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! Every touchpoint was both a showcase, and driver for more entries. Not only on TV, but online video, mobile video, outdoor LED boards - all starring different, ordinary Koreans, singing their Big Mac love, to a national audience! We even integrated in-store resources. Cashiers handed out cards with each order, containing the song lyrics and URL to learn more. QR codes were printed on traymats, giving 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, the Big Mac was no longer new & exciting. It entered a pricing war against competitors. We needed to stimulate consumption without relying on coupons. We saw an opportunity to leverage the classic commercial and adapt 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 that people are more comfortable performing as a group, rather than alone. So, we integrated all of our paid media into a nationwide community performance stage - for Karaoke singers!