McDonald’s always aims to do something new to ensure it remains the definitive place where cultural stories come to life Healan explained: “McDonald’s democratizes access, bringing fandoms closer to their favorites. The biggest bands in that universe would absolutely have their own McDonald’s meal, and it would become a competition between them.”
Working with the Netflix team
A sequence in the movie in which the two bands compete in the Idol Awards while engaging with promotional press and fighting demons served as the “creative unlock” for the entire campaign.
“It’s a montage built around the song ‘Take Down’ where the two groups are fighting each other and one-upping each other with different elements. A billboard here… a subway wrap there,” said Eric Helin, global executive creative director at Wieden+Kennedy.
The film is all about promotion, said Wieden+Kennedy copywriter Aaron Araya: “It’s very self-aware in that sense. They are very much idol celebrities with idol celebrity duties. They do press and sell products. We thought it would be really cool if we made it real and brought them to McDonald’s in the same way.”
Convincing Netflix wasn’t difficult, Araya added: “McDonald’s is really keen on working with brands that make sense to the brand. It’s not partnership first, it’s creative idea first.”
Given the green light, Wieden+Kennedy shared a pen with the teams at Netflix and Sony to develop a storyline faithful to the original IP.
“Any hint of inauthenticity is just deadly,” said Helin. “We were laser-focused on staying true to the fandom and the subculture.”
The team ensured the “stewards of the brand and the story” dictated the direction throughout.
“They made sure we didn’t deviate in a way that would be inauthentic. We welcomed it as we understood that the success of this relies on its ability to truly touch on the things that the fans of this IP love,” said Araya.
It looks like it paid off. Since the collaboration was announced last week, fans have reacted fanatically on TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube, praising the campaign’s fidelity to the source material and flooding the internet with fan art.
