McDonald’s Australia celebrated its love of footy in a campaign leveraging the annual State Of Origin Series between New South Wales Blues (NSWRL) and Queensland Maroons (QRL) which ran in a pair of regional 360-degree campaigns in each state which both celebrate the fans, the coaches and the players and the ritual of a pre- or post-game Macca’s meal.
The creative is focused around the passionate fandom, separate traditions, plus the comradery of the universally loved ritual – win or lose – of a game-linked Macca’s meal.
The campaigns champions the brand’s and the fans’ passion for the game by celebrating supporter behaviours that are unique to each state and which come to life during the series: which is organised by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) – the sport’s national governing body which administers the sport from the national team and the NRL, to the State Of Origin and the grassroots game.
Rolling out from 20 June and timed to leverage the 21 June second game of the series held at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium (Game 1 was on 31 May and Game 3 scheduled for 7 July in Sydney).
Created by DDB Sydney, the parallel state campaigns span a pair of 30-second TV commercials, social, broadcast integration, radio and CRM, while OOH creative captures ‘the magic moment the boys see their post-game feed’.
The NSW anchor spot features rugby league stars Nathan Cleary, Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo and Millie Boyle and fans who have supported their footy team for life: it spotlights the passion for putting the team first – whether that is done by wearing a blue wig on game day or providing your team with McCafé coffee.
The QLD counterpart commercial revolves around the joy of fan face (and car) painting in team colours and wearing a favourite jersey to a first date.
“We love our league up here,” quips footy icon Jonathan Thurston while in a Macca’s Drive-Thru with fellow maroon’s stars Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Patrick Carrigan, and Valentine Holmes.
“There’s a real magic in the air on Origin night, and it’s the love of footy,” said McDonald’s Australia Marketing Director Amanda Nakad. “Given how much Macca’s loves footy, expressed through our New South Wales and Queensland Rugby League partnerships, we wanted to celebrate the game and its fans on one of the biggest nights of the rugby league calendar.”
DDB Sydney Creatives Patrick Allenby and Nick Cole added: “Macca’s is as mad about footy as the two states involved in Origin, so these spots show just how much NSW and QLD are lovin’ the game.”
Creative agency DDB Sydney led the project which also included input from sports and entertainment specialist Gemba and media agency OMD Create.
Comment
As illustrated in the series’ own 2021 ‘Powered By Rivalry’ campaign, the fandom in the two states tends to be fiercely loyal. Something which presents a pick-a-side v leverage-the-series challenge for brand partners.
While some sponsors such as McDonald’s, official bank Westpac (with its ‘A Beautiful Partnership’ campaign) and Menulog partner with both sides in the State Of Origin series, others (like beer brands Tooheys and XXXX, personal plate outfit PPQ) are committed to home state tie-ups.
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