There’s truly no better way to honor the Olympic spirit than by consuming a copious amount of McDonald’s food (and the reaction over the mega-chain’s partnership with the Games proves it). And, as tradition entails, this means Leo Burnett is responsible for creating an emotional, piano-driven TV spot that ties Olympic athletes and fans to the fast food chain. Because when you see sculpted, healthy people perform incredibly feats of athletic ability, there’s no better place to wallow in self-pity over your pitiful dietary habits than your local Mac-Doh.
This spot succeeds best by capturing those soft-focus shots of smiling children that, while cliched, are irresistibly adorable. Where this spot fails in its copy, which starts strong by employing silly British-isms, but sort of falls apart when it forces somewhat unforgivable manipulations of the English language (“The draper, the scraper, the should-have-been-there-er”). The ad, which thanks the more than 70,000 volunteers making the London Olympics come to fuition, is part of McDonald’s “We All Make Games” campaign, described by the chain’s VP of marketing Alistair Macrow as one that will capture “people’s emotions, humour and experiences in real-time, and we hope to become a barometer for the mood of the nation during the Games.” So, hopefully, no one dies.
In any case, expect to see this spot a LOT over the next few months, as well as a bevy of print, digital and social executions that will undoubtedly facilitate your unhealthy addiction to Double Quarter-Pounders with cheese. That little girl sleeping on her father’s shoulder is actually meant as a metaphor for you when you pass out in front of your television with milkshake stains on your XXL shirt.