McDonald's Attempt Global Campaign Based in Sarcasm

Ethan Switch - Wednesday, 3 September, 2003 - 19:31:09 - print it raw

Back in February, McDonald's asked their top international ad agencies to create a new brand attitude. Heye & Partner of Unterhaching, Germany floated like effluent atop the pile and emerged with a new tag line, one that put behind all the opinions of the 47 million daily customers and blandness of the cardboard served as burgers.

The result was "i'm lovin' it" or "ich liebe es."

"We challenged our agency partners to put aside everything they knew about us and come up with fresh, original thinking, all of it with today's customers in mind," said Larry Light. McDonald's Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer. "'i'm lovin' it' represents the best of what we felt were a number of outstanding ideas, many of which will be incorporated into future marketing programs."

The campaign, which is McDonald's first ever produced outside of the States, will also mark the first time the company has chosen to bombard the world market with a single message and single set of commercials. Part of the old way of thinking was the satisfaction levels of the customers which drove Heye & Partner to declare, sarcastically, "i'm lovin' it" in relation to the food chain. A move tied in with the affected literacy skills of the customer base where simple punctuation and complete words are as foreign as invading juggernauts intent on world domination. It's been noted in some graphology circles that a lower cased pronoun 'I' suggested toward a submissive or cowering nature of the writer.

"We will communicate a consistent brand message while at the same time capturing the spirit, music and flavour of each local country," said Light. "This first-of-its-kind borderless approach will let us capitalize on the powerful energy of our entire worldwide system."

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