Leo Burnett

No Branding Required.

There aren’t many brands that can get away with removing all brand identity from their advertising. McDonalds is one of them that can. The product is so ubiquitous that the purveyor of fast food can not only remove the golden arches, they don’t even have to show product.

McDonald’s has created a series of outdoor ads in recent years that have boldly expressed just how deeply the fast-food brand is embedded in our collective consciousness. McDonalds Canada created a series of outdoor ads that used cropped sections of the golden arches as a wayfinding mechanism. McDonalds France used a series of rain-streaked cityscapes to promote their delivery service. Although minimal in design, there is no doubt that this is McDonald’s. The latest from Leo Burnett UK, not so much.

This new series of posters from Leo Burnett for McDonald’s UK has taken renowned typographer David Schwen’s type sandwiches and created, well, type sandwiches.

There is no mention of McDonald’s anywhere on these yet you know exactly what they are from the ingredients listed. That is definitely a Big Mac and a Filet o Fish. This could be applied to the majority of the McDonald’s sandwich line with a similar effect.

“McDonald’s is a leader, only a handful of global brands can communicate like this. The redacted and graphic nature of this latest campaign exudes the confidence McDonald’s and its iconic products deserve.”
Pete Heyes, Creative Director at Leo Burnett.

It’s a pretty bold move and one that not many brands could pull off. A global brand like McDonald’s can get away with, and does with great effect.

The Fiat Parking Assistant Billboard.

After living downtown and watching people try to parallel park their cars for a year, I think this billboard from Fiat needs to be everywhere. Why? Because most people simply can’t parallel park. Beyond that this is a real nice piece of ambient marketing that uses slick in house developed technology to pull it off. Designed by Leo Burnett in Germany, the Parking Billboard uses ultrasonic sensors tied to pre-recorded videos to help guide drivers as they park. Leo Burnett has created a fun, memorable piece to promote their small city cars and extend the brand to non Fiat drivers as well. Nice stuff guys.

It’s Going To Be A “Heart Winter”.

I’m not a fan of McDonalds food, but you have to hand it to their advertising. It’s usually top notch, and they do hire the best. McDonalds AOR Leo Burnett hired BUCK to produce the new animated TV spot for the McCafe line of hot drinks. Directed by Ryan Honey BUCK blends 2D and 3D animation seamlessly in the 30 second spot titled “Heart Winter”. The spot features nicely stylized, but not overly cute character’s clever transitions between scenes, and a fluid animation style all set to a jangly happy tune. It’s hard not to like the look of the commercial, even if you aren’t a fan of McDonalds.

Executive Creative Director: Ryan Honey
Executive Producer: Maurie Enochson
Associate Creative Directors: Jenny Ko, Steve Day
CG Supervisor: Doug Wilkinson
Producer: Billy Mack
Production Coordinator: Kaitlyn Mahoney
Storyboards: Morgan Schweitzer, Vincent Lee, Marcus Park, Susan Yung
Design: Jenny Ko, Yuki Yamada, Susan Yung, Gunnar Pettersson, Ken Gunn Lee, Joe Mullen
Cel Animation: Kendra Ryan, Kyle Mowat, Eric Cheng, Laura Yilmaz, Craig Yamamoto, Ben Conkin, Song Kim
AE Animation & Compositing: Nick Petley, Simon Ekstrand Appel, Anthony Madlangbayan, Zach Eastburg, Esteban Esquivo, Jake Portman, Ariel Costa
3D Artists: Wing Lee, Florent Raffray

New York Writes Itself. A Production by the People of New York.

I came across New York Writes Itself this afternoon while waiting for a number of video renders to finish up. Designed and developed by Leo Burnett, New York, the website invites the citizens of New York city to participate with creative writing, music, art, and film by collecting their stories. The trailer below is nice, but the actual pieces written and left on the website are outstanding.

Like all things these days, the site is hooked into all the social media outlets helping to extend its reach and allowing you to spread the stories encased there far beyond their point of origin. If you get a chance, check it out.