McDonald's advertisement turns fighting into art
Like several other high-profile sponsors that have attached themselves to the very high-profile Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Oak Brook-based McDonald's is using the world's premier sporting extravaganza as a showcase for its marketing prowess.
And it's giving everyone who is interested an opportunity to see exactly where McDonald's advertising is at circa 2008. It probably should come as no surprise to anyone that the world's largest restaurant chain is striving to appear very of-the-moment with an elaborate Internet-based Olympic effort called "The Lost Ring." That game is designed to engage the youth culture of the world, and as anyone who has followed advertising for the past several years knows, if you're not connecting with youth culture, you're not connected. Period.
(Courtesy)
(Courtesy)
But of far more import than the Internet silliness -- which will be quickly forgotten once the core mystery of "The Lost Ring" is solved and the game is over -- are the global television commercials McDonald's has commissioned from its two long-standing roster ad agencies Leo Burnett/Chicago and DDB/Chicago. More than anything, these two well-realized executions demonstrate how far the ongoing global "I'm Lovin' It" campaign has evolved from its primitive hip-hop beginnings, which involved hideously amorphous jumbles of imagery set to just about every form of rap and rock music there is.
As these two Olympic spots demonstrate, "I'm Lovin' It" has gone from a mess barely (or not at all) recognizable as McDonald's advertising to something far closer to what McDonald's was always known for -- advertising with a clear through-line and a strong emotional hook.
The DDB Olympic execution called "The More We Get Together," directed by veteran Joe Pytka, is perhaps the more emotionally resonant of the two spots. Though the commercial isn't quite as story-driven as the best of Pytka's work, it nonetheless displays his unique talent for capturing compelling visuals on film and then editing them in a way that beautifully enhances their potency. The spot is underscored with a children's ditty (sung by children) called "The More We Get Together." The song's inherent innocence provides an interesting and appropriate counterpoint to the many images of heated competition seen in the commercial. And the music serves to remind viewers that friendships forged at the games will last (we hope) long after the Olympic flame is extinguished.
If the DDB spot is the more moving of McDonald's' two global Olympic commercials, "Let the Games Begin" from Burnett is the more stunning spectacle. Set amid the architectural splendors of ancient China, the commercial starts out in a peaceful setting where two youngsters are finishing up their Happy Meals. But things take a jarring turn when the issue arises of who has dibs on the last of the Chicken McNuggets.
Suddenly, we are thrust into the middle of an incredible display of youthful martial arts as the battle for the McNugget takes the kids on a furiously acrobatic tour around a variety of colorful Chinese settings. It's an exquisitely choreographed and edited combat we are witness to, though the ferocity and intensity of the fight for the Chicken McNugget struck us as maybe a bit much for many young children around the world who, unlike those in China apparently, may not have been exposed to -- or trained in -- kung fu.
Still, whatever quibbles we have with the McDonald's 2008 Olympic advertising, it's a relief and a pleasure to see the burger behemoth finally back where it belongs -- presenting a range of television work that is a credit to the McDonald's brand and all it represents.