McDonald's
Mr. Cheers
Role
Art Direction • Animation • Video Production
Type of Work
Campaign • Case Study
A multi-award winning campaign created for the world's largest fast-food restaurant.
Overview
Although Lebanon has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, support for competing nations is just as passionate with tempers and emotions flaring throughout the month.
Concept
Rather than sponsoring the winners, McDonald's decided to become the official sponsor of the losers by cheering up the fans of the losing teams. Thus a talisman called "Mr Cheers" was created to spread the joy.
Campaign
Commercial
"Mr. Cheers", played by Lebanese TV personality Elie Jlede, is an Italian fan who's side didn't even qualify for the 2018 World Cup. He was introduced to the public in a humorous short video that portrays his pain and overcomings.
Activation
From the competitions first kick, Mr. Cheers was at it. Whether at live screenings of the games or at McDonald's stores, he was always prepared to cheer up the fans by cracking jokes and giving out free gifts.
Giveaways
Items such as emergency cheering kits and merchandise were handed out to the broken-hearted fans along with 'Losers Club' membership cards which offered them exclusive discounts from McDonald's.
Call Centre
The McDonald's delivery centre even gave the losing fans a hotline (Dial 3) to speak directly to Mr. Cheers, who in turn lifted their mood and provided complimentary food items to their order.
Social Media
His unique patronage was filmed live on-ground throughout the tournament, which resulted in over 60 instant and reactive pieces of content shared daily via social media to engage the losers.
Online Activity
Mr. Cheers would wait for winners to tag their losing friends on his shared content to serve them free coupons. He was literally everywhere!
Campaign Results
213%
more post engagement vs category benchmark
130%
more shares vs monthly average
203%
more post interactions vs monthly average
173%
increase in fans against monthly average
208%
more engagement than category World Cup campaigns
77%
increase in guest counts versus last world cup
89%
increase in sales vs same period last year
327%
increase in completion rate versus category benchmark
Case Study Video
Problem
Restaurants and Café's in Lebanon usually set up big screens and offer shisha so customers could flock and watch the games in-store. Since McDonald's does neither of those things, sales tended to decline during World Cup periods.
Insight
Fans of the losing teams lost their enthusiasm for the remainder of the tournament. This created an opportunity for McDonald's to connect with them and drive relevancy by getting the brand closer to all football fans.
Solution
McDonald's decided to be part of the conversation and cheer up the losers on social media where all the action was, and on-site where all the fans were.
Awards
Truth 2 Meaning Awards • Grand Prix
Honor Issuer: McCann Worldgroup
Date: Feb, 2019
EFFIE MENA Awards • Silver in Retail Food Category
Honor Issuer: EFFIE MENA
Date: Nov, 2018
Dubai Lynx Awards • Bronze in Media Category
Honor Issuer: Dubai Lynx
Date: Mar, 2019
Company & Title
Agency: FP7 McCann - Beirut, Lebanon
Title: Digital Creative
Credits
Carl Bou Abdallah - Regional Planning Manager
Petra Berbari - Senior Account Executive
Salim Fayed - Account Director
Emile Atallah - Managing Director
Nassif Abou Aloula - Business & Digital Director
Karim Kazan - Executive Creative Director
Rosy Mouallem - Senior Art Director
Tarek Bacha - Head of Arabic Copy
Karim A. Sallman - Digital Creative
Pamela Karam - Art Director
Jennifer Sarkis - Arabic Copywriter
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This website includes work created by Karim A. Sallman for clientele based in the MENA region that were contracted by multinational advertising agencies. The published projects are for portfolio purposes only and are not intended for any form of personal monetary capitalisation. This website aims to exhibit Karim A. Sallman's professional capabilities and skill sets.
All aspects of work including corporate identity, animation, video production, graphic design, creative direction, art direction, copywriting and marketing were solely designed and executed by Karim A. Sallman unless stated otherwise in the Credits section found in the Project Info. segment placed in the footer of each project page.
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