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
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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