2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

TAKING IT BACK TO '94

BrandMCDONALD'S KUWAIT
Product/ServiceNONE
EntrantWEBER SHANDWICK MENA Kuwait City, KUWAIT
CategorySingle Market Campaign
Idea Creation WEBER SHANDWICK MENA Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Idea Creation 2 ALL OVER GROUP Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Idea Creation 3 NEONE MEDIA Kuwait City, KUWAIT
PR WEBER SHANDWICK MENA Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Production ALL OVER GROUP Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Production 2 NEONE MEDIA Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Additional Company MCDONALD'S KUWAIT Kuwait City, KUWAIT

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

The film is a recreation of the opening of the first McDonald's store in Kuwait. The film is shot in vintage 90s style: Vox pop interviews with customers, using exact memories and moments we collected from people who were at the opening. The film is meant to look like real footage that was uncovered - since no recording of the event exists, but plenty of photos and eye witness accounts do. The film captures all the iconic elements of the opening: long drive-thru queue, ecstatic customer reactions, Ronald McDonald's visit, cutting of the very 90s cake, and so on.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

One thing that kept coming up during our research, especially with millennials and generation Xers, was the actual opening day of McDonald’s. We kept hearing about how monumental the opening was, how epic and even how transformative it was for Kuwait, marking a major shift in the cultural landscape post-invasion. We kept hearing about the 7-mile long line that stretched from beginning to end of the Gulf Road and the 15,000 customers who filled the drive-thru. We also kept hearing about news crews covering the event like it was the opening of a national monument.

Please tell us how you designed / adapted your campaign for the single country / region / market where it aired.

We’d uncovered the ultimate cherished memory of McDonald’s Kuwait, and we set about to build a campaign around it. The opening was so iconic and beloved that it set the tone for McDonald's entire journey in Kuwait. We also made sure to capture the feeling of Kuwait during that post-invasion era. The country was coming out of a very traumatic period and the people of the country were looking for a fresh start and brighter future. So the opening was viewed as incredibly important - and we wanted to highlight that. We also made sure to keep the authentic feel of the era, using components of the Kuwaiti popular culture of the time (Free Kuwait stickers, American pop symbols such as Chicago Bulls jerseys) and so on.

Credits

Name Company Role
Laila AlDaghestani Weber Shandwick MENAT Comms Agency Associate Director
Faisal Khazal Weber Shandwick MENAT Comms Agency Team Lead
Haitham Taha All Over Group Executive Producer & Head of Production
Khaled Al Rifai All Over Group Executive Producer
Mishal Al Rifai Neone Media Executive Producer
Habib Al Tamimi Neone Media Creative Directoe
Mohamed Kalawi All Over Group Director
Quim Miquel All Over Group Director Of Photography
Links
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