While many brands fought for attention during the Super Bowl, McDonald’s targeted the morning after, when millions of Americans nurse hangovers and call in sick to work.
The fast-food giant launched “Horizontal Breakfast” today (Feb. 9), a cheeky campaign from Wieden+Kennedy New York that literally turns its creative on its side to match the posture of exhausted fans still sprawled on their couches.
The campaign taps into a cultural moment: With record numbers of Americans expected to skip work or arrive late the Monday after the Super Bowl, McDonald’s is positioning its breakfast—particularly its hot honey sausage and egg biscuit, hash browns, and a Coke—as the cure for post-celebration fatigue.
The centerpiece is a 15-second spot showing a clearly worse-for-wear viewer attempting—and failing—to lift himself off the sofa before ordering McDonald’s breakfast via the app. The entire ad plays horizontally to mirror his reclined state.
Out-of-home executions lean into the recovery theme with copy like, “You stayed up for all of it. If you’re horizontal, a little breakfast wouldn’t hurt,” and “McDonald’s breakfast is the first step to being vertical.”
Social media posts from the brand also appear in the same sideways orientation.
