Produced in collaboration with the UN’s World Food Programme and the team at TBWAChiatDay New York the 24 hour campaign is seeking to raise funds to aid those affected by the refugee crisis. It’s a mash-up burger between five restaurants: Burger King, Denny’s, Wayback Burgers, Krystal, and Giraffa’s.
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The company said in a statement, “Any peace-related activity McDonald’s undertakes, whether in partnership with Burger King or on their own, is great, as it will raise further awareness for Peace Day”.
Easterbrook also approached several major corporations to join the effort and DreamWorks Animation, Facebook, United Airlines, Cargill and MasterCard, all agreed.
McDonald’s had previously rebuffed an invitation from rival Burger King to partner on a Peace Day initiative to create a mash-up McDonald’s Big Mac and Burger King Whopper burger. Now, it seems like it’s finally dawned on McDonald’s that turning your nose up at “peace” probably isn’t the best move, especially for a company that replaced its chief executive in March and has had recent trouble with disgruntled franchisees.
The advert features a voice-over by Liam Neeson and does not mention any of the sponsors’ names.
“The ad we’ve created and its message about war and hunger will be shared on television and in digital placements in almost 40 countries around the globe as we invite people to donate to the World Food Programme”, Easterbrook says in a statement on Facebook that posted yesterday.
Money raised by the venture will go toward assisting victims of conflict in Syria, Iran, South Sudan and Yemen.
Instead of collaborating with Burger King, McDonald’s reached out to the United Nations and the WFP to see how it could help in the global refugee crisis, described as the most severe since World War II. The spot concludes by calling on viewers to donate at WFP.org/peace.
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