McDonald’s UK marks the beginning of its festive promotion with a fun new campaign that’ll see the British public encouraged to dust off their vocal chords and embrace the festive spirit.
Christmas is a time for families and friends to gather together and it’s also about the time spent with each other on the journey to their final festive destination. The campaign, which is the latest iteration of the brand platform ‘Good Times’, is centred around a new advert that explores this classic festive tradition - the journey to Christmas - and the role that McDonald’s plays during these memorable trips.
Created in partnership with Leo Burnett London, OMD UK and Razorfish, ‘The Journey to Christmas’ 60 second TV campaign features a young family making a long car journey just before Christmas Day, joyfully singing together the well-known Christmas classic by Wizzard, ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’. They break up the trip with a visit to McDonald’s. The call to action at the end of the advert encourages the people of Britain to film themselves singing this same song whilst on their own Christmas journeys and uploading it to a brand new festive themed hub on www.mcdonalds.co.uk.
Each video entry will be in with a chance of starring in a special 90 second Christmas day advert, played on the ad break of the most watched programme – Coronation Street. The advert will give insight into those ‘Good Times’ created on Christmas journeys, showcasing people from all across the country singing along to a festive classic.
The ‘Journey to Christmas’ campaign will be supported in a number of different ways, including a paid partnership with Heart FM, a fun cab-i-oke experience touring cities across the UK and a McDonald’s restaurant in Southampton being transformed into a Winter Wonderland.
“We’re really excited to be doing something different this year” said Steve Hill, Head of Marketing at McDonald’s UK. “Whilst we want to highlight the role that McDonald’s can play during the festive period, we also want to encourage a little bit of fun. Combining a well-known song like Wizzard’s ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’ with the traditional festive journey, we’re creating the perfect environment for people up and down the country to enjoy themselves and get the chance to feature in our Christmas day advert.”
“We’ve worked closely with our partner agencies – Leo Burnett, OMD UK and Razorfish to bring this campaign to life, now it’s up to people of Britain to turn it into something special.”
“Here at McDonald’s we make it easy to enjoy the things you love. Our new festive campaign embodies that. If it’s about one thing, it’s the good times we create together.”
Creative Advert Credits:
Creative agency: Leo Burnett London
Creatives: Phillip Meyler and Darren Keff
Creative Directors: Matt Lee and Pete Heyes
Executive Creative Director: Justin Tindall
TV Producer (creative agency) Lou Pegg
Planner (creative agency) Lorna Burt
Account management: Simon Hewitt, Ailsa McQuaid, Derek Ng
Media agency: OMD UK
Planner (media agency): Lucy Johnson
Production company: Outsider
Director: James Rouse
Editor: Art Jones @ Work
Post-production: MPC
Audio post-production 750mph
VIA «McDonald’s UK launches new festive ad campaign 'The Journey to Christmas'» by Jane Storm