McDonald’s kick-starts its Rio 2016 activation by launching a campaign to reward 100 kids with the opportunity to personally participate in August’s Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
The ‘McDonald’s Olympics Kids Program’ offers a unique opportunity for kids from 20 countries to come together in Brazil and join in with the excitement of the planet’s greatest sporting event.
The initiative opens will a recruitment invite film – #FriendsWin – that aims to celebrate the Olympic spirit.
McDonald’s is searching for children who embody ‘the spirit of friendship’ to represent their countries and the commercial outlines the fast food giant’s contest that will see kids from each region participating in the Opening Ceremony.
The initial international TV spot is something of a feel-good effort that aims to set the stage for the kids’ participation in the Games opening spectacle.
It also offers both a brief language lesson and a little insight into Brazilian culture.
The spot features kids practicing how to say ‘Tudo Bem,: a familiar phrase Brazilians use to greet each other (which basically means ‘Everything well?’
The ad closes with a long-view shot of the Olympic stadium as fireworks fly overhead and the narrator outlines the special opportunity on offer.
The campaign sees support and further amplification via Kids Win! assets rolling out right across McDonald’s own social channels.
.@McDonaldsCorp celebrates our long-standing partnership w/ @Olympics for 2016! https://t.co/usURmiWCCU #FriendsWin pic.twitter.com/31xnjyMQUK
— McDonald's (@McDonaldsCorp) March 14, 2016
And most of these ad executions and campaign content assets aim to also drive viewers online to the initiative’s microsite where they can learn more details about the McDonald’s Olympics Kids Program at http://McD.to/6015B5usW
The creative was developed in tandem with long-time McDonald’s roster agency DDB Chicago, with post by The Mill and editing by Whitehouse Post.
In addition to the campaign launch creative, Spring also saw McDonald’s unveil plans for a dedicated restaurant to serve Olympic athletes and also a special dessert eatery in Rio that is tied-in to the Games.
Additional McDonald’s Olympic advertising plans will be revealed later in April and reports suggest future phases of Games’ ads will focus on new, healthier products – including a reworked Chicken McNuggets offering.
Comment
Along with other fellow IOC Worldwide partners, such as Samsung and its ‘Fighting Chance’ activation (see case study),
McDonald’s is steadily gearing up its leverage activity for Rio 2016.
This pre-event focus on active kids’ lifestyles continues McDonald’s long running Olympic marketing approach.
Indeed, for London 2012 it rolled out a pre-Olympic ‘Mascotathon’ initiative focusing on child wellbeing (see case study),
before following up with its central ‘We All Make The Games’ campaign (see case study).
Which in turn was followed by its fan-focused, support message #CheersToSochi initiative (which was the subject of a notable equal rights campaigner backlash) in 2014 (see case study).
McDonald’s, which was originally founded in 1955, has been an official Olympic partner since 1976.
But its relationship with the event stretches back a little further as, at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games, McDonald’s airlifted hamburgers to US athletes competing in Grenoble, France, who reported they were homesick for McDonald’s food.
It is the official restaurant of the Games and has exclusivity in the ‘retail food services’ category’ for the IOC.
In 2012, McDonald’s announced the continuation of its TOP sponsorship for the next eight consecutive years through the 2020 Games.
Links
McDonald’s Olympics Kids Program:
McDonald’s Corp Website:
McDonald’s Corp YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/mcdonaldscorp?nohtml5=False
McDonald’s Corp Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/McDonaldsCorp
McDonald’s Corp on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/McDonaldsCorp
DDB Chicago:
https://www.ddb.com/offices/north-america/usa/ddb-chicago/
Rio Olympic Games Website:
IOC Olympic Games Website:
IOC Olympic Games Twitter:
IOC Olympic Games Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/olympics/
IOC Olympic Games YouTube:
