Official FIFA partner McDonald’s has linked up with Uber Eats on a campaign fronted by Andrea Pirlo that sets out to help Italians find a team to support at Russia 2018.
With Italy failing to qualify for this year’s tournament, the initiative sees the McDelivery and Uber Eats team help the Italian 2006 World Cup winner and former Juventus legend Pirlo search out a new national soccer side to support this summer.
The ‘Team For Pirlo’ campaign, which was developed in harness with Pitch Marketing Group, promotes the new service which sees McDonald’s partner with Uber Eats to offer ‘McDelivery’ in 26 countries during the tournament.
It was launched with a spearhead spot that sees Pirlo inadvertently insulted by an journalists who seems unaware that the four-time World champions had failed to qualify for Russia 2018.
The narrative then sees the interviewer suggest the midfield maestro seek out an alternative country to support.
The video then culminates in the two deciding to order a McDelivery.
The creative runs primarily across social channels such as YouTube,
Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter.
No Italy, no party for @Pirlo_official at the 2018 FIFA #WorldCup, until his #McDelivery arrived. #TeamForPirlo pic.twitter.com/F8rz7SxRKw
— Uber Eats (@UberEats) June 11, 2018
The campaign’s supporting video and PR work builds on the launch spot through quotes and film pitches from eight other football icons – Cafu (Brazil),
Marcel Desailly (France) and Harry Kewell (Australia),
plus, Luis Hernandez and Jared Borgetti (Mexico), Rui Patricio (Portugal), Mashahiro Fukuda (Japan) and Alexandre Guimarães (Costa Rica) – all seeking to persuade Pirlo to support their own national team.
Thus provided country-specific content for the markets the service is running in.
“For the first time I can remember, I was not looking forward to the FIFA World Cup this year. I thought ‘No Italy, no party’ but there is still a summer full of football for me to enjoy as a fan at home with McDelivery from Uber Eats,”said Pirlo in the campaign’s PR launch release.
“Without Italy at the tournament, I need a new team to support and I’m looking forward to meeting with some of the most respected footballers in history to help me make a decision!”
Liz Meyerdirk, head of partnerships at Uber Eats, added: “While we’re all disappointed Italy didn’t qualify this year, we’re pleased we can not only help make Andrea’s FIFA World Cup more enjoyable with McDelivery from Uber Eats, but also help him find a team to support. We’re also thrilled to be partnering with McDonald’s to offer 2018 FIFA World Cup fans their favorite McDonald’s menu items at the press of a button. With average delivery times around 30 minutes across the globe, fans can place an order before, during or after the game to enjoy everything from Big Macs to McFlurry’s without leaving the sofa.”
While Lucy Brady, McDonald’s chief strategy officer, commented: “We’re delighted that Andrea Pirlo will be spending his first FIFA World Cup at home since 2002 with McDelivery on Uber Eats. We’re even more excited to find out which team he is going to support, and by the sounds of it he’s going to have a lot of friends who want to watch the games and enjoy McDonald’s McDelivery with him.”
Comment:
The idea behind this local market campaign seems smart to us.
After all, the Italian national side has been at every FIFA World Cup since 1958, so up until this year Italian soccer supporters haven’t needed to find a second side to back.
Plus, few players have the respect and warmth of personality that Pirlo commands both in his own country and throughout the football world and this tournament marks the first time Pirlo himself has sat on the World Cup sidelines for 16 years.
But aren’t the Italians world famous for their own fine, fresh food?
Links:
Uber Eats
https://www.instagram.com/ubereats/
https://www.facebook.com/ubereats
McDonald’s
https://twitter.com/#!/mcdonalds
https://www.facebook.com/McDonalds
https://www.instagram.com/mcdonalds/
https://www.youtube.com/mcdonalds
Pitch Marketing Group
