Summer Christmas Is Too Much Fun For The Grinch In McDonald's Australia Campaign
McDonald’s Australia and Wieden+Kennedy Sydney have returned with a campaign for summer featuring a "mean, green grump", AKA the Grinch, with plans to ruin Australia’s Christmas spirit.
After a successful debut in Canada last year, Macca’s and Dr. Seuss Enterprises are bringing the Grinch Meal platform down under — available at McDonald’s restaurants nationwide from today.
Directed by Jesse James McElroy, the campaign includes a playful film titled “I’m Ruinin’ It,” paying tribute to Dr. Seuss’ classic, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”, particularly leaning into the style of the 2000 live-action film.
The film features the Grinch spying on the people of Australiaville, who are enjoying their sunny holiday season a bit too much for his liking. Determined to put an end to the cheer, he cooks up a mischievous plan to ruin Australia’s summer holiday season, starting with Macca’s.
Wieden+Kennedy Sydney told LBB the Grinch does "everything he [can] to mess with Macca's," even butchering the brand's iconic jingle with his own spin: "I'm ruinin' it".
"The truth is, nothing beats an Aussie summer and a Macca’s meal," the agency said.
"Having the grumpiest Christmas character of all time try and fail was the perfect way to show this."
The Grinch disrupts the standard holiday script with an adult meal he’s sure fans won’t enjoy, which comes with a frozen sour drink that turns green thanks to the popping pearls he secretly added, all packaged in a box disguised as an unassuming Christmas gift.
The brand said the "fan truth" of the campaign is that the best summer days end at Macca's, with the work speaking to Aussie families enjoying their holiday break. The Grinch's determination to do everything he can to ruin their summer can ultimately only make the season brighter.
“It’s Grinch boy summer and we couldn’t be more excited to share this meal with our customers,” says Amanda Nakad, marketing director of menu and brand for McDonald’s Australia.
“With a fun new campaign, limited-time menu drops, cheeky collectables and a whole lot of holiday havoc, it’s the kind of chaos we’re absolutely here for.”
Wieden+Kennedy continues the Grinch’s takeover across OOH, drenched in his signature green and marked in his scrawls, with each instance an attempt to ruin Christmas.
The OOH copy includes lines like “It’s Grinch Boy Summer, ” “Unhappy Holidays!”, and “Eat, Drink And Be Wary”. On social, the Grinch is still up to no good, taking over the McDonald’s Australia Instagram page and filling it with commentary like “its supposed to snow at Christmas, y dis place so stupid?”.
The campaign includes a "mischievous makeover" for 16 Macca's locations, including temporary green arches.
In January, LBB revealed the agency was entering the Australian market. "I'm ruinin' it" is now the latest in a slew of McDonald's work in the past six months, including 'You Deserve A Little Treat', the return of Macca's Monopoly, 'Brekkie Comes First', and an OOH campaign sticking sauce lids to walls.
