McDonald's Made the Artsy-Fartsiest Ads for the Big Mac With Bacon

OK, who ordered the Big Mac with cheeky, black-and-white, faux-artsy advertising—and bacon? Your burger's ready! McDonald's Canada is promoting its "Big Mac x Bacon Limited Edition Collaboration" with madcap monochrome commercials that present pretentious cultural "experts" with exaggerated accents waxing philosophical over the union of two all-beef patties and strips of salt cured pork. (Of course, the collaboration isn't really so limited, as you can always ask for bacon on your Big Mac, but that's all part of the joke.) "We took inspiration from how a fashion company might launch an exclusive collection," saysMcDonald's Canada chief marketing officer Antoinette Benoit. In the first ad below, we're told the menu item represents "the combination of two greats, two powerhouses, fusing two different ideologies." [kickout id="1"] In fact, according to this next spot, the Big Mac x Bacon has much to teach us, such as "cooperation, togetherness, oneness—being separate, too ... crispyness." [kickout id="2"] Heck, the sandwich is like "cross-pollin-IZZZ-acion," or something: [kickout id="3"] Ultimately, it's a "tempestuous tango" of tastes "full of fire, passion, unexpected movements": [kickout id="4"] Yeah, slam down a few of these things, and you can expect a movement all right. "The wardrobe session was one of the most fun parts of the production," says Peter Ignazi, creative chief at Cossette, which cooked up the campaign, its second serving of wacky work for the "Big Mac x Bacon" promotion in as many years. "We had the actors try on countless ridiculous looks, but most of our wardrobe choices didn't come close to matching what they wore to casting. So for many of them, what you see them wearing is exactly how they came in. One of the characters on social actually made his own clothes—a grey utilitarian jumpsuit with clear plastic vest." Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac, the spots launched during the Canadian telecast of the Super Bowl. Their appearance followed a week of brief, oblique "BMXB" videos and outdoor elements which, Ignazi says, were designed to lampoon the big-hype campaigns of sneaker culture and hip-hop music. "We even teased the drop date with cryptic imagery like the next Yeezy or Drake album to really push the absurdity of it all," Ignazi says. [kickout id="5"] [kickout id="6"] While amusing, this new work feels pretty familiar. After all, brands have poked fun at the self-important stylings of couture/cosmetics/spirits ads many times through the years. Still, the approach seems apt. McDonald's itself represents bland, though for many folks supremely satisfying, lowest-common-denominator fare. Much the same can be said for these ads. What better stuff for this particular marketer to feed a mass audience? CREDITS Client: McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited Chief Marketing Officer & SVP: Antoinette Benoit Senior Advertising & Media Manager: Hope Bagozzi Senior Marketing Manager: Jean Guillaume Bertola National Marketing Manager: Rebecca Smart Regional Marketing Supervisor: Mélissa Hains National External Communications Manager: Adam Grachnik Agency: Cossette Title: Big Mac x Bacon Limited Edition Collaboration Chief Creative Officers: Carlos Moreno, Peter Ignazi Group Creative Director: Simon Clancy Creative Directors: Ed Morris, Troy McGuinness, Patrick Michaud Art Director: Spencer Dingle Copywriters: Jordan Hamer, Ben Duquette Designers: Oleg Portnoy, Eric Wood Agency Producers: Barb Gibson, Marie-Pier Poulin Content Strategist: Youri Hollier Director, Strategy: Jon Crowley VP, Strategy: Scott McKay Account Executives: Yvonne Li, Michaela Crompton Account Supervisor: Asmait Hailu Account Director: Lindsay Mertiri Group Account Director: Serene Gaspar SVP, Managing Director: Kathy McGuire Product Manager: Chloe Drolet Studio Director: Raquel Mullen Senior Retoucher: Trevor Gauthier Senior Production Artist: Graham Washer Senior Digital Project Manager: Jeff Maynard Production House: FRANK Content Director: Craig Brownrigg Line Producer: Marie Robertson Executive Producer: Danielle Kappy Director of Photography: Stuart Campbell Food Stylists: Carol Brown, Noah Witenoff Colour/Transfer Facility: Alter Ego Colourist: Wade Odlum Colour Assistant: Kevin Wu Online Facility: Alter Ego Executive Producer: Cheyenne Bloomfield Motion Graphics Designers: Ian Flaig, Rob Fisher VFX Artists: Steven McGregor, Andres Kirejew VFX Assistant: Sebastian Boros Casting: Mann Casting Casting Director: Steven Mann Offline Edit: Married to Giants Editor: Raj Ramnauth Audio House: Berkeley Inc. Audio Engineer: Jared Kuemper Photography: Fuze Reps Photographer: Carlyle Routh Production House: Soda Executive Producer: Mina Jang Photographer: Nick Hall-Wood Media Agency: OMD Strategy Supervisor: Logan Lindsay Digital Specialist: Kyla Ames Account Manager: Kathy O'Meara Vice President Group Director Broadcast: Doug Scott PR Agency: Weber Shandwick Director, Client Experience: Lauren Thomson Senior Art Director: Brendan Watson Supervisor, Integrated Media: Nare Tutundjian Senior Associate, Integrated Media: Fatma Othman

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McDonald's Made the Artsy-Fartsiest Ads for the Big Mac With Bacon

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