Results and Effectiveness

We actually gave Koreans the inspiration & courage to show their performances to everyone! Big Mac Song achieved pop-culture status! In just one month, we surpassed the results of ANY previous UGC campaign in Korea. - 13,000+ video entries (vs. previous high: 1,030) - 5,000,000+ YouTube views (vs. previous brand channel high: 1 million, past year) - Time spent on site equated to 4+ years! We proved that meaningful brand experiences can triumph over discounting! - Big Macs sold exceeded target +28%; grew +36.5% vs. previous month! - Lifting total burger sales +21% vs. same month a year ago.

Creative Execution

In a campaign led by the media agency, we inspired consumers to star in their own 15 second commercials - the chance to be a star! First, we turned the chant into a Korean jingle. Then we invited Koreans to “Sing the Big Mac Song and Be On TV!” by uploading their video performance to the campaign website. And, for our ‘community stage’ - we showed their performances in EVERY SINGLE piece of our advertising! Not only on TV, but in online video units, mobile video, and outdoor LED boards - all showcasing different, ordinary Koreans, singing their Big Mac love! And to a national audience! We even leveraged our restaurant resources, including cashiers who handed out cards with each order, containing the song lyrics and URL to learn more about entering. QR codes were printed on our traymats to give consumers convenient mobile access to our site.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Big Mac became a hit in America with help from the original ‘Big Mac Chant’ commercial from 1974, featuring actors reciting the burger’s ingredients. In Korea, Big Mac was no longer new & exciting. It entered a pricing war against fast food competitors with several new, sexy burgers. We needed to stimulate consumption without relying on coupons. We saw an opportunity to turn ‘Big Mac Chant’ into an exciting brand experience for Koreans. Since we had to change peoples’ attitudes about the burger, we thought, why not have consumers do the talking in our advertising? Or rather, in a country full of avid singers, the singing! But Koreans are shy about having their faces broadcast publicly, making user-generated-content under-developed. We realized people are more comfortable performing as a group, rather than alone. So, we turned all our paid media into a community performance stage for Karaoke singers!