In this premiere episode of our new YouTube series, What Makes This Ad Great, we’re digging into a McDonalds Big Mac with a great television commercial from the 1970s.
Doesn’t get easier than that. They turned the recipe for America’s favorite hamburger into a song – and it was so catchy, that it became the 1970s version of a meme. You didn’t have to be an actor in a commercial to try to sing the Big Mac song. Everybody was doing it.
In our Enhancement Marketing course, this is one of the first real-world examples we get into when we talk about things like the Unique Selling Proposition and the Key Benefit.
So let’s look at the Unique Selling Proposition that we pick up on from this commercial.
Yes, it’s easy to order. Whole laundry list of burger stuff in six letters.
Consistency, too. A Big Mac is the same in Paris as it is in Peoria. Even tastes the same. Part of the reason for that is the recipe is really easy to replicate. Do you know what the seasonings are in a McDonalds hamburger patty? Salt and pepper. That’s it. Next time you order one, hopefully that sticks in your head for a second. No other flavors. Meat, salt, pepper. That’s it. So it’s easy to make sure that from one McDonalds location to another, everything will taste the same and you’ll know exactly what to expect.
Did you pick up on the subconscious message with the tongue twister? Speed. Do the song slowly, and the tongue twister disappears. Subtle reinforcement where you associate a Big Mac with speed. And because they started making your Big Mac before you were even hungry, it’ll be ready when you get there. So you GET it fast. Speed, speed, speed.
This one’s key as well – the song was fun. So was the commercial. People are laughing and having a good time singing about McDonalds food.
And yes, to a degree, there’s some diversity here. Probably, in that commercial, there was someone who looks like you, or someone your age. So McDonalds is for everybody.
But as you’ve likely heard others say, and as you’ll hear me say repeatedly, people don’t buy your Unique Selling Proposition, they buy the Key Benefit. And the Key Benefit here, I would argue, is universality. It’s familiarity. It’s comfort. You don’t even have to go through the anguish of figuring out the toppings, we’ve done that for you. It’s easy.
This Big Mac ad didn’t just sell burgers; it changed how brands think about jingles and brand recall. And it still resonates decades later.
They found a fun way to communicate a whole pile of very important marketing messages in a very short time and guess what – if this commercial came up in the middle of a show you were watching, by the end of the spot you’re already doing the tongue-twister in your head. Maybe you’re even doing it out loud.
When your potential customers are laughing, singing and having fun talking about the selling points of your product, you have struck gold and THAT… is what makes this ad great.
We are far from done with the burger wars, with at least two more entries coming from that category but next week, the print ad that I would argue…changed EVERYTHING.
