Campaigns

We Are Unlimited Taps Mindy Kaling to Promote ‘That Place Where Coke Tastes So Good’

By Erik Oster 

Omnicom’s McDonald’s-dedicated We Are Unlimited shop launched a new campaign featuring broadcast spots starring Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project, The Office).

The unusual thing about the campaign is that Kaling never mentions the fast food chain by name. Instead, in its introductory spot, she instructs viewers to Google “that place where Coke tastes so good,” while wearing a yellow dress against a red background in a nod to the McDonald’s color scheme. Another spot sees Kaling talking to a “Beverage Technician” with the brand name being bleeped out.

The broadcast campaign, which launched last week, is intended to capitalize teens and young adults’ propensity for second screen use while watching TV, outgoing McDonald’s CMO Deborah Wahl told The New York Times.”They are very influenced by word of mouth and what their peers say,” she said, claiming the campaign also addresses “how they’re discovering information.”

While fast food competitor Burger King stirred up some controversy with its spot lat week which attempted to trick Google Home devices into describing the Whopper, there’s no such trickery in the Google integration here.

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“Google didn’t give us any tricks on search or anything,” Wahl told The New York Times. “What they’re helping us do is understand if people are really searching as a result of this, and offering close feedback and collaboration in terms of what’s happening with this with real behavior.”

That the search results bring up the chain seems to be the result of genuine conversation regarding Coca-Cola served at the chain.

The campaign also includes a social media component, with Kaling sharing tweets about her involvement, while playfully avoiding naming McDonald’s by name.

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