Is the McDonald’s french fry a super hero? Or is the Big Mac an international spy? Canadians can have their say as the chain invites them to submit 140-character storylines for the chance to have them made into a short animated film.
Consumers have until Sept. 6 to submit storylines that include at least one McDonald’s character—Big Mac, McNuggets, French Fries, McFlurry and McWrap—on Twitter using the #MakeMyFilm hashtag, or online at 140CharacterFilms.ca.
TinMan, a Toronto-based animation house also responsible for a how-to video on YouTube that promotes the contest, will turn the winning submission (as selected by a team of judges) into a super short animated film. The concept for the campaign was developed by McDonald’s digital agency of record,Tribal DDB.
McDonald’s told Marketing that its consumers are movie buffs that love to be creative. The contest, it said, offers the opportunity to “combine all of these things with their love of McDonald’s. We thought they’d enjoy the opportunity for engagement, recognition and fun prizes.”
When asked why the chain didn’t leverage existing and long-running characters such as the Hamburglar and Grimace, McDonald’s said it wants the food to be the focus of this contest. “We are offering our fans a creative way to have fun with our food.”
While no campaign is immune to the trappings of the internet, anonymous posts or unsavory hijackings, McDonald’s doesn’t show signs of concern and points to the guidelines and rules in place to steer consumers in their creativity.
“We are offering our fans a fun and playful way to engage with McDonald’s and to enjoy the benefit of doing that,” it said. “We encourage our fans to interact with this contest in the spirit it was intended.”
But McDonald’s knows a thing or two about engaging with consumers online and leaving a brand out in the open, having launched the popular “Our Food. Your Questions” campaign last year. The campaign helped McDonald’s Canada win as Marketing‘s Marketer of the Year in 2012.
The effort played a role in the #MakeMyFilm campaign, allowing the fast food chain to “garner more customer insights and what appeals most to them,” said McDonald’s. “Some of the contest details are more tailored to their preferences as a result of that open dialogue.”
McDonald’s is supporting the campaign through digital and social media.
