A Special Sandwich for a Happy Couple, and a New Classic From McDonald’s
McDonald's
O Pedido
McDonald’s bring a touch of romance to Ad Of The Month with “O Pedido”, the standout ad from their latest Brazilian campaign. The campaign, “That’s why I call Méqui Méqui” is created by agency GALERIA: it takes the brand’s familiar nickname in Brazil as the start-point for real life stories by customers who have a particularly special relationship with McDonald’s.
In this ad, we’re following Paulo and Camila, a couple who love Méqui and put the brand at the centre of their own love story in a surprising way. We see them visit a McDonald’s with Camila’s daughter, who asks for a special second sandwich box, whispering a secret to the cashier. When she delivers the box to her mom, Camila is astonished and overjoyed to find it contains an engagement ring! She happily accepts Paolo’s proposal, and we get a montage of photos from the couple’s wedding – where the rings were, of course, delivered in yet another sandwich box from Méqui.
To say the ad is a success with viewers is a big understatement. “O Pedido” gets a very rare triple Exceptional score – hitting the highest rank on all three of System1’s main Test Your Ad metrics. For long-term brand growth, it gets 5.2-Stars, hugely above the 2.7-Star Average for Brazilian TV ads. For short-term sales boost, it also gets an Exceptional rating, putting it in the top 15% of all Brazilian ads. And for Brand Fluency – the speed and accuracy of recognition – “O Pedido” gets a third Exceptional score, with 96% of viewers correctly identifying the brand.
In other words, McDonald’s and GALERIA have crafted a truly effective ad, one of the best Brazilian ads we’ve seen in 2024. But what makes it so good?
The main answer is storytelling. A successful marriage proposal has all the ingredients of a wonderful one minute story. It has surprise, it has tension, and it has a happy ending, so it has a ready-made narrative arc for the audience to follow. Storytelling is one of the most reliable and effective ways to create emotionally engaging ads, as we know from the work of Orlando Wood in Lemon and Look out.
The ad also builds emotional effectiveness with the use of gestures, facial expressions, and dialogue – like the looks of surprise and tearful joy on Camila’s face as she receives the ring. These elements make up what Orlando Wood calls “between-ness”, a sense of human connection and relationships that attract the attention of the right hemisphere of the brain.
The final advantage the ad has is authenticity – the fact it’s based on a true story. Audiences might find the idea of a McDonald’s proposal a bit far-fetched, but the fact Paolo and Camila are real people helps the emotional storyline feel more convincing.
In the 45 years it’s been operating in Brazil, “Méqui” has become a part of so many Brazilian lives. And now the brand’s celebration of that fact has created one of their best ever Brazil commercials, as Paolo and Camila’s happiness is shared by a large majority of viewers. Congratulations to the happy couple – and to the highly effective brand!
"With the campaign 'This is why I call McDonald's Méqui', we wanted to reinforce the genuine connection that Brazilians have with the brand. 'Méqui' is not just a nickname; it’s an expression of affection, of lived stories, and of moments that are part of daily life. We turned these stories into a timeless narrative that brings emotion and highlights the role of McDonald's as a meeting point and a source of closeness in people's lives."
Rodrigo Marangoni ECD and Partner at Galeria.AG
"McDonald's new brand campaign stems from a truth that data consistently reveals as we monitor the brand: we all carry stories that make us love McDonald's. This insight was confirmed by the exceptional results in the System1 evaluation, which significantly exceeded benchmarks for the Brazilian market. Listening to and amplifying our consumers' voices strengthens the brand and drives even more solid business results."
Guido Sarti Head of Data Partner at Galeria.AG
"The campaign ‘This is why I call McDonald's Méqui’ brings to light four stories from real consumers, explaining the reason behind this nickname. Calling McDonald's 'Méqui' is the Brazilian way of expressing love for the brand, showing the closeness like that of friends who call each other by nicknames. And we deeply value this connection."
Sergio Eleuterio CMO, McDonald's Brazil
