2026 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The holidays are one of the busiest times of the year for marketing, with every brand competing for people’s limited attention. Most campaigns during this time of year have become expected, leaning into the sincerity of the holidays. With this, McDonald’s saw an opportunity to stand out in the QSR category during the holidays and become a destination during the busiest time of year. But the challenge remained: how can McDonald’s become a holiday destination when every brand is vying for people’s attention?

The answer: by subverting holiday clichés in a way that still embodies the joy and nostalgia of McDonald’s. To do this, they would need to find the right partner and catapult McDonald’s into culture. Enter The Grinch: a beloved holiday character known for his grumpiness and the perfect foil for McDonald’s during the holidays. They would need to find a way to integrate the grumpiness of The Grinch into the joyful world of McDonald’s in a way that resonated with Canadians.

The creative campaign leaned into the fan truth that “McDonald’s is a place for joy during the holiday craziness.” The narrative centered around the Grinch’s desire to ruin the holidays for the people of Canadaville. The agency intentionally highlighted the role the Grinch played in making this campaign by sharing the pen with him. This allowed him to do Grinchy things, like mess up a McDonald’s signature meal by souring our World Famous Fries by adding Dill Pickle flavour and giving away mismatched socks (something he thought Canadians would never like).

They constructed a Seussian universe, full of contraptions, Whos, and rhyming couplets. They even used the official Grinch actor to make the representation as accurate as possible.

The Grinch Program was a strong sales driver for McDonald’s Canada, performing 71% above forecast. The Grinch Meal was the second-highest sales week of the year, behind the “Return of the McRib” in February 2024. “The Grinch Meal” and commemorative socks sold out in just over a week, forcing us to pull paid media after only one week. During this week, they outperformed the category by 8%.

Total sales in December were up 8.1% from November and 2.8% compared to December 2023. They lifted McChicken, 10 pc McNuggets, and Big Mac Extra Value Meals by 31%, with an average cheque of $32.90. Additionally, the Green Heart Cookie contributed to the highest month of cookie donations to RMHC since March 2019, 35% over forecast.

They broke into culture, generating 28 million impressions on social, with a reach of 738k and more than 500 UGC posts – the most user-generated content for McDonald’s Canada ever.

Through PR, the agency secured 159 pieces of coverage and 7.9 million impressions, with their earned social performance driving 7.5 times more content compared to standard KPIs.

The Grinch gave McDonald’s a unique way to cut through the noise of the holidays and drive the business during one of the most competitive times of the year.

Credits

CLIENT:McDonald’s Canada
CMO Alyssa Buetikofer
MARKETING DIRECTOR Rebecca Smart
SOCIAL LEAD & BRAND MANAGER Catherine Gao
SOCIAL & BRAND/RELEVANCY SPECIALIST Nezariel Scott
REGIONAL MARKETING MANAGER Suzanne Grondin
REGIONAL MARKETING SUPERVISOR Noémie Duchesne
CRM CHANNEL MANAGEMENT & PLANNING SPECIALIST Jessica Maganja
RETAIL CONTENT MARKETING MANAGER Karey Starling
SENIOR DIGITAL & OWNED CONTENT STRATEGY MANAGER Aryana Heit

AGENCY: W+K
GLOBAL EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Eric Helin
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Paddy Treacy
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Rose Sacktor
COPYWRITER: Mikayla Dumas
ART DIRECTOR:Nikki Vandervelde
GLOBAL EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Kristen Johnson
SR PRODUCER: Athena Kouverianos
SR CREATIVE SERVICES PRODUCER Nikolai Jackowski
CREATIVE SERVICES PRODUCER Patrick Starke
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Mary Cao
ACCOUNT SUPERVISOR: Simrath Parr
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Dishant Verma
ASSISTANT ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Grace Yeo
DESIGN LEAD: Liam Hamill
DESIGNER: Mary Lamphier
GLOBAL STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Tass Tsitsopoulos
SENIOR BRAND STRATEGIST: Nick Smatt
BRAND STRATEGIST: Elaina Powless
COMMS STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Amélie DeBlois
COMMS STRATEGIST: Logan Harvill
GROUP SOCIAL STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Kaylah Burton
SOCIAL STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Stefan
SOCIAL STRATEGIST: Courtney Foster
PROJECT MANAGER: Nicole Lee
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS: Anna Beth Nagel
EXECUTIVE BUSINESS AFFAIRs MANAGER: Sarah Giarraffa
BUSINESS AFFAIRS MANAGER: Ivian Nunez

PRODUCTION: ALFREDO
EDITORIAL COMPANY: DAYDREAM
VFX COMPANY / TRANSFER THE VANITY
AUDIO HOUSE: OSO
IP PARTNER: DR SEUSS
DIRECTOR, BRAND MANAGEMENT Dale Halfaker
BRAND MANAGER Katherine Schell