Responses by Alexis Bronstorph, co-chief creative officer; and Reid Plaxton, senior art director, No Fixed Address.
Background: “McDonald’s is available for delivery on DoorDash and DoorDash’s two main competitor apps,” says Alexis Bronstorph. “The brief was to distinguish DoorDash from the pack, prompting Toronto customers to think DoorDash first when ordering their go-to McDonald’s meal.”
Design thinking: “To highlight the speed of McDelivery through DoorDash, we took iconic McDonald’s menu items and elongated every ingredient to create the effect that orders are on-route and whizzing by,” Bronstorph says. “Courtesy of DoorDash, the instantly identifiable Big Mac and Egg McMuffin move at the speed of light in this outdoor campaign.”
Challenges: “First, it was choosing the most iconic menu items from McDonald’s and ensuring they would still read as intended once the treatment was applied,” says Bronstorph. “There is definitely a filet-o-fish mockup in an advertising graveyard somewhere! And then, it was making sure the colors and shadows were just right so that these were either instantly recognizable for anyone walking or driving by or would stop you in your tracks while you figured out what captured your attention.”
Favorite details: “I and the rest of the team are most proud of the detail,” says Reid Plaxton. “We had to include lots of detail, specifically with color, to craft an abstract piece like this while remaining identifiable. The highlights and shadows of the Big Mac and Egg McMuffin were needed for people to get it. For each item, we created a more-than-200-color index that could capture all the nuances for us to bring them to light.”
Visual influences: “As McDonald’s is an iconic brand with equally iconic menu items, we had the freedom to lean on that recognition factor and play around with abstraction to create ads that are more like art than ads,” Plaxton says. “Seeing all the ways throughout the years that creatives have manipulated the golden arches and McDonald’s foods fueled us to do our own speed-based take on the classics for DoorDash.”
Specific project demands: “The element that made this project easier was the location of the ad placements,” says Plaxton. “As notable commuter hubs, Union Station and Yonge–Dundas Square. This added a layer of comprehension as passersby were moving almost as fast as the ads. Life imitating art.”
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