Lincoln Fry

Some liked it, some didn't.

Personally, I thought it was a weak to average ad (like most of the Super Bowl offerings). Nothing that would generate ad buzz. But it sure seems to have generated something. The buzz includes elements of general anti-McDonald'sism, fear of trickery, general interest, a little love, and more. Adrants and Armchair Media gave the campaign bad reviews - and I certainly see their points.

But ... Google has over 300 "lincoln fry" results at this moment, and there is even a (faux) Lincoln Fry blog that helps keep this baby alive. (update Feb 9th: the Google count is near 1,000 - the buzz is for real ).

The prop (plastic fry) from the advertisement is for sale (auction) until 12 February on Yahoo Auctions. At this (updated on the 11th) posting the bidding is up to $23,100 (but it looks like some hanky-panky has occurred since the bidding history is frozen at the 8th of February, while the auction timeclock still rolls). It hurt just a bit to read that it is actually made from polyurethane. When watching the commercials I could almost feel the grease on my fingers as the Lincoln Fry was gingerly held by the "owners". Proceeds are being donated the Ronald McDonald House. Sounds great to me (though the potential for hanky panky is disheartening).

So, I guess it worked. I am now betting it will spawn a small burst of similarly-styled ads both from McDonald's and from other companies. Hopefully they will appear in the McChronicles.