Lincoln Fry loses
The basic concept works pretty well:
(1) take inspiration from an Internet phenomenon
(2) use blogging to build buzz around a fabricated urban legend
(3) unveil the campaign with a big TV ad push that ultimately points to a fantastic interative site
For McDonald's Lincoln Fry campaign, concept minus execution plus big dollars = much ado about nothing. First off, the blog was sprinkled with obviously fake comments (does every other blog commenter really use the word "dude"?). The TV ads were simply uninteresting (who really cares about a fry that looks like Lincoln? It's no virgin mary cheese toast). Furthermore, the site is watered-down, corporate, unengaging, irrelevant, overbranded, and seems to have as much input from lawyers as designers and content developers.
Yes, this type of marketing can be terrifically successful, but the content and execution have to live up to the concept.
11 Comments:
An embarrassing execution of a good idea. This could have been so great, if they would have showed more class and had a better sense of timing. Two thumbs down.
Who really cares about a French fry that looks like Abe Lincoln? Exactly. That's the joke! Nobody should care. Nobody should care about the Grilled Cheese either. It's making fun of the entire thing!!! It's being SARCASTIC. Would someone who found a Lincoln fry become famous? Duh, of course not. Was the spot a loser? No. It got great word of mouth. And the Lincoln Fry was auctioned off to the Golden Palace Casino for $75,100! All for charity. Loser? I beg to differ.
No, really, Anonymous. We get the joke. It was just a bad one.
To Anonymous' point, it is easier to criticize than create and I suspect there are corporate politics and logistics behind the watered down final product.
Our strong negative reaction to this project probably has more to do with the fact that we can almost smell how great this could have been - at least kept viral for a little bit longer, before resolving. Once the processed Flash wrapper unveils the brand, the concept, the sarcasm is deflated.
I agree with with anonymous. It WAS a funny idea. Kenny, perhaps your humor more lies with talking chimps and farting horses. It's nice to see a commercial that has subtlety and sophistication. I checked online and at least 3 New York newspapers thought it was funny, ESPN, and some ad reviewer from AD Age, Bob Garfield as well. But perhaps, you wrote the book on funny. I do agree with Stefan. The blog seemed poorly written and unconvincing. But the web commercial was up to Christopher Guest quality.
Now, here's how it really, really should be done...
Here's another interesting McDonald's story that could have been (or perhaps is) an interesting viral marketing tactic.
Raj
And another great McDonald's site. Too brilliant to be dreamed up by a traditional agency, and too subversive to ever be approved.
So what you guys are saying is that the blog is what think is a failure. I agree that a week before the TV commercials is not long enough of a time for the news to get around. That's definitely not long enough to get people talking around the water cooler. What it really needed is to get places like CNN to scroll it during the reports. And perhaps if it was Elvis or someone less historical it could have been more interesting. Thanks for those links to the bathroom attendant and the asian, female ronald. Pretty funny stuff.
Yeah, it had those problems too, Scoob. Interesting idea with the CNN breaking news ads, btw. It sounds pretty perverted to us former CNNers around here, so let's hope this is not the direction things are headed in journalism.
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