Sunday, January 15, 2006

McDonald's Hamster Ad

On behalf of all the NFL fans who were watching today's playoff game preview, NFL on CBS, The McChronicles has to ask, "What the heck was that??!?!??!?"

The Hamster Ad features a huge hamster chatting with a silent Ronald McDonald statue outside a football stadium. The hamster is sharing his plan for breaking into the NFL.

When the Hamster Ad is analyzed along with the other McDonald's ads aired during the pregame show (eg. the hors d'oeuvres Ad for the Double QPC - double quarter pounder with cheese), it is easy to see that the company is aiming at adult males. So, obviously this quirky spot was designed to appeal to a very specific demographic. Interestingly, when we typed in: www.mcdonalds.com/PoundOne (as it appears in the TV ad) we were told "Requested File Not Found". What's up? What a miss for McDonald's to spend all that ad money only to offer up a broken link. As a customer, The McChronicles wonders what it missed.

That said, the Hamster Ad is one of the most unusual McDonald's ads The McChronicles has seen in recent memory. We wonder, is this supposed to be a response to those ridiculous BK ads that feature the silent and strange King? If so, we still maintain that (especially during the Super Bowl and its playoffs) McDonald's should "Reebok" BK.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: screen grab taken by the McChronicles. Source: CBS TV
top: Hamster Ad
bottom: hors d'oeuvres Ad

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think the DQPC ad is from last year--I know I've seen it before. Someone didn't do a very good job of previewing the creative before it aired.