Episode 89 - McDonald's Sweden Night Whale Ad Reviewed by Mediahub and MPB
This week’s ad is a bit different… we’re listening to it, not watching it! McDonald’s Sweden have created the radio ad Night Whales with agency NORD DDB, in continuation of their work around the brand’s sustainability efforts, connecting them to nature and the environment more.
But does this ad chosen by pour partners Contagious strike a chord with our Advertisers Watching Ads guests, Catherine Chappell (Head of Biddable Performance at Mediahub) and Patrick Williamson (Global Head of Media at MPB)?
They’ve only scored it a 3 out of 5. Does the ad make it clear who it’s targeting, and how does it compare to other, more distinctive ads from the same brand?
Watch the full episode to find out!
Transcript
Advertisers Watching Ads Episode 89 - McDonald’s Sweden Night Whale Ad Reviewed by Mediahub and MPB
The following transcript is automatically generated so may not be 100% accurate, but will give you a good idea of what was discussed.
Tom Ollerton 0:00
Hello and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. This is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads and discuss what's good and bad about them. Hi, my name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative, and Advertisers Watching Ads is brought to you this week by contagious.com, so please go and check those guys out after the show, and thanks guys, for sharing all of the possible ads this week. But before we get to this week's ad, let's meet this week's guests.
Catherine Chappell 0:32
Hi, everyone, I'm Cat Chappell. I'm Head of Biddables at Mediahub.
Patrick Williamson 0:36
And hi, everybody, I'm Paddy, Head of Media at MPB. We're an online marketplace for buying and selling photography equipment.
Tom Ollerton 0:43
Fantastic. So this week's ad is from McDonald's Sweden, and they collaborated with agency NORD DDB as part of its broader sustainability campaigns. Hot on the heels of their McHive bee hotels work and getting rid of balloons, and other such goodness. So let's see the ad.
Okay, we're going to give this creative a vote out of five. Three, two, one...
Patrick Williamson 1:55
Three.
Tom Ollerton 1:56
A three and a three. Right, there we have it. McDonald's. Whale ads. What's going on?
Catherine Chappell 2:04
I think they're trying to be too clever. They've tried to join creativity and a well-known kind of sound. And it's interesting. But does it land? I really struggle with it. And if I heard it and wasn't doing this, would I know it's McDonald's? Probably not. Would I care? Probably not.
Patrick Williamson 2:22
I have to confess I haven't spent enough time with the McDonald's advertising in Sweden to know whether that is consistent with the brand over there. So maybe I'm missing something. I'm lying in bed or I'm lying on the sofa, and I'm getting a bit hungry. I'm not sure... It might soothe me to sleep but I'm not sure whether, I'm not sure whether it would make me rush out to go and buy a burger, but...
Catherine Chappell 2:40
Yeah, I think obviously they're trying to target night-time workers and people who are up at that time. But when you start saying, "This is supposed to make you sleepy." You actually think, "Actually, it could make me sleepy." So it's going against what they're saying it's not going to do. So I just don't know whether it's the right tone for audiences that are potentially working at night and are hungry to really sort of drive whale sounds and empty stomachs.
Patrick Williamson 3:05
It didn't feel like, you know, it was a very... There wasn't much, was it? A strong call to action in there. But, you know, there's a bit of humor, so I'm going to give... I'm going to give a bit of credit for that. One thing I was trying to research, but I couldn't find the background, and maybe somebody who is closer to this campaign will tell us is whether the sounds in fact are... Are actual whale sounds or the sounds of someone's stomach.
Tom Ollerton 3:26
Is this targeted at people who are working through the night? In which case whale sounds are of no interest because, because the whale sound is meant to get you to sleep. Whereas if the idea that you're at home and you're trying to get to sleep and you're hungry, so therefore you should get up and go to McDonald's. Which one is it?
Catherine Chappell 3:43
It could be both. I mean, the latter. What is the likelihood that you're going to have your radio on late at night if you're trying to get some sleep? Positioning wise, I probably wouldn't say that it is that. I would say it's probably targeting those that are already awake and working and thinking about food. But the reason that it is confusing is there's no cut through, say, using whales, you would think is a nice soothing and is putting people in that bed mindset rather than hunger mindset.
Patrick Williamson 4:10
I make this sort of the opposite assumption that it was more... You can't sleep, you're hungry, you shouldn't go to bed on an empty stomach. So therefore, you know McDonald's is open. Get out. Order a Big Mac. Yeah, it doesn't feel like it would be the right sort of ad, except someone who's sort of out and about during that time.
Catherine Chappell 4:26
They did a campaign as well where it was looking through a glass at the end of the night. And that made sense because it associated with going to McDonald's after a night out, Is the message here, go to McDonald's if you're hungry no matter what time of the night or is it McDonald's is open no matter what time of the night if you are looking for food? And so I think that mixed messaging means that actually what it's trying to portray is also quite mixed.
Tom Ollerton 4:52
Patrick, what about you in terms of radio, why'd they chose audio here?
Patrick Williamson 4:56
Maybe it's sort of in the middle of the night, sort of, you know, everything's a bit dreamy and a bit surreal. Or maybe it's sort of... It sort of fits into that a little bit more. I couldn't really find any sort of digital footprint sort of behind the ads. There is nothing kind of, you know, see... Holding it together. Putting a Night Whale NFT, which seemed quite apt, for kind of... Maybe that's the next iteration of this campaign.
Tom Ollerton 5:15
What would've made this better?
Catherine Chappell 5:16
I mean, you could go with kind of probably not your traditional story arc branding up front. No ideas that it was McDonald's. Does that add to it? Yes, because it probably adds a little bit of intriguement. I have to say radio ads are not my speciality. But I do think that they have gone for a clever thematic in using sounds, which we know... have got this kind of calming effect. They've associated it with a David Attenborough type-esque voice, which will grab some people's attention, whether that's at 3:00 in the morning or not, I don't know. Does it do the job? I don't think it does. I don't think there's talkability about it. I don't think that there's any footprint that can leverage this into a bigger campaign.
Patrick Williamson 6:00
You know, I try to put myself into the shoes of the McDonald's marketing director in Sweden, I suppose. You know, it's a brand that has a bit of license to experiment and actually, you know, can afford to be having a bit more creative license to kind of explore, say, perhaps, you know, they're sort of looking to kind of kind of pull the brand into a kind more humorous territory. You know, it's not...
Catherine Chappell 6:22
I wouldn't say it's humorous, though. So I think that's... And that's where it's going to be really hard to quite land, I think.
Tom Ollerton 6:29
That's really harsh, Cat. Funny whale sounds and tummy rumbling. You know...
Catherine Chappell 6:35
I think the sounds are a bit concerning in part.
Patrick Williamson 6:38
Perhaps, yeah. There was, there was a part of me that thought maybe instead of ordering McDonald's, maybe phone a GP. Book an appointment.
Catherine Chappell 6:47
I think it's interpretation, isn't it? Like if you had those sounds, would you be comfortable with going to McDonald's or would you be seeking medical advice or medication? I suppose.
Patrick Williamson 6:57
I think I'm probably adding an extra mark because I just, I just like listening to the Swedish accent so much.
Catherine Chappell 7:02
And it's just really calming. Until you realize that it's stomach noises, not whales.
Tom Ollerton 7:09
Alright, guys... Cat, Paddy, thank you so much for your time.
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