Celebrating the release of the brand’s new Spicy Chicken McNuggets, McDonalds has unveiled a spoof collaboration, aptly named "Spicy X Chicken McNuggets" (or "Schnuggs", for short).
The campaign, by Leo Burnett London, targets the edgy aesthetic of Gen Z, blending avant-garde fashion with fast food in order to better hype the brand’s latest product launch.
In order to replicate the hype of a streetwear product launch, McDonald’s "Schnuggs" were teased via a visual identity that hit press and social a week before the campaign dropped.
Graham Lakeland, creative director at Leo Burnett, said: "We drew inspiration from these cult-like brands that have this young audience going crazy for their latest product.
"Therefore, creating a spoof ‘hype beast’ clothing brand to model our new Spicy McNuggets felt like a great fit. This, coupled with a mixture of food-focused posts, helps us create a buzz to become one of the most talked about foods this year," he continued.
The social campaign will run across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with further support via Snapchat’s Spicy Chicken McNugget Face Lens, which (rather disturbingly) allows users to transform their selfies into human nuggets. As well as a series of GIFs and stickers across digital channels, the campaign also features Snapchat Marker Tech, using augmented reality to bring OOH posters to life via Snapchat.
This strategy was recently also adopted by KFC Russia, which collaborated with streetwear brand Mam Cupy on a Colonel-inspired bucket hat in an effort to appeal to a fashion-forward audience.
Liz Whitbread, brand manager at McDonald’s, said: "The Spicy Chicken McNuggets campaign is a very exciting product launch for us. An existing innovation to one of our most loved products and with Schnuggs, we’ve got a campaign to match."
The work was created by Aaron Taylor and directed by Keziah Quarcoo through Prodigious.
This article first appeared on PRWeek sister title Campaign
