McDonald's wants customers to be reminded of beloved Jordan-Bird 'nothing but net' ad.
Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY 3:48 p.m. EDT September 15, 2013
Joe Pytka directed the original ad and this new one featuring Super Bowl XLVII rivals Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick in another faceoff.
(Photo: McDonald's for USA TODAY)McDonald's is about to go back to the future with an ad for its new Mighty Wings, certain to elicit memories of one of the most popular Super Bowl spots of all time.
The new ad features the two NFL quarterbacks who competed in the last Super Bowl, Baltimore's Joe Flacco and San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick.
But in this ad, instead of competing for the Super Bowl trophy, they are battling for a box of Mighty Wings chicken. Back in 1993, a similar ad — widely regarded as one of the best of its era — pitted basketball legends Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in an improbable shoot-off for a Big Mac.
"It's a fresh take on an idea our customers have loved, but in a sport they haven't seen us do it with," says Marlena Peleo-Lazar, chief creative officer at McDonald's USA.
But can McDonald's thread the same needle with football that it did with round ball 20 years ago?
"The best ads come from simple stories, and this is a timeless one," says Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor Associates, a consulting firm. Even then, he says, it won't be a slam-dunk for McDonald's.
"What made a good story the first time around was the magic between Jordan and Bird — the chemistry felt real," Adamson says. "This has the foundation to be a big idea, but it all depends on getting the details right."
So intent was McDonald's on re-creating the magic, it brought back legendary ad director Joe Pytka, who directed the 1993 ad, says Peter Sterling, vice president of marketing at McDonald's USA. The agency this time is Burrell Communications.
For McDonald's, whose sales have been on and off over the past year, Mighty Wings represent a real chance to make a dent. The bone-in chicken wings are expected to drive business until the limited-time offer ends in mid-November.
So McDonald's is going all-out to crow about its wings — even re-creating an iconic ad from two decades ago to draw attention. This one, however, is a two-part campaign — with the first 30-second spot launching Monday night.
The ad pits the two quarterbacks in a throwing competition for a box of Mighty Wings. Instead of Bird and Jordan making impossible shots, this time it's Flacco and Kaepernick tossing impossible passes. First, they each hit a goalpost from halfway across the field. Next, they appear to bounce passes off the scoreboard and through the goalposts.
But, in a nod to more recent pop culture, the stadium lights suddenly go out — just as they did during the New Orleans Super Bowl. Then, the quarterbacks listen — in the dark — as it sounds as if someone is running off with the box of Mighty Wings.
Then, the Twitter handle #MightyWings appears — nudging viewers to rush to Twitter to tweet about who took the wings.
That mystery won't be solved until the second commercial airs on Oct. 6.
McDonald's officials won't say who the culprit is. But for the campaign to come full circle, it wouldn't be a bad bet to put some money on Jordan or Bird. Or both.
The company also encourages interaction on the ad campaign via its Facebook page, which reported 90,000 people "talking about this" as of Saturday morning.