What is the goal of advertising and PR? To get noticed and drive profits, right?
In the realm of getting noticed–otherwise referred to as brand awareness by non-civilians in communications—the McDonald's "Signs" ad, which ran during the Golden Globes Awards and NFL playoff games this past weekend, is a resounding success. Whether or not it drives sales is for the ad agency of record and in-house communications team to prove weeks and months from now.
During the signature TV events on Sunday, Jan. 11, McDonald's ran an ad showing signs outside franchise restaurants with inspiring messages of solidarity for local customers ("A Little Lovin Can Change a Lot," "Hug Those Dads," "Welcome Home 442nd Fighter Wing") backed by maudlin music. At the close of the commercial there's text that says "see the stories behind the signs," with a link to the McDonald's Tumblr blog.
Reaction to the spot has been mixed, the media has decreed. Some think it's crass to align caring and sharing with a multinational brand one might associate with bad eating habits, obesity and low wages. Well, you can't blame people for not lovin' it, but if you focus on the goals of advertising and PR you can't help but be impressed.
Adweek reported that 45,792 tweets mentioned McDonald's on Jan. 11, "up from roughly 36,000 on Jan. 4 and 27,000 on Dec. 28." Adweek also said that although the ad was divisive, sentiment dipped only "slightly" when comparing the three days. Meanwhile, the Signs ad on YouTube has topped a million views in just a couple of days. So we're talking about a pretty nice interplay among paid, owned and earned media.
What's not to love, if you're in the business of selling burgers?
—Follow Steve Goldstein, @SGoldsteinAI