2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

McDonald’s needed to engage a younger audience who weren’t as likely to see McDonald’s as iconic.

The brief was to reinforce McDonald’s timeless iconicity with a new generation, winning Gen Z’s hearts and driving affinity gains.

Gen Z loves McDonald’s – as long as it’s on their terms.

In finding a way to Gen Z’s hearts, we started by looking to this audience’s existing behaviours within and around the brand. One observation stood out: Gen Z loves to put fresh takes on their McD’s. At the drive-thru window, they sing their orders out loud – and they get just as creative with the orders themselves, hacking the menu to their heart's content. From ordering to eating, Gen Z does McD’s on their
own terms.

Reflecting on the audience insight, the agency was reminded of a slice of McDonald’s history. Singing your McDonald’s order was nothing new. 35 years earlier they had done it themselves – with the 1989 McDonald’s Menu Song; a rip-roaring monologue that squeezed every McDonald’s menu item into 30 seconds.

Jump back to 2024 and McDonald's still has the very same near-unchanged menu of timeless icons – from the Big Mac to the McFlurry and beyond. So the agency took their iconic song and our timeless menu, and asked ourselves, “what would Gen Z do?” They agency knew they couldn’t just preach to them about their iconicity. Instead, they needed to put it in their hands.

Introducing “The Remix”: a reimagining of the McDonald’s menu and the agency’s original 1989 track, created in collaboration with platinum artist and former McD’s crewmember Lil Yachty.

They shared the mic with a Gen Z icon to remix the iconic menu – and then sing it from the rooftops.

At the heart of the campaign was a 90-second extended music video. A vibrant and contemporary mashup that sees Yachty ordering McDonald’s favourites in a reimagined McDonald’s world. But unlike the OG version, digital was where the remix came to life.

The agency dropped the track on the brand’s social channels, first teasing that something was coming with a post that only Lil Yachty fans would truly ‘get’. Then the Remix Hub launched, encouraging fans to remix and post their own versions of the song – while Snapchat and TikTok filters challenged fans to keep up with
the lyrics.

And they didn’t stop at remixing the song. The agency also remixed the menu itself – with the launch of a range of limited-time Gen-Z-fan-hack-inspired menu items.

“The Menu Song” remix proved that a big idea can deliver for both brand and business – with IPSOS calling it a ‘best in class combination of creative, brand and media to drive fame for the McDonald’s brand.

Audience engagement beat all previous benchmarks, with 435K total engagements and 7.7K conversations.

Brand perceptions were significantly stronger for campaign recallers on every statement tested – including ‘is relevant’.

Media buzz exceeded benchmarks, with 73.4M earned impressions and 98% positive media sentiment. Most significantly, the campaign achieved a huge 36% lift in total burger sales, with an exceptional $2.38 Media Margin ROI.

Credits

Creative Agency: Cossette
Talent Agency: Endeavor Entertainment Industry
Advertising Brand: McDonald’s Canada
Media Agency: OMD
PR: Weber
Production House: Circle

VP, CMO Alyssa Buetikofer
Director, Brand Strategy & Content Rebecca Smart
Senior Manager, National Marketing Jamie Bone
Marketing Consultant Caitlin Murphy
Manager, Social & Brand Catherine Gao
Manager, Quebec & National Campaigns Suzanne Grondin
Marketing Consultant Neomie Duschene
Specialist, Social Nezariel Scott
Executive Creative Director Andrew Chisholm
Executive Creative Director Jason Hill
Creative Director Matt Moore
Creative Director Russell Dodson
Senior Copywriter Brianne Collins
Senior Art Director Cass Valchuk
Designer(s) Luisa Bojaca, Angel Chun,
Evan Kamisky, Sam Perrin
Producer Lindsay Hann
Producer, OOH Mark Prole
Producer, Social Selam Kahsay
Group VP, Head of Strategy Dan Cameron
Strategy Director Nicole Stanhope
Senior Content Strategist Kat Kleon
Community Manager Hayley Green
Content Creator Brendon Samuel
Copywriter, Social Matina Iriotakis
VP, Managing Director Bryden McDonald

Group Business Director Wendy Doan
Business Director Alison Still
Account Supervisor Andrea King
Account Executive Santana Symeonides
Senior Product Owner Maria-Laura Laubenthal
Director,Pete Marquis
Jessica Thomas, Partner, Global Brand Partnerships
Ikenna Ezeh, Partner, Global Brand Partnerships
Kelsey Gray Sherman, Senior Director, Entertainment Marketing & Talent Strategy
Devin Duran, Senior Account Manager, Entertainment Marketing & Talent Strategy
Marlea Nelson, Senior Account Manager, Brand Partnerships
Clare Kenney, Account Coordinator, Brand Partnerships
Alanna Ross, Account Executive, Brand Partnerships
Chika Izuegbunam, Assistant, Global Brand Partnerships
Omar Mawloud, Assistant, Global Brand Partnerships
Artist - Lil Yachty