"McDonald's Famous Orders" Named Most Effective Campaign in the World

Dec. 07, 2023

Effie Worldwide has named “McDonald’s Famous Orders” from McDonald’s US and Wieden+Kennedy NY the most effective campaign worldwide.  The results of the 2023 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards were announced during a virtual celebration on December 7th. 
 
The competition invited Grand and Gold winners from all 2022 Effie Awards competitions around the world to compete head-to-head to determine the most effective marketing efforts of the year.
 
Following a first round of judging, 53 campaigns moved forward as Global Grand Effie contenders in their respective categories.  Of the contenders, 12 winners emerged following Global Grand judging.
 
Global Grand Effie Winners
The 2023 Global Grand Effies were awarded to:

• Commerce & Shopper – Product/Service Launch: Cervecera de Puerto Rico’s Medalla Light and DDB Latina Puerto Rico “Sounds From Home” 
• Experiential Marketing: Mondelēz India Pvt. Ltd.’s Cadbury Celebrations and Ogilvy India Group  “My SRK Ad,” with Wavemaker India
• Experiential Marketing - Health: Procter & Gamble India’s Whisper and Leo Burnett India “Changing the education system to keep girls in school,” with Network18, UNESCO, MediaCom India, and MSL India
• Food & Beverage: Mars Wrigley’s Extra Gum and Energy BBDO “For when it's time: Extra gum's pandemic comeback,” with MediaCom, ICF Next, and The Mars Agency
• Positive Change: Social Good-Brands: Unilever’s Dove and Ogilvy UK “Reverse Selfie,” with Edelman and Mindshare US
• Positive Change: Social Good-Non-Profit: Ahr - a wineregion needs Help for Rebuilding e.V.’s Flutwein, Seven.One AdFactory GmbH, and White Rabbit Budapest “#flutwein - Our Worst Vintage,” with WallDecaux
• Product/Service Launch: Beam Suntory Australia’s -196 and The Monkeys “Ridiculous! How -196 defied the hottest trends to become Beam Suntory’s most successful launch ever,” with Liquid Ideas, PHD Australia, Fuel Sydney, and Mr Positive
• Restaurants: McDonald’s US and Wieden+Kennedy NY “McDonald’s Famous Orders,” with The Narrative Group, Alma DDB, Burrell, and IW Group
• Small Budgets: Excel, Kia Motors and Ogilvy El Salvador “The First Car Showroom Inside a Bus,” with Ogilvy US, Garage Films, and La Brujula
• Social Media: Magazine Luiza’s Magalu and Ogilvy Brasil “Lu from Magalu: the biggest virtual influencer in the world,” with OAK, Sentimental Filme, Comando S, and Globo
• Sustained Success - Services: Aldi UK and McCann Manchester “Kevin versus John: How a humble carrot usurped a national treasure to win the UK's Christmas Ad crown,” with UM 

Topical/Annual Events: Transparency International Lebanon’s Lebanese Transparency Association & Publicis Groupe – Leo Burnett Middle East “The Currency of Corruption” 

Traci Alford, Global CEO, Effie Worldwide said:

"This year’s Global Grand Effie winners showcase the diversity of excellence across our industry.  Each have proven exceptional results across Effie’s 4-pillar framework and are being recognized for their effectiveness, creativity and innovation. We are proud to showcase the very best ideas that work on a global stage and congratulate all of this year’s winning teams. 

 

Iridium Winner 

The Iridium Effie is awarded to the single most effective case of the year. “McDonald’s Famous Orders”, created with Wieden+Kennedy New York, and contributing agencies The Narrative Group, Alma DDB, Burrell, and the IW Group, also took home the Global Grand Effie in the Restaurants category.  The brand had found itself facing a critical issue - the new generation of multicultural youth had counted them out. Based on the insight: “We all have a go-to McDonald’s order”, Famous Orders turned going to McDonald’s into a cultural event. They asked their most famous fans for their order, including Travis Scott, J. Balvin, BTS, and Saweetie, and made it possible for their fans to order them.  The campaign response earned a cultural reappraisal for the McDonalds’ brand with youth and drove hundreds of millions of incremental sales.

Tze Kiat Tan, CEO of BBDO Asia and Iridium Jury Co-Chair said:

"All of this year’s Global Grand Effie winners were very impressive, which made for a rich debate to select the Iridium winner.  What stood out most about the McDonald’s work was its strong link to the product and its cultural relevance.  The team built a sense of community, listened to their audience, and remained future focused.  The results were significant, and we are proud to award the Iridium Effie to McDonald’s and Wieden+Kennedy NY.  It is truly great work, has great results and, most importantly, it changed behavior."

 

Susan Akkad, SVP, Local & Cultural Innovation at The Estée Lauder Companies and Iridium Jury Co-Chair said:

"I completely agree on the cultural relevancy, and it sends the message that you can have incredibly effective and powerful work with your existing product. “Famous Orders” is a commercial innovation with iconic products for McDonald’s. In an era where celebrities are used frequently in marketing programs, McDonald’s stood out in how they crafted this case.  There was authenticity all along the way – authenticity of the insight, authenticity in the celebrities who were featured, and authenticity in how they activated their fans.  They were clear in their objectives, committed to them and executed extremely well. Congratulations to the team."

 

The Iridium win comes after success in the 2021 and 2022 Global Effie Index, where McDonald’s ranked #1 Most Effective Brand.
The 2023 Global Best of the Best Effies were in partnership with Meta and, presenting insights partner, Ipsos.