Thursday, October 05, 2006

I'm Lovin' It. "It" being, The Shits.

The "I'm Lovin' It" McDonald's campaign is 2-3 years old. I know. The I'm Lovin' It website is even dead. (they've still got the I'm Lovin' It Late site running, though.) This campaign smelled so bad right out of the ad agency's ass, I didn't bother to address it (also, I wasn't blogging then.) It was an effort aimed at 15-24 year-olds, but landed somewhere around the 45-55 year-olds—leading directly to one of the few sales drops in company history. Ronald could've flown around the country holding a McGun to teenagers' heads and they would have never repeated this lame phrase. It actually approached Burger King's Herb The Nerd in fast food marketing ineptitude. But, goddamn it, we've still got hundreds of thousands of campaign cups left and, by golly, we're going to distribute 'em!

previously:
1. Ronald is Dead.
2. America will most definitely not "Feel Like Chicken Tonight"
3. LIVE GREASY

27 Comments:

Blogger Matt Brand said...

Unfortunately, that tag and the accompanying song have done wonders for their sales. Which is why it's 3 years old. Barf!

4:34 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

really? they're up now? I know they dropped for a quarter after the campaign launched. shit(s).

4:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ba da ba ba ba!

4:54 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

best. sign-in. name. EVER.

4:56 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

the "fiance" she's talking about in that post is not me, wwnamp.

and quit trying to stir up trouble where there is none.

5:39 PM  
Blogger badly drawn boykins said...

The sheer phallicness of that sax reminds me of that "I'd hit it" banner ad McD's did last year.

6:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember reading somewhere that a Chinese ad agency came up with this slogan and Mickey-D's adopted it around the globe. True?

7:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, why don't you go fuck yourself!
realitybytes69@hotmail.com

8:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh yeah, I forgot to add.......
PUSSY!

8:10 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

I'll compromise: how bout I go fuck some PUSSY?

8:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking of an Asian influence, anyone catch this microsite they have in their 'fun' section?

Mouse over the dog for pure Asian fun.

Great animal tie-in considering their love of pets.

9:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I believe "Super Size Me" also bumped up their sales.

Anyone with half a brain knows that if you try to live on ANYTHING for a month straight you'll get sick as a dog -- pastrami sandwiches from the Carnegie deli, swedish fish, Denny's Grand Slam breakfasts, Snooky-Puss ice cream cakes, Quaker oats, and, of course, McDonald's.

So Morgan Spurlock created a lot of water cooler chatter and free publicity with elitist pricks like us who would otherwise never think twice about McDonald's.

The PR machine just had to kick into gear.

9:14 AM  
Blogger G. Genova said...

spinachdip mentioned what i thought when i first saw it. and what does mcdonalds know about music anyways?

9:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

something else makes me feel good all over

10:25 AM  
Blogger Matt Brand said...

copyranter how do you get such great anon commenting? what's your secret? I'm jealous!!

12:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I for one was proud when McDonald's started using black female voiceover talent in the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign while spicing up the "Ba da da da da" jingle with hip-hop freshness! It showed that we as a company are "down" with the urban youth market.

And did you notice we even let the young lady say "salit" when she meant to say "salad"?

12:46 PM  
Blogger DCThrowback said...

I want to say McDonald's hired Russell Simmons to help boost sales with the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign and that is where the focus on young adults has come in.

I still think the BK commercials with the office slugs in it are funnier, though.

2:18 PM  
Blogger New York Punk said...

DDB Germany created this campaign and it was adopted world wide. Considering this ad category and the creative possibilities, this is one of few good ones, especially compared to the stupid BK. And yes, this campaign increased sales and still continues to do so.

2:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not to get all Paul Krugman on ya, but I wonder if sales are up because wages have been stagnant for 5+ years while housing, health, energy and food prices have steadily increased.

McD's simply offers relatively cheap, filling and satisfying food to poorer people. And the kids do love it.

Anyone ever check out the Big Mac Index? It uses local Big Mac prices as a form of currency valuation.

http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/

10:52 AM  
Blogger copyranter said...

you're allowed to get Paul Krugman on me, as long as you're not actually the smarmy Paul Krugman. Then, I'd have to cyber-kick you in the balls.

11:11 AM  
Blogger Jonas said...

I usually find the campaign baffling. As in, I have no idea what's going on in the commercial, or what it has to do with anything.

1. Man forgets he has a wife until he drinks McDonalds coffee. Woman forgets she has a twin until she drink McDonalds coffee. These were so existitentially oddball that it took me a while to understand that the coffee really "wakes you up" or something. I was confused because it's being advertised as a cure for short & long term memory loss, and the emotional pain of being forgotten by a loved one remains unresolved.

2. Then there was that lonely 30-something woman losing her mind in her tiny condo eating McNuggets or something, which helped fuel her delusions of stardom. If there was ever someone your target demo would be scared of becoming, it was this woman.

12:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeez, there are so many incorrect statements here.

The slogan and concept were created by one of Mickey D’s ad agencies in Germany. Not sure which part of Germany, but these guys definitely had zero ties to DDB. DDB, Burnett and all the other roster agencies that competed for the right to launch a new campaign were plenty pissed to have lost out to what is essentially a local agency (from a foreign land to boot). Plus, most of these agencies were plenty non-plussed by the concept — but like standard ad whores, they all fell in line.

Mickey D’s sales have grown during this campaign’s reign of mediocrity. And pretty dramatically. Insiders insist even the McManagement at corporate headquarters is a bit befuddled by the results. That is, most folks believe the sales are rooted in things beyond advertising — like the introduction of the McGriddles sandwich. Yummy. Deep insiders admit that Mickey D’s management has consistently sought to come up with new jingles and concepts to replace this mess. And you have to believe DDB and Burnett are scheming 24/7 to create new directions.

It’s interesting to note that a number of McDonald’s key executives have literally died on the job in recent years. Perhaps it indicates the success involved pacts with the Devil.

Russell Simmons is not working with Mickey D’s in the capacity implied by an earlier commenter. The fast feeder has a Black advertising agency producing its urban efforts. Although it could be argued that the lame campaign is rooted in urban sensibilities. Which makes it all the more frustrating for Mickey D’s U.S. shops — they got beat out by a local German shop, plus the U.S. Black shop got outgunned on the urban tip too. Go figure.

Mickey D’s has reached out to urban trendsetters. For example, they asked rappers to pen rhymes for the Big Mac (to date, there have been few takers, as the McMandated restrictions were pretty severe). Plus, urban designers were asked to brainstorm on new uniforms for employees. Not sure where that initiative has gone. Haven’t yet seen any crew rocking baggy pants and McBling.

Signed, The Hamburgler

5:52 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

thank you, Hamburgler.

11:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

lynne worked on that campaign - you went to her going away party, punk!

1:10 AM  
Blogger copyranter said...

"working on it" and "creating" it are 2 completely differently things.

8:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Krugman may say it, but real wages are up and have been up for several years, so that isn't an explanation for increased sales at McDonald's.

10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That Tilley guy from DDB committed suicide a few weeks ago. The report I read said he headed the team that created this campaign. And people are partially blaming vitriolic blog posts for his suicide. I have no opinion.

4:43 PM  

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