How McDonald’s is marketing its new Angel Reese meal

McDonald’s is looking to its basketball history for ads promoting its Angel Reese meal with help from a few other WNBA stars. The fast food chain announced its Reese meal partnership in late January and is now rolling out ads for the Angel Reese Special: a BBQ Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries and a Hi-C Orange Lavaburst. This marks McDonald’s first national meal with a female athlete. The campaign, from Wieden+Kennedy New York, finds Reese playing one-on-one against other basketball stars, including former WNBA player Lisa Leslie (Reese’s mentor), current WNBA New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart and Aalyah Del Rosario, who plays for Louisiana State University (Reese’s alma mater). The ad is a direct reference to a 1993 McDonald’s commercial starring Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in a trick-shot competition for Jordan’s Big Mac. McDonald’s recreated that ad in 2010 with LeBron James and Dwight Howard. “Those ads were the inspiration for this campaign, but there is a twist on this work,” said Jennifer “JJ” Healan, VP of marketing, brand, content and culture at McDonald’s. “It is referential, but not a repeat.” She says that the ads were shot on 35-millimeter film to give them a more late-’90s, early Y2K feel. The meal is reminiscent of McDonald’s previous “Famous Orders” celebrity meal campaign that included Travis Scott, Saweetie, BTS, Cardi B and Offset. According to Healan, this is not part of that campaign. “The fan truth here is that McDonald’s and basketball go way back,” she said. “And right now, the WNBA is on fire and Angel Reese is a superstar and organic fan. We’ve loved celebrating the past, present and future with this work.” The ads will be posted today on McDonald’s social media, followed by linear, online video, paid social and out-of-home placements tomorrow. While the campaign debuts on Super Bowl Sunday, McDonald’s opted not to buy ads during the game or in Fox’s pre- or post-game coverage. “We felt that Angel’s impact lives beyond a single moment, so we wanted to lean into the sports aspect, but give the campaign its own moment,” Healan said when asked why McDonald’s was not running Super Bowl ads. A few more spots round out the campaign, including one in which rapper Latto makes an appearance. McDonald’s All American Games The campaign comes two months before the McDonald’s All-American Games, a basketball East vs. West tournament featuring the top male and female high school players. “This is a timely moment for another part of our history with basketball with the All American Games coming up,” Healan said. Stewart, Del Rosario and Reese were all McDonald’s All American players. The then-all-boys tournament started in Washington, D.C. as the Capital Classic and became the McDonald’s All American Games in 1977, with girls added in 2002. Former All-Americans include Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Micahel Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Sabrina Ionescu, Kiki Rice, Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins. This year’s event will take place in Brooklyn, New York, on April 1. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today

How McDonald’s is marketing its new Angel Reese meal

Featured Stories