McDonald’s HACER Proud
Campaign for McDonald’s 2019-20 Hispanic Scholarship program
Creative Strategy, under AlmaDDB
CHALLENGE
Take McDonald’s beloved HACER scholarship program from something that only students and parents interact with to something that the broader US Hispanic community is aware of.
PROCESS AND STRATEGY
For a long time, we had successfully promoted HACER to students that have potential but feel anxiety around college applications, promoting our program as welcoming and accessible and enlisting their parents’ help to encourage them through the process.
However, when thinking about how we can make the program more famous generally, we realized a gap in our approach: we had never acknowledged that there are many others beyond parents (or abuelos) that play a support role for our students. Teachers who go beyond the job description, mentors who go push them to their potential, or even employers who give them a first taste of responsibility. Students truly rely on their community to bridge their gap to college, and it was time for an HACER campaign to celebrate that.
IDEA: HACER PROUD
Literally translated as “do proud,” we wanted applying to our program to double as a chance for students to reflect and thank all of those in the community who helped them get to this point.
The campaign was anchored by an emotional TV spot which, using projector effects, shows all the people instrumental to one girl’s journey to college, ending with the reminder that “no one makes it alone.”
The TV was supplemented by social tactics encouraging students to thank the supporters in their lives (family and beyond), aside from the usual encouragement and guidance through the application process that HACER provides.
MAIN TV COMMERCIAL
RESULTS
The highest number of applications in the program’s 35-year history (19% increase over previous year)
44% increase in the community’s engagement with HACER’s social media channels
12% more views on the HACER site, and 142% more time spent on it per visit