2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

In 2015, to celebrate its 60th worldwide anniversary, McDonald’s UAE set out to introduce its very first burger – the iconic 1955 Burger – for people in the UAE. They wanted to give their fans a taste of what it was like in the 1950’s. And they needed to make nostalgia around McDonald’s 60th anniversary cool and interesting for people to care, and as a result, share. To give McDonald’s customers a taste of this, we integrated newspapers and social media with a 50s look and feel and ensured it reached them with the same flair and pop of the 50’s

Results and Effectiveness

Impact on the business - Sales increased by 88% in 15 key stores on launch day of the Twitter Throwback Party. - Ultimately, the 1955 Burger was sold out. - Footfall increased by 5% during this term with 8% increase in deliveries resulting in 8% increase in revenue. Brand’s Social currency Impact - 1.2 million impressions via Twitter and 15,000 engagements. - Mentions of McDonald’s Arabia increased by 71% - #Throwback trended in the UAE on May 14th – the day of the first tweet and brands’ interactions and as a result, McDonald’s Arabia owned the famous #Throwback in the UAE.

Creative Execution

The anniversary was communicated through a special print media execution –a fabricated cover page from the 1950’s with one of UAE’s top English newspapers as well as through outdoor and 1955 retail experiences at McDonald’s stores followed by radio spots. . We then tweeted with the #throwback which attracted the attention of leading brands. Coca-Cola stepped in, adding its iconic 1955 glass bottle. Ford followed with a throwback to its legendary F-series. Sony then joined the party with a tweet to consisting of its iconic 1955 handheld radio and a rock n’ roll tune. Rainbow Milk also joined in.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

McDonald's loyal consumer’s age usually varies from 15 to 35 young adults seeking an exceptional experience and are always looking forward for a new taste that the restaurant offers. Keeping that in mind, McDonald’s took them back in time to try the 1955 Burger. We choose one of the top English newspapers in UAE to carry out the execution in 50s format plus sparked conversations on social media, the strongest social communication channel consumers use, which resulted in millions of impressions and thousands of mentions, using the hashtag ‘’#throwback’’, multinational brands also joined in to celebrate the 1955 launch.