The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Danielle Long, Acting APAC Editor

December 19, 2022 | 3 min read

McDonald’s has challenged gamers to hunt for McDonald’s ‘food-alikes’ in the gaming multiverse, which can be exchanged for actual McDonald’s food in real life.

The ‘Unbranded Menu’ campaign was launched by the Philippines’ most popular gaming personality Alodia Gosiengfiao, who shared a screengrab of a Big Mac lookalike inside Grand Theft Auto V and challenged her eight million followers to launch their own search.

The campaign encourages gamers to seek out digital food that looks like McDonald’s food items and tag #ThisIsMcDonalds. McDonald’s food, gaming credits, consoles and other gaming merchandise are being given away in exchange for tagged screengrabs.

The campaign is unearthing unbranded virtual food items that – despite being logo-free – bear an uncanny resemblance to McDonald’s iconic French Fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Cheeseburgers, Hash Browns and Sundaes.

The items have been found in classic video games, such as The Sims and Resident Evil, as well as in online multiplayer games, like Fall Guys, Roblox and PUBG, role-playing games, including Final Fantasy and The Last of Us, and even in games such as Call of Duty, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Raoul Panes, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe Philippines and Leo Burnett Manila, said: “As a brand that lives in culture in the most authentic, playful ways, McDonald’s has been brainstorming ways to connect with the Philippines’ 40+ million strong gaming community.

“Then we stumbled upon an amazing discovery: so much food in the gaming multiverse looks just like McDonald’s products, despite being unbranded. Why not hack this unbranded space to build brand love for McDonald’s through the gamer behavior of screen-grabbing milestones and discoveries for posterity or bragging rights?”

Oliver Rabatan, chief marketing officer, for McDonald’s Philippines, said: “It has been fascinating to follow this virtual hunt and watch gamers exchanging virtual food clones for the real deal. Leo Burnett’s idea taps into the relationship between gamers and food, which is a big part of gaming culture, and helps us to connect with a huge gaming audience in the Philippines and beyond.”

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