CANNES, FRANCE — Ever since the McDonald’s “Unbranded Menu” made waves in the gaming community, it has been recognized again and again in the awards scene as an innovative campaign that cemented the fast-food chain’s ubiquity and icon status. Now, as the 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity starts this week, the campaign adds eight Lions shortlists to its feats this awards season.
The “Unbranded Menu” by Leo Burnett Manila has been recognized in three categories so far for this year’s Lions Awards: Social & Influencers Lions, Direct Lions, and Entertainment Lions For Gaming.
For Social & Influencers Lions, which recognizes excellence in branding communications through strategic social and influencer marketing solutions, the campaign made the shortlist twice for sub-categories Breakthrough on a Budget and Co-Creation & User-Generated Content. The campaign also proved its success in executing response-driven creativity through targeted content with a shortlist each in Gaming and Co-Creation & User-Generated Content under Direct Lions.
Thriving the most in the Entertainment Lions For Gaming, the “Unbranded Menu” earned four shortlist spots in the category for its effectiveness in connecting people to brands via gameplay. These shortlists were namely for Brand Integration for Games, Use of Gaming or Streaming Platforms, Influencer & Co-Creation, and Breakthrough on a Budget.
For the campaign, McDonald’s set gamers — from everyday players to some of the biggest streamers in the country — on a mission to find look-alikes of the McDonald’s menu items in beloved games. Even though the food in the fictional universes didn’t have any logos or names on them, gamers immediately associated it with McDonald’s, affirming the world-famous chain as the first thing that people think of whenever they see any fast-food item, both in the real world and digital world.
The winners in these categories will be revealed throughout the week from June 19 to 23.
