Kraft calls for McDonald's crossover in new brand stunt

Fans who pester McDonald’s online can also score a coupon for a free box of Kraft Mac & Cheese

Published On
Oct 12, 2022
Kraft Mac & Cheese Big Mac

Editor's Pick

McDonald’s’ staple sandwich consists of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, as the classic advertising jingle goes. Notably absent from the recipe, though, is the extravagant topping of mac and cheese—but not for long, if Kraft Heinz gets its way.

Starting today, the company is kicking off a campaign to persuade the fast food giant to add its cheesy noodle dish to the Big Mac to create a hybrid of two of the United States’ most popular comfort foods. And after all, Kraft Heinz rhetorically asks in a press release, “Can it really be called a ‘Big Mac’ if it doesn't have ‘mac’?”

The campaign was developed by New York-based shop Johannes Leonardo, a standout agency on Ad Age’s 2022 A-List that has handled a number of well-received marketing pushes for Kraft Heinz since winning some of its key business accounts, including that of Kraft Mac & Cheese, two years ago.

In a bid to garner public backing for its proposal, Kraft has launched a web page dedicated to the cause dubbed WheresTheMac.com.

Consumers can use the site to prompt Twitter bots to send pre-drafted tweets that are addressed to McDonald’s; write an original tweet from their personal account that will automatically tag McDonald’s’ corporate Twitter handle and add the hashtag “#wheresthemac”; or fill out the restaurant chain’s online feedback form and request that mac and cheese be added to the Big Mac.

McDonald’s is not involved in the stunt at any level.

Macaroni fanatics have apparently been adding Kraft Mac & Cheese to their burgers at home for years, said Christina Brown, associate brand manager at Kraft Heinz. “But why can’t we make it easier for comfort-craving enthusiasts? We believe that the time for change is now, and we are hopeful that America’s most iconic burger, the Big Mac, will start to add the most important mac of all,” she said.

Kraft also plans to make it worthwhile for consumers who throw their weight behind the push to add mac & cheese to the Big Mac, with the company offering coupons for a free box of the product in question to anyone who tweets in favor of the crossover meal.

It remains to be seen whether Kraft’s push to alter the Big Mac, which has remained largely unchanged since the sandwich was first developed 55 years ago, will succeed. But it will likely draw eyeballs and drive engagement with Kraft Heinz, which clocked in at No. 4 on Ad Age’s most recent Marketers of the Year list.

Over the past few years, the company has cemented its cultural cache with a number of clever and sometimes provocative ad campaigns for its enormous family of products, which ranges from Kraft Mac & Cheese to Jet-Puffed marshmallows to Jell-O.

Credits

Date
Oct 12, 2022
Client :
Kraft
Agency :
Johannes Leonardo
President :
Pedro Navio
Chief Creative Consultant :
Matthew Bull
GM Cheese :
Vikram Singh
VP Head of Strategy and Development :
Jessica Vultaggio
VP Head of Brand Communications :
Nina Patel
Senior Marketing Director :
Rachel Drof
Brand Manager Brand Communications :
Victoria Lee
Associate Brand Manager :
Christina Brown
Director of External Communications & PR :
Jenna Thornton
Brand PR & Media Relations Manager :
Kate Mitchell
Founder :
Jan Jacobs
Founder :
Leo Premutico
CCO :
Julia Neumann
Group Creative Director :
Zoe Kessler
Creative Director :
Grace Martin
Art Director :
Anna Cevallos
Copywriter :
Paula Gete-Alonso
Chief Strategy Officer :
Steve Zaroff
Group Strategy Director :
Emily Garvey
Strategy Director :
Jonathan Deves
Associate Comms Strategy Director :
Casey Donahue
Group Account Director :
Kate Callander
Account Director :
Jack Beck
Account Supervisor :
Joel Bebasa
Account Manager :
Allie Graham
Account Manager :
Abbye Rhodes
Senior Project Manager :
Graziella Bullaro
Head of Production :
Tina Diep
Group Executive Producer :
Brett Fisher
Senior Producer :
Taryn Waldman
Senior Producer :
Rose Mahan
Producer :
Andrea Jacob
Associate Director Business Affairs :
Cindy Gines
Line Producer & Photographer :
Mitchell Wojcik
Senior Producer :
Lauren Fertitta
Production Assistant :
Alex Cihanowic
Design Director :
Shaung Wan
Sr Designer :
Helen Ratner
Sr Designer :
Hannah Lo Bello
Junior Designer :
Lewi Yonas
Junior Designer :
Isobel Connelly
Junior Designer :
Bella Gomez
Director of Communications :
Elizabeth Hess
Senior PR Manager :
Kimberly Lupo
Public Relations Associate :
Nana-Saa Kessie
Executive Vice President :
Brooke Scher Mogan
Vice President :
Adrianna Lauricella
Account Director :
Erika Berg Henty
Account Supervisor :
Sarah Pressler
Account Executive :
Whitney Woodard
Account Coordinator :
Jessica Fineman
Public Relations & Communications Agency :
Alison Brod Marketing + Communications
Photographer :
Davide Lucciano
Photo Assistant :
DiChen Chen
Digital Technician :
Michael Aucoin
Stop Motion Animation :
Maxwell Sorenson
Rigger :
Tim McDonald
Food Stylist :
Claudia Ficca
Food Styling Assistant :
Gerri Noack
Talent :
Lewi Yonas
Retouching Studio :
Silhouette Studio
Development Partner :
We are Volume
Chief Production Officer :
Benny Martin
Chief Delivery Officer :
Frank Cannata
Chief Technology Officer :
Matt Zur
Quality Assurance :
Tmar Bowen
Senior Developer :
Sergio LoDolce
Digital Producer :
Ed Hudson
Associate Director :
Mariya Dayan
Associate Director :
Suresh Kammela

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Project Type