VMLY&R

Client: McDonald's
Product: McDonald's
Title: McPickle
Media: Social
Country: Australia
Date Of Campaign: 1 April 2019

Background: McDonald’s Australia found itself in a bit of a pickle. Our competitors were getting people talking by adding more and more ridiculous ingredients to their burgers – one replaced seeded buns with fried chicken! We didn’t want to follow suit. After all, why move away from a taste hundreds of millions of people already love? ? ? Our brief was to find a way to keep McDonald’s involved in the conversation and remind our audience why they love burgers from the Golden Arches – all without any media support.

Idea: We launched a new McDonald’s burger, in conjunction with Mango PR, that looked like one of Australia’s favourites – the Big Mac – and packed it full of an ingredient that people loved to talk, debate and even argue about: pickles!? ? The McPickle appeared as a single post across Facebook and Instagram with zero media spend behind it, but it was an instant hit across Australia and the world.? ? The thing was...the McPickle didn’t exist. It was an April Fool’s joke.? ? But that didn’t stop people from making it for themselves.

Results: The results were truly astonishing. Not only did the McPickle April Fool’s story gain traction in Australia, but it ended up spreading across the world for days on end. ? ? - 96% positive sentiment.? - Over 500 million impressions.? - Equivalent to more than $12 million P.R. value and $4 million advertising value? - 75 pieces of international TV coverage? - 19 pieces of international radio coverage? - Generated 800 plus media stories? - $0 spend