International Women's Day: The Flip
McDonald's
Issue 47 | June 2018
Agency
We Are Unlimited
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer, DDB North America Ari Weiss Chief Creative Officer, We Are Unlimited Toygar Bazarkaya Executive Creative Director John Hansa Creative Directors Vic Sanchez, Jon Morgan Senior Art Director Emily Walton Senior Copywriter Sarah Uchison Copywriters Liza Rush, Sarah Dembkowski Art Directors Caitlin VanderKlok, Georgia Taylor
Production Team
Chief Delivery Officer Denis Budniewski Chief Production Officer Jon Ellis Senior Integrated Producer Otto Linwood Content Producer Nikki Calabrese Production Company Sanctuary Content Editorial Arcade Content Audio We Are Unlimited Design Boxer Brand Design
Other Credits
Chief Executive Officer, We Are Unlimited Mark Mulhern Group Business Directors Chris Bergen, Melanie Behling Account Executives Jessa Gianotti, Ellese Meyer Senior Social Strategy Lead Emily Bader Senior Narrative Strategist Carly Starratt Associate Director Social Strategy Daniela Vieira Media Resolution Media Network Partner DDB Canada Client U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations Jano Cabrera Sr. Director, U.S. Marketing, Brand and Marketing Content Julie Wenger Sr. Director, U.S. Communications, PR and Brand Reputation Molly Starman Director, U.S. Marketing, Customer Engagement & Social Experience Paul Matson Director, Public Affairs, Corporate Communications Katie Condon Manager, U.S. Marketing, Digital Campaigns and Content Emily Charron Manager, U.S. Communications, Brand and Employer Reputation Lauren Snyder Manager, Corporate & U.S. Customer Experience & Engagement, Corporate Communications Jamie Kennedy Supervisor, U.S. Communications, Brand Strategy and Employer Reputation Britt Collett Supervisor, U.S. Marketing, Brand and Content Faizan Tahir
Date
March 2018
Background
From employees and franchisees, to suppliers, community partners and customers, millions of women have chosen McDonald's to be part of their story. In fact, six out of ten McDonald’s managers in the U.S. are women.
To recognize the contribution these women have made to their business, McDonald’s wanted to mark International Women’s Day with a gesture of solidarity and support.
Idea
At 100 different locations across North America, on the signage outside the restaurants and on the uniforms, the cups and the menus inside, on the ads and on the online boards, wherever the famous golden M was seen, it was flipped on International Women’s Day to a W.
Results
The Flip was featured across all McDonald's digital channels, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and McDonalds.com, as well as in 100 restaurants across the United States. The Flip garnered 1.6 billion total impressions and was noted as the second-most searched term pertaining to International Women's Day on Google on March 8th in the U.S.A.
Our Thoughts
The empowerment of women has become a massive topic, especially in the light of #MeToo. Gender disparity in terms of the pay gap between men and women has become a major concern and while many company CEOs have made public statements about their intentions to rectify matters, none has been quite as public or made as much of a statement as this. Running with this idea was a decision made in the McDonald’s boardroom rather than just in the marketing suite. And good for them.
While brand managers dislike messing around with their brand identity, in this instance my bet is that they will have been rewarded for their bravery with an immediate and discernible uplift in sales.