See Mariah Carey's McDonald's holiday ad

McDonald’s today breaks a TV ad ahead of a forthcoming Mariah Carey menu promotion that officials say puts its successful “Famous Orders” platform in a glittering new light. The pop diva is helping the burger chain promote 12 free menu items over 12 days, beginning Dec. 13. The ad from Wieden+Kennedy New York features the singer in a sparkling red gown, restaurants decked in a holiday light show and an appearance of an animated Carey. Carey’s holiday anthem, “All I Want for Christmas is You,” is the soundtrack. See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here. “Mariah Meals” marks the sixth iteration of the “Famous Orders” platform, which grew out of an insight behind the Wieden+Kennedy New York-led pregame 2020 Super Bowl ad called “Tray”—that everyone has a favorite McDonald’s order. Promotions have featured meals that celebrities order, starting with rapper Travis Scott in September of 2020 and have since featured reggaeton performer J. Balvin, the Korean pop group BTS and singer Saweetie. Last year’s holiday orders program featured an array of holiday meals associated with enduring fictional holiday characters, like the Griswold family from “Christmas Vacation,” John McClane of “Die Hard” and Seinfeld’s George Costanza, playing off the “Festivus” episode. Read more: Chicken sandwich wars—the spiciest marketing of 2021 The program has helped McDonald’s maintain considerable momentum in the fast-food wars: Global comparable-store sales jumped 12.7% in its most recently reported third quarter, and were up by 10.2% on a two-year basis adjusting for COVID disruption. Jennifer “JJ” Healan, VP of U.S. marketing, brand content and engagement for McDonald’s, said the chain has learned something new from each promotion but each one reinforces the message that everyone has a favorite order. “It shines a light on our core menu,” Healan said in an interview. “We did not introduce a new menu item, and it isn’t a limited-time offer: You can go get the Travis Scott meal today. So we weren’t inventing anything new—we were just shining a light on our core, and that had a halo effect, because it made people think, ‘What do I love? What’s my order?’” In addition to highlighting its core menu offerings, Healan said the objectives of the Famous Orders platform are to drive traffic to restaurants, to better connect with young consumers, and to establish McDonald’s as part of a wider cultural conversation. The ads have taken a second life on social media platforms like TikTok, where fans have taken cues from the campaign to create their own content and own interpretations of the featured meals. In addition to the items available in the Mariah Meal promotion, McDonald’s is making merchandise—a t-shirt and stylish beanie—available for the first 10,000 customers who redeem the Mariah Menu deal on its mobile app on Dec. 12 and Dec. 15. A&W Goes “Anti-Celeb” in Recruiting Campaign While its fast food competitors are busy aligning with celebrity endorsers, A&W Restaurants is taking a different route. Its new campaign takes a gentle shot at its star-studded rivals by positioning its own workers as its stars. The “Anti Celeb” campaign does double duty as a recruiting and retention tool as the 900-store, franchisee-owned restaurant chain deals with a historic labor shortage. In fact, officials say, it was concern over its labor force—and not necessarily what its competitors were promoting—that inspired the new approach, which shifts away from A&W’s traditional focus on food in its ads. Four A&W employees based in central Kentucky–Gerald, Hannah, Raider and Jada—are what A&W calls the “locally sourced celebrities” in the campaign, and each has their own custom meal. The photography juxtaposes the employees and their personalized A&W meals alongside other fast-food chain’s celebrity tie-ups. Hannah, for example, is pictured pouring dipping sauce onto a sandwich, recalling a Popeyes photo showing Megan Thee Stallion in a similar pose. Gerald leans on a car with his meal, mimicking Travis Scott’s spots for McDonald’s. Creative agency Coomer created the campaign based on recommendations from A&W’s field marketing units. It includes the “anti-celeb” meals in custom packages as well as new uniform t-shirts, banners and signage. These assets are customizable for individual franchisees, the company said. In stores, the “Anti-Celeb Meal” campaign is replacing marketing assets and point-of-purchase creative that’s normally reserved for A&W Restaurants’ limited-time-offer menu campaigns. Materials include yard signs promoting hiring that resemble its meal boxes. It is being supported through corporate social channels. According to a July survey by the National Restaurant Association, 75% of restaurant owners said that recruiting and retaining employees was their top challenge, up from 8% in January.

See Mariah Carey's McDonald's holiday ad

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