McDonald's confirms the McRib is back after series of 'mistakes'

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The Drum

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McDonalds confirms the McRib is back after series of mistakes

After dropping several “accidental” hints in a clever campaign from Leo Burnett, the chain has officially announced the return of its BBQ pork sandwich.

After dropping several “accidental” hints in a clever campaign from Leo Burnett, the chain has officially announced the return of its BBQ pork sandwich.

McDonald’s fans noticed a series of “mistakes” from the brand recently, including glitchy app notifications and some cryptic ads. Today, the fast food chain and its ad agency, Leo Burnett, have come clean: these were no accidents but a clever strategy to build hype for the McRib’s big comeback.

The campaign began with a mysterious push notification sent to millions of McDonald’s app users that read: “McRib_Test.notification_16.10.24 [TEST].” From there, the teasing only intensified. A broken email to McDonald’s CRM base followed, sparking a wave of speculation across social media about the McRib’s return. Fans in London even spotted strange McRib ads, wondering if their eyes were playing tricks on them.

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To heighten the suspense, Leo Burnett created a custom track titled McRib FM that played in McDonald’s restaurants every two hours and launched on Spotify in early October. Then, on October 7, mysterious outdoor ads appeared with the message “The McRib isn’t not back,” adding fuel to the growing anticipation. McDonald’s playfully engaged with fans, captioning the teases with lines including “To be clear, it’s almost definitely probably not not not coming back.”

Now, the wait is over. McDonald’s has dropped a short ad, set to DMX’s Party Up (Up in Here), boldly confirming: “The McRib is back.”

Alexandra Martin, senior brand manager at McDonald’s, said: “We’ve been having a bit of fun with McRib fans – accidental notifications, glitchy ads and plenty of hints dropped along the way. But now the secret’s out! This is not a drill. The McRib is officially backity back back. We couldn’t be more excited to see everyone’s reactions. It’s time for fans to finally get stuck in.”

Andrew Long and James Millers, executive creative directors at Leo Burnett UK, added: “The McRib is a cultural icon, so it was important to make sure this campaign didn’t just celebrate that, but actually leveraged and built on its legendary status. By understanding how the brand lives in the real world, we have been able to build hype in a playful and culturally relevant way, which fans have loved.”