds grill. However I do know that I spent so much time looking at the ad, I read “Thai Food Express” almost a dozen times. Effective brand re-call perhaps?
It seems that if any company tries to capitalise on McDonald’s name, we go wide-eyed and ask “can they do that?” My favourite is the South African who named his restaurant MacDonalds. His logo was golden in colour and an arc in shape.
Recent print advertisements by McDonalds took a similar design, and agency Publicis have played on that. Not only is the design simple, the artwork is effective. I think a statement is being made by placing these boots in the limelight.
To imply they have literally grilled McDonalds no doubt raises eyebrows. While many loyal McDonald militants would contest to this advertisement, others would love the uprising against King Ronald McDonald.
It is clear the agency aimed to feed off a food empire. To litterally heat up the competiiton. However it could also be free advertising for Maccas. The answer lies in how much the viewer wants a smoking Big Mac.
Advertising Agency: Publicis, Zurich, Switzerland
Creative Directors: Tim Hoppin, Sacha Moser
Art Directors: Swen Morath, Kritijan Tufekcic, Devika Hasler
Copywriter: Felix Freese
Photographer: Andreas Burz
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I had a very similar thought process!
Oh… another McD ad. Wait… Thai Food Express? Oh… I get it now, they’re so hot, it blew up Ronald McDonald and only left his feet and shoes. And of course there’s the fast food reference.
I didn’t actually think about Thai boxing shoes until you mentioned it. I didn’t realize they wore boxing shoes. The ones usually are wrapped in bandages or are bare-footed (i.e. Sagat from Street Fighter).
Upon further looking, I noticed the shoes are rather gross. It’s like a scene out of Saw or Hostel where they cut off someone’s feet. You can actually see the meat and bones.
Comment by Krunk — 5 February, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
I just took a glance over at Wikipedia: Muay Thai (Thai Boxing), and yah, it looks like so form of bandage/fabric they wrap around their feet, which usually leaves both their ankles and toes exposed. It’s like a thick colorful sock with 2 holes in it.
So if the reference above isn’t Thai boxing, it really only leaves Ronald McDonald.
Comment by Krunk — 5 February, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
[...] use recognizable brands to advertise another company. You may recall a hint of a certain clown in Thai Food Express’ campaign. This approach however calls for great creativity and risks some legal [...]
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