McDonald’s has confirmed that the iconic McRib sandwich is set to make a return to its UK restaurants, putting an end to weeks of speculation and several ‘accidental’ hints.
Developed by creative agency Leo Burnett UK, the campaign built on the hype of the past few weeks with a push notification sent out to the chain’s 1.82 million app users reading: ‘McRib_Test.notification_16.10.24 [TEST]’.
Titled ‘McRib Returns’, more teasers helped proliferate the campaign including a ‘broken email’ sent to McDonald’s CRM base which set tongue wagging on social media, alongside ‘glitchy appearances’ of the McRib popping up in ads across London.
Leo Burnett also created a dedicated customer track, ‘McRib FM’ which which was ‘accidentally’ played in McDonald’s restaurants every two hours after launching on Spotify on 3 October.
“We’ve been having a bit of fun with McRib fans – accidental notifications, glitchy ads, and plenty of hints dropped along the way,” McDonald’s senior brand manager, Alexandra Martin said.
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“But now the secret’s out! This is not a drill. The McRib is officially backity back back. We couldn’t be more excited to see everyone’s reactions. It’s time for fans to finally get stuck in.”
This was followed by out-of-home placements with the cryptic message ‘The McRib isn’t not back’, with McDonald’s responding to rumours with playful captions such as: ‘To be clear, it’s almost definitely probably not not not coming back.’
The campaign is further supported by a 10-second spot set to the beat of ‘Party Up (Up in Here)’ by DMX, which plays up to the McRib’s myth-like status.
Leo Burnett UK ECDs, Andrew Long and James Millers added: “The McRib is a cultural icon, so it was important to make sure this campaign didn’t just celebrate that, but actually leveraged and built on its legendary status.
“By understanding how the brand lives in the real world, we have been able to build hype in a playful and culturally relevant way, which fans have loved.”
