Christmas is the Super Bowl of UK advertising, but McDonald’s had always struggled to find a role. The solution was right under our nose. Carrot Sticks, part of the McDonald’s menu and part of every families festive ritual. By rebranding our Carrot Sticks as Reindeer Treats, we unlocked a clear role for the brand rooted in the moments and rituals during the build up to Christmas, which turned into a 6 year creative platform that won the hearts of the nation and embedded itself in British pop culture.
How carrot sticks helped McDonald's win Christmas
CASE STUDY
Each year, the Reindeer Ready campaign explored McDonald’s role in the rituals of Christmas with a blockbuster festive film that became a much anticipated cultural moment for families across the UK. Whether that was the joy of imagination in ‘Imaginary Iggy’, the importance of the little things in ‘The List’, or most famously, the magic of embracing childlike wonder in ‘Inner Child’, which was voted one of the Britain’s most loved Christmas ads of all time.
FILM
‘Maccies wins Christmas’
– The Sun
After 6 years, Reindeer Ready had become one of McDonald’s most successful creative campaigns, increasing McDonald’s market share over the Christmas period by 125%, and generating the highest festive ad awareness in the UK. But more importantly was the unprecedented impact on culture Reindeer Ready had, leading to 3 top ten singles, over 300 million film views and 6 billion combined impressions. Not bad for a little bag of carrots.
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Results to date:
Cannes Lions ‘Shortlist’ / D&AD ‘Wood Pencil’ / Clio Awards ‘Bronze’ / British Arrows ‘Gold’, 2 x British Arrows ‘Silver’, 2x British Arrows ‘Bronze’ / Campaign Big Awards ‘Winner’ / Creative Circle ‘Silver’ / AICP Awards ‘Gold’ / Campaign ‘Top 10 films 2020’ / The Sun ‘Best Christmas ad’ / Campaign ‘Pick of the week’ / Campaign ‘Ad of the day’ / Ad Age ‘Editors Pick’ / Shots ‘Shot of the week’ / Ad Week ‘Ad of the day’ / The Drum ‘Ad of the day’ / David Reviews ‘5 stars’ / David Reviews ‘Pick Of The Day’