Insight

McDonald’s raise an eyebrow with new campaign

Not many brands have such a strong branding device as the golden arches are for McDonalds and in their recent campaign McDonalds have doubled down on this by humanising the brand icon using eyebrows.

Using Opinium’s AdVantage optimisation tool we can see if the “Raise your arches” campaign managed to raise an eyebrow with consumers?

Well, it certainly did amongst the younger audience with their overall enjoyment higher than older consumers with the humour resonating more strongly, provoking a positive emotional reaction and grabbing attention.

But, overall, the response to the ad was a little bit muted, considering the vibrant upbeat feel to the execution it was surprisingly lacking relevance for some and wasn’t particularly motivating.

The key creative element of the music tying in with the eyebrow raise and cue to the brand was quite polarising, with some thinking it was fun and different, with others saying it was irritating and annoying.

However, the really interesting finding was around brand linkage to the creative, it was actually the older consumers who strongly linked McDonalds to the execution.  The younger group of 18–34-year-old viewer were less clear of the connection to McDonalds, which could make for some interesting thinking if the “eyebrow raise” was planned to be continued into future executions. We shall wait and see where the campaign goes next.