French gay McDonald's ad causes controversy
By Mark Banham, campaignlive.co.uk, Monday, 07 June 2010 01:50PM
McDonald's has caused controversy in France by releasing its first ever television ad featuring a gay teenager.
McDonald's ad: first gay teenager
Screening in France and created by Euro RSCG, the ad invites diners to "come as you are" and features a teenager looking longingly at his school photo and then calling a mystery partner to say he 'misses' them.
In the ad's twist, the teenager's father returns from the counter with a tray full of burgers and says, "It's a shame you're in an all boys college. You would have had all the girls chasing you."
The sentence is followed by a wry smile from the young teenager, who has obviously not yet told his father he is gay.
A YouTube version of the ad has been seeded and one stream has currently recorded nearly 140,000 views.
The director of the ad is Xavier Giannoli, who has previously directed spots for Volkswagen Polo.
Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly has already caused more controversy after he mocked the ad on air saying "Do you think they have an ad for Al Qaeda?" comparing the McDonald's ad to promotion by the terrorist group.
Gay activists have now called for a public apology from O'Reilly.
A spokeswoman for McDonalds said that the ad was meant to recognise the diversity of McDonald's customers in France.
The media planning and buying for the spot is by OMD Group.
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
Additional Information
Campaign Jobs
- Senior Account Director Purple Consultancy £55000 - £65000 per annum, London
- Senior Account Manager Purple Consultancy £34000 - £40000 per annum, London
- Senior Account Manager Purple Consultancy £38000 - £45000 per annum, London
- Forward Thinking Senior Digital Project/ Account Manager