McDonald’s 'experimental' black-and-white burgers convey unintended undertones

To do this, TBWA crafted TVCs tied to the idea of the “bold, experimental spirit” of each of McDonald’s four new product offerings: the ‘Black & White’ burger combo, black sesame flavoured bubble tea, 20-piece McNuggets with three kinds of new sauces, and Chips-Ahoy McFlurry.

The pair of black-and-white mini burgers is the most interesting product. Consumers have linked the concept to a Chinese phrase (黑白两道通吃) that describes people who are so well-connected with both the government (the white side) and organised crime ('black society') that they can figuratively "eat from both sides".

TBWA will only say, in a press release, that the campaign is based on the insight that "many young Chinese have great ambitions, but sometimes they stop short of actually doing what they want to do, for a myriad of reasons".

Christine Xu, marketing vice-president of McDonald’s China, mentioned in a recent youth seminar that “politics and entertainment are the best methods to create buzz". Xu said the campaign is a new experiment, as "we’re using the same language and tone to communicate to youths, rather than preaching [to] them from a manufacturer’s point of view”.

She added that the fast food chain's "McAmbition" is to win "heart-share and not just market share" by engaging and empowering young people. "The economic, social, and political developments in China are fueling individualism and aspirations for middle-class lifestyles," she said. "Chinese youths want to become financially stable and socially-accepted individuals who can influence others."

The ‘China Youth’ campaign is "tailor-made to build long-term relationships with young adult fans of McDonald’s",according to the release. It is meant to encourage youths to innovate.

Running for the next two months, the four TVCs in the campaign highlight the uniqueness of each product and aim to "inspire young adults to take action on their ambitions", which Campaign Asia-Pacific hopes do not actually involve "eating from both sides".

CREDITS:

Project: China Youth Campaign
Creative Agency: TBWA\Shanghai
Client: McDonald’s China (Gavin Quan and Colin Chen)
Head of Creative: Edmund Choe
Group Creative Director: Kienhoe Ong
Senior Art Director: Ken Wong
Senior Copywriter: FanFan Zhao
Director: Dael Oates
Director of Photography: Peter Eastgate
Production Company: Cases Films
Production Company Head Producer: Paddy Xu
Senior Planner: Roger Wang
Senior Producer: Mo Chan
Brand Team Leader: Brian Swords
Group Account Director: Jane Lim
Associate Account Director: King Lee
Media Agency: OMD (Shelly Shen, Jason Liu, Lily Gu, Maruken Zhang)
Exposure: TV
Territories: Mainland China