McDonald’s revives a pair of classic jingles for Australian and Canadian campaigns

The Big Mac song and the ‘Menu Song’ find a second life thanks to DDB Sydney and Cossette

Published On
Apr 05, 2024
Three teens trying to sing the Big Mac song

Editor's Pick

Jingles occupy a hallowed place in McDonald’s marketing history. Now, a pair of campaigns on opposite sides of the world reach back into that rich archive for musical inspiration today.

In Australia, a DDB Sydney campaign revives the classic Big Mac song—“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun”—created by Keith Reinhard and his team in the 1970s at Needham Harper & Steers. (Reinhard is still chairman emeritus of DDB today.)

A TV spot, directed by Revolver’s Leilani Croucher, is styled to look retro throughout, as folks from different decades struggle a bit with the song—before getting their act together.

 

"The launch film was shot and crafted with excruciating attention to detail, ensuring every decade was brought to life as though it had been found on a shelf in an archive,” said Matt Chandler, executive creative director at DDB Sydney. “From the wardrobe and propping to the speech patterns and performances of our talent, everything was lovingly recreated to give that innocent and infectious feeling of fun you get trying to nail the chant.”

The campaign launched March 28 with teaser out-of-home executions featuring closeups on portions of the words from the jingle.

Teaser billboard for McDonald's Australia's new Big Mac campaign

Teaser billboard for McDonald's Australia's new Big Mac campaign

Teaser billboard for McDonald's Australia's new Big Mac campaign

Those ads were followed by others with the full text of the jingle and extreme closeups of the sandwich.

Billboard for McDonald's Australia's new Big Mac campaign

OMD handled media duties on the campaign.

“The challenge of introducing a new generation of Aussies to the Big Mac and the much-loved chant was something we did not take lightly,” said Samantha McLeod, marketing director for McDonald's Australia. “Australians love their Big Macs and we’re really thrilled with this campaign from our agency village—it’s McDonald’s ‘feel good marketing’ at its best and there’s a lot more exciting stuff to come, so stay tuned.”

‘Menu Song Remix’ in Canada

Meanwhile, in Canada, Cossette is bringing back the “Menu Song,” which launched in 1989 and featured a guy sing-ordering the entire McDonald’s menu at the counter in under 30 seconds—quite an impressive feat, and way more lyrics than the Big Mac jingle.

Cossette’s version, the “Menu Song Remix,” stars rapper, singer-songwriter and former McDonald’s employee Lil Yachty putting his own spin on the song.

 

The campaign will run independently in both English and French markets on TV, Spotify, OLV including Twitch, OOH, digital media, paid and organic social, and with merch.

It extends to in-store with an actual “Remix Menu,” based on how fans hack their favorite McDonald’s menu items. New menu items available for a limited time include the Sweet Chili Junior Chicken, Surf ’N’ Turf Burger, Chicken Cheeseburger and Apple Pie McFlurry. 

“We knew for the campaign to be truly successful and resonate with our fans, we had to go beyond the usual screens and channels and do something that reflected how our fans were already hacking and customizing existing McDonald’s menu items,” said Andrew Chisholm, executive creative director at Cossette. “So we turned to social to find out what a few top faves were, and in response, created a net-new limited-time menu with remixed icons inspired by fans.”

“We thought it was the right time to revive this classic in a way that was relevant to our Gen Z audience, while at the same time allowing Gen X and older audiences hear this remix and remember something that resonated in their own formative years—which their kids and grandkids are now enjoying like it was new,” said Rebecca Smart, marketing director for brand strategy and content at McDonald’s Canada.

