‘McRib Mistakes’

McRib is one of McDonald’s most iconic burgers, but it hasn’t been seen on the McDonald’s menu in over 10 years. In this time it has gained cult status, with fans all across the UK using social media to speculate if or when it might ever return. We decided to fuel this speculation by leaning in to ‘is it or isn’t’ creator culture, making a series of mistakes across every media channel that turned McRib into a national conversation.

It all began with a single test notification ‘accidentally’ sent to every McDonald’s app user. Within an hour, it was the number 1 trending topic on X. We followed up this first ‘accident’ with many others: a billboard for a Big Mac with the McRib plastered on just one panel, a McRib glitched in the middle of a McDonald’s TV ad, posters that were stuck on their rollers, social posts that were clear as BBQ sauce. This all drove the nation into a McRib frenzy. Oh well, mistakes do happen.

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Selected recognition:

Ad Age ‘Editors Pick’ / PR Week ‘Ad Of The Day’ / Campaign ‘Ad Of The Day’ / The Drum ‘Pick Of The Week’