Unbranded Ads… Will This Become a ‘Thing’?

McDonalds broke one of the golden rules of marketing when it launched its newest ad last week… They never mentioned their brand.

The new campaign features actress Mindy Kaling talking about, “That place where coke tastes so good,” yet it never identifies McDonalds as that place. Instead, it asks viewers to google the phrase in order to discover the mysterious location.

https://twitter.com/mindykaling/status/852718116400279552

I googled the phase as the commercial requests, and discovered McDonalds has a page on their website to explain why coke taste better at McDonalds.  They say chilling the coca-cola syrup before it enters the soda fountain, requesting the syrup is delivered in stainless steal containers, and a wider straw, produce a better tasting coke (McDonalds.com, 2017).

This information seems believable but will people actually be compelled to google the phrase?

The theory behind the approach is that young audiences are consuming media on multiple screens at once (nytimes.com, 2017). Watching TV and simultaneously browsing the web on phones and tablets. Therefore, asking viewers to google a phase is not a big request, and helps with search engine optimization.

The ad seems to have created some buzz for both Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Do you think this a wise strategy? Could it work with other brands? Do you think McDonalds will start a new trend of unbranded ads with this campaign?

References

Maheshwari, S. (2017). A McDonald’s Ad That Never Mentions the Name McDonald’s. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/business/media/mcdonalds-ads-mindy-kaling.html?ref=business

McDonalds (2017). The Burgers Companion, Coca-Cola. Retrieved from: http://mcdonalds-prod-sites-us.adobecqms.net/us/en/your_questions/our_food/why-does-the-coca-cola-taste-so-good-at-mcdonalds.html