We Did it First
McDonald’s KSA
Issue 59 | June 2021
Agency
Leo Burnett
Creative Team
Chief Creative officer Mohammed Bahmishan Creative Directors Mohamed Sehly, Alexandre Choucair Senior Designer Kamal Fakhraldeen Art Director Lucas Lopez
Other Credits
Chief Executive Officer Thamer Farsi Regional Managing Director Mazen Mitri Group Account Director Fady Yamak Digital & Social Media Director Michael Chedid Account Supervisor Mohamed Hijazi Account Manager Rahaf Najeeb
Date
November 2019
Background
When fashion icon Alexander Wang drew inspiration from McDonald’s paper bag to launch his new handbag, McDonald’s needed to make sure that their bag was recognised as the original and that people directly associated it with his.
Idea
McDonald’s called him out and served their messaging as fast as they serve their food.
On the same day as Wang launched his bag, McDonald’s posted their paper bag on the McDonald’s Saudi Arabia Instagram page in the exact same style. And of course, they tagged him in front of all his followers and theirs with a statement that said it all: @Alexaderwang, we did it first.
It was picked up by fashionistas and influencers in the kingdom and beyond and the paper bag became the talk of the town.
Results
The post became a trending topic as the paper bag was picked up by fashion influencers and retailers.
Unexpectedly, Alexander Wang suggested a collaboration project and has launched with McDonald’s a collection called ‘I’m Wangin’ it!’ The numbers are: $1.73 million of earned media; over 349 million impressions; a 61,000% return on media investment and a 10% increase in McDonald’s KSA Instagram followers.
Our Thoughts
Pity the poor marketer. Today (s)he has to be aware of what’s going on 24/7. But whoever it was who spotted Wang’s post and persuaded the McDonald’s legal eagles to let them respond managed to project the brand slap bang into the middle of pop culture. And that’s going to be worth more than the $1.73 million of earned media the agency is bragging about.