Montreal-based agency N/A launched a campaign for McDonald’s, introducing a new brand positioning and tagline, “Welcome to McDonald’s.”
The campaign marks the first repositioning of the brand in Canada since 2012’s “Our Food, Your Questions” and the first major brand campaign under chief marketing officer Antoinette Benoit, who entered into that role roughly a year ago. Like the brand’s stateside campaign, “Welcome to McDonald’s” deals in cheery, unbridled positivity.
In a new 30-second spot entitled “Nicknames,” a McDonald’s worker asks viewers, “Have you met last-minute Pete, or first-thing Sally, story-telling Mary?” before answering “I have.” The spot emphasizes the diversity of the chain’s customers, showing patrons of all ages and backgrounds. It’s quite the sidestep from “Our Food, Your Questions” and the brand’s typical approach in Canada, which may explain the decision to work with N/A rather than agency of record Cosette. Tribal Worldwide also worked on digital content for the campaign, which includes print and OOH.
According to Benoit, these were real customers captured in the ad, who were later asked for consent to use the footage, culled from over 115 hours of filming. “It’s a different way to go behind the golden arches,” she told Marketing.