Results and Effectiveness

• 1,000 pieces of PR across both national and international news outlets, which equated to over 15 million PR impressions. • The show itself won its timeslot, against some stiff competition, with over 1 million Australians tuning in across the 60 minutes (and equated to a media value of a staggering $4.2 million.) • 660,000 online conversations in the week prior to the show airing with 92% of all comments positive or balanced. • The PR and social value equated to a huge $1.2 million. • Quality food and freshness brand perception scores now at 2 year high.

Creative Execution

In a first for Australian branded entertainment, the 60 minute independently produced documentary gave six members of the public an all-access pass to McDonald’s; every part of the process from paddock to the plate was investigated and allowed them to any questions along the way. With no media or sponsorship spend but a documentary idea they knew would captivate the nation, the Seven network agreed to run the programme in the prime 9.30pm timeslot marking a first in free to air Australian television. We knew the programme would get the whole of Australia talking so we set up a unique social experiment where viewers could use Facebook to ask any questions that the show raised to the McDonald’s CEO, Catriona Noble.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

McDonald’s asked us to create a campaign that would help improve perceptions of their food quality in Australia. This would be measured through: 1) Increase brand perceptions scores on ‘quality of food / ingredients’ 2) Generating positive PR for the brand We started with a powerful insight. Changing consumer tastes and some long standing urban myths had meant people were still sceptical about the origins of McDonald’s food. We needed to show the real ‘paddock to plate’ McDonald’s story in a way that had never been seen before. Introducing, McDonald’s Gets Grilled. The world’s first independently produced McDonald’s documentary.