McDonald’s Breakfast Game
US campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Creative Strategy, under AlmaDDB
CHALLENGE
McDonald’s was looking to snap a five-year breakfast traffic slump through their World Cup sponsorship (as the bulk of games were during breakfast in America). However, the US National Team not making the tournament put the event in danger of drawing less enthusiasm and less sales for the brand.
INSIGHT AND STRATEGY
Cultural exchange has always been what draws US fans to the World Cup (especially Latino fans eager to share their country’s culture with Americans)—and food has always been a facilitator for this exchange.
However, fans did not have an established food practice for sports that occurred in the morning. Our creative task, then, was to create one for them—with McDonald’s breakfast at the center—and cast it as a social occasion exciting enough to do for a month, regardless of who was playing.
IDEA: THE MORNING SQUAD’S BREAKFAST GAME
Through a series of evolving TV spots (one of the first fully bilingual ad campaigns in US television), McDonald’s told the story of beginner and seasoned fans gradually learning the game (and a little Spanish) as they gather to watch soccer over breakfast all month—showing how fun a morning World Cup can really be.
These spots were supplemented by morning watch parties and an instagram campaign that rewarded those who gathered their own “Morning Squads” with breakfast delivered by soccer legend David Villa.
CAMPAIGN SUMMARY VIDEO
RESULTS
First increase in breakfast traffic in five years — 1.1 million additional weekly guests
#1 most recalled and liked US campaign from the World Cup, as measured by NBC/Telemundo
85% of viewers reported an improved perception of McDonalds