2013 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

Research showed 660,000 participated on the day. Of those who participated: 20% were more likely to think that McDonald’s cares about families.17% were more likely to trust McDonald’s. 95% claimed it helped them understand that family time should be uninterrupted. 85% claimed it helped them understand that technology can interrupt quality family time. 80% claimed they were more willing to separate from technology when with family. 87% claimed they were more willing to ignore their phone at the dinner table. PR coverage in 50+ blogs & 85 published articles extended awareness beyond the 1.79 million reached through Facebook.

Creative Execution

A month prior to the day, we started a conversation on our Facebook blog, highlighting the issue daily with content posted by leading authorities, including psychologists, teachers, and sociologists. People could share the content, suggest things to do on the day using our word cloud, and wear a Twibbon to show their support. As our print presence grew, bloggers fueled the growing debate online. On the day itself, we went into digital silence and handed out 250,000 phone vaults to lock away mobile phones for the day. Suggestions from the word cloud were converted into regional in-mall and in-store activities.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Family is highly important to people in the region, particularly those raising their own. Over the years however, individual time is consumed by work and technology, making quality family time a rare event. Last year, McDonald's launched its Family Time Forever initiative, to create awareness about the issue. This year, we wanted people to do something about it. McDonald's introduced 'A Day Offline,' an annual initiative which encourages families across the GCC to participate by turning off their mobile phones, computers and television sets for one entire day on Friday September 28th, and spend time together as a family instead.