Credits

Date
Apr 05, 2024
Client :
McDonald's
Client :
McDonald's-Australia
Agency :
DDB-Sydney
Chief Customer Officer :
Chris Brown
Marketing Director :
Samantha McLeod
Senior Brand Manager :
Liz Whitbread
Experience Optimization Manager :
Luke Elzerman
Brand Manager :
Chloe Brannagan
National Chief Creative Officer :
Stephen de Wolf
Executive Creative Director :
Matt Chandler
Senior Copywriter :
Stephanie Allen
Senior Art Director :
Andrew Torrisi
Group Managing Partner :
Mandy Whatson
Group Business Director :
Adam Blaynee
Operations Director :
Steph Dix
Project Manager :
Lucy Stone
Senior Business Manager :
Chloe McIvor
Executive Producer :
Rene Shalala
Strategy Partner :
Katharina Wynne
Director Social & Content Strategy :
Katy Andrews
Production Company :
Revolver
Director :
Leilani Croucher
Managing Director/Co-Owner :
Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer/Partner :
Pip Smart
Senior Producer :
Serena Paull
DOP :
Andrew Commis
Production Designer :
Damien Drew
Costume Designer :
Sophie Fletcher
Post Production :
Arc Edit
Executive Producer :
Daniel Fry
Producer :
Sally Quade
Editor :
Elise Butt
First Assistant Editor :
Carly Anne Kenneally
Second Assistant Editor :
Harrison Carr
Colorist :
Edel Rafferty
Color & Online Assistant :
Jack Wilson-Lee
Online Artist :
Richard Lambert
Online Artist/VFX Artist :
Patrick Campbell
Sound & Music :
Smith & Western Sound
Sound & Music :
Nick West
Sound & Music :
Dan Higson
Media :
OMD
Head of Brand :
Emily Bosler
Head of Strategy :
Zoe May
Head of Comms Planning :
Catriona Oran Barthram
Strategist :
Brittany Meale
Account Director :
Taylor Hilditch
Senior Account Manager :
Anna Heslop
PR & Influencer Relations :
Mango
Managing Director :
Tabitha Fairbairn
Senior Account Director :
Ashleigh Vallance
Account Director :
Nada Duyker
Senior Account Manager :
Sidney Balfour
POS :
Akcelo
Business Lead :
April Tunstall
Senior Account Director :
Melanie Tozer
Senior Project Manager :
Alex Kostiouk
CRM :
Digitas
Account Director :
David Huang
Client :
McDonald's-Canada
Chief Marketing Officer :
Alyssa Buetikofer
Director of Marketing Brand Strategy & ROD :
Rebecca Smart
Sr. Marketing Manager :
Jamie Bone
Marketing Supervisor :
Caitlin Murphy
Regional Marketing Manager :
Suzanne Grondin
Field Marketing Supervisor :
Noémie Duchesne
Consulting :
Brenda Surminski
Social Lead & Brand Manager :
Catherine Gao
Social & Brand Specialist :
Nezariel Scott
Marketing Specialist :
Shaelyn Talusan
Agency :
Cossette
VP Managing Director :
Bryden McDonald
Chief Creative Officer :
Sabaa Quao
Chief Strategy Officer :
Sub Nijjar
Executive Creative Director :
Andrew Chisholm
Creative Director :
Matt Moore
Creative Director :
Russell Dodson
French Creative Director :
Cedric Audet
French Copywriter :
Clement Ginon
French Art Director :
Guillaume St-Hilaire
Agency Producer :
Lindsay Hann
French Agency Producer :
Lisa Houchat
French Agency Producer :
Marie-Claude Francoeur
French Agency Post-producer :
Maureen Langain
Executive Creative Director Design :
Jenna Anderson
Designer :
Luisa Bojaca
Designer :
Evan Kaminsky
Digital Designer :
Angel Chun
Senior Art Director :
Cass Valchuk
Senior Copywriter :
Brianne Collins
Group Vice President :
Dan Cameron
Head of Strategy :
Dan Cameron
Senior Strategy Director :
Nicole Stanhope
Senior Strategist :
Kat Kleon
French Senior Strategist :
Cleo Tellier
French Strategist :
Antoine Cormier
Group Business Director :
Gillian Craig
Group Business Director :
Wendy Doan
French Client Director :
Natalie Azoulay
Business Director :
Alison Still
Business Director :
Mike Harris
Account Supervisor :
Andrea King
Account Executive :
Santana Symeonides
French Account Supervisor :
Maria-Laura Laubenthal
Content Creator :
Brendan Samuel
French Content Creator :
Eva Martinez
French Social Producer :
Lylie Korzer
Community Manager :
Hayley Green
French Community Manager :
Farah Chaou
Copywriter Social :
Matina Iriotakis
Social Content Team Lead :
Olivia Graham
Production Manager :
Mark Prole
Senior Production Manager :
Gianna Blasutto
Associate Producer :
Selam Kahsay
Motion Designer :
Sam Perrin
Program Manager Digital :
Jeff Maynard
Full Stack Developer :
Natasha Gibe
Digital Senior Project Manager :
David Atkinson
Junior Digital Content Manager :
Evan Bowman
Production :
Circle Productions
Director :
Pete Marquis
Partner/Executive Producer :
Karen Tameanko
Executive Producer :
Laurence Payne
Line Producer :
Amanda Field
Director of Photography :
Adam Marsden
Assistant Director :
Sam Pecoraro
Production Manager :
Alan Kuipers
Casting :
Jigsaw Casting
Production Designer :
Jesson Moen
Head Food Stylist :
Carol Brown
Wardrobe Stylist :
Kate Day
Location Manager :
Matt Cassils
Production :
Endeavor
Head of Brand Partnerships :
Jessica Thomas
Senior Director :
Kelsey Gray Sherman
Offline :
Arcade Edit
Editor :
Sean Lagrange
Assistant Editor :
Lucas Ferriera
Producer :
Arlene Perez
Executive Producer :
Sila Soyer
Finishing :
The Vanity
Colorist :
Andrew Exworth
VFX Artist :
Naveen Srivastava
VFX Artist :
Sean Cochrane
VFX Artist :
Adam Silcox-Vanwyk
Executive Producer :
Katie Methot
Audio :
Beacon Street Studios
Principal Composer :
Andrew Feltenstein
Principal Composer :
Danny Dunlap
Principal Composer :
John Nau
EP / Head of Production :
Leslie DiLullo
Producer :
Julia Giambona
Sound Designer & Mixer :
Rommel Molina
Assistant Mixer :
Anthony Nguyen
Executive Producer / Music Mixer :
Kate Vadnais
Beatmaker :
Vlooper
Supervisor :
Laetitia L. Lebedeff
Media :
OMD
Managing Director :
Meredith Menkes
Group Director of Strategy :
Logan Lindsay
Strategy Supervisor :
Mikayla Smith
PR :
Weber Shandwick

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