Anyone familiar with the Quick Serve Restaurant industry knows that the easiest way to entice viewers to watch an ad and place an order is to show the food. Make them salivate with sizzling meat, oozing cheese, fries fresh out of the fryer, or refreshing iced drinks, such as this recent McDonald’s spot.
It might surprise you then to learn that the most Likeable Super Bowl ad in the QSR industry (since we began testing in 2010) was not really about the food at all. As its name suggests, the Likeability Score from our survey-based Creative Assessment measures the extent to which respondents like an ad after watching it in its entirety.
Love Is the Answer
The most Likeable QSR Super Bowl spot since 2010 is the 60-second “Pay With Lovin” from McDonald’s. While a variety of emotions can drive the Likeability of an ad (including a Yummy response), we revealed in our recent blog on big game Likeability that Funny and/or Heartfelt responses have been some of the most successful. In 2015, McDonald’s went for our hearts — as did other Big Game advertisers at the highest rate recorded.
This 60-second ad showed McDonald’s customers being offered the opportunity to pay for their food with “lovin’“ — varying gestures of kindness or connection suggested by cashiers. The twist evoked the highest achievable level of Adtastic response (which measures general fondness for an ad) with nearly all viewers indeed “Lovin’ It” (in fact, the ad was an intentional twist on the brand’s “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign that launched in 2003).
The creative left viewers feeling Incredulous at the Ingenious and Heartfelt offer, which was Inspiring to consumers.
Ace Emo Chart for “Pay With Lovin”
This chart depicts the emotional impact of “Pay With Lovin”. Ace Emo refers to the 57 emotional metrics Creative Assessment measures for every breaking TV and video ad. Measurement is derived from survey respondent verbatim comments using Natural Language Processing and machine learning. Scores are relative to every other ad in the expansive database. The longer the bar in the chart above, the stronger the signal.
Below, a sample of survey respondent verbatim comments reflect the disbelief and Powerful impact ”Pay With Lovin” had on viewers – and importantly, their perception of the brand – achieving a Likeability score even higher than the brand’s “Precious Gold” (scores can range from 1 to 950).
“I loved this ad and the whole concept that Mcdonalds has come up with. With having their customers pay with love I think it is a great way for them to not only show they care about their customers but also that they care about mankind period!!!!“
Female 36-49 Caucasian
“This seemed very unlikely to happen in real life, however, it grabbed my attention. If things like this happened often enough where I would be in this situation will I believe it.”
Male 16-20 Asian
“It was wonderful portraying customers actually getting together with their families and loving each other in order to pay for their meal! This should happen everywhere!“
Male 16-20 Hispanic
“I obviously like the idea of not paying for food, but this is a nice ad and nice campaign. If it’s legit, I admire McDonald’s for doing it.”
Female 21-35 Caucasian
“I like how this ad shows sentimentality towards the customers. It lets us know how much you actually care about the customers.”
Female 16-20 Black or African American
Sometimes You’ve Gotta Break the Rules…
“Pay With Lovin” delighted audiences with a standout message (rated Single Best Thing about the spot by a preponderance of viewers) that easily took precedence over the potential for free food – and the usual food visuals so common to QSR success (which few viewers zeroed in on).
Single Best Thing shows which creative element viewers liked best. In this case, the largest portion (36%) chose the Message as the Single Best Thing about “Pay With Lovin” while only 5% chose the visuals.
This refreshing Change in direction resonated very well with what viewers were feeling in their hearts in 2015. Signalled within the first few seconds of the ad, this messaging delivered the breakthrough key to Super Bowl success.
The following verbatim comments from Creative Assessment survey respondents reveal how the Information and innovation drove strong emotions and viewer Relatability, with all performance metrics significantly above 2015 QSR norms.
This chart depicts gap-to-norm performance for each of the component scores Creative Assessment measures on every ad. Green labels indicate that a given ad scored significantly above norm on a respective metric. In this case, McDonald’s “Pay With Lovin’” scored significantly above QSR ad norms (2/1/14 – 2/1/15) on each component.
“I think it’s a really good idea and that things like this should be done more often, not just in the fast food business. The ad has a human element to it that people can relate to.”
Male 16-20 Caucasian
“I like the McDonalds is trying a new approach rather than showcasing the product. More people can relate to this and it makes the brand more appealing to a larger audience”
Female 16-20 Asian
“It’s such a radical change that I have a hard time believing this offer is true. But will find out when said offer does start.”
Male 21-35 Other
“I think this is really wonderful. To have McDonalds encourage kindness and compassion in others is very nice.”
Female 21-35 Caucasian
On top of surprising viewers, “Pay With Lovin” united the audience on a human level – with age, gender, and ethnicity (well before society demanded it) being irrelevant when it came to this ad’s ability to connect.
Lovin’ It Was Easy, but Is Love Enough?
Super Bowl ad success requires broad Relatability to optimize Likeability across such a disparate audience and doing something different unquestioningly helps a brand stand out. But for the price of a game day spot, marketers really need these ads to do more. Ideally this means converting viewers to doers, whether that means researching the brand, visiting the brand’s website or stores, purchasing, or even talking about the brand or ad. McDonald’s nailed it.
Two in three viewers indicated they would share the ad or talk about it with their circle of influence (in person or online), while another 35% said they would buy McDonald’s because of it. Many pledged to do more than one of the choices probed – that’s a lot of action sparked by a single ad!
At this writing, Taco Bell stands alone as the only QSR brand announcing a 2022 Super Bowl entry, and there’s some conjecture that they’ll also go for a ‘love’ theme, having recently launched their Taco Lovers Pass/subscription service. But will their ad spark the level of “Lovin’ It” that McDonald’s achieved? Stay tuned to find out – and a big congrats to McDonald’s for daring to be different.
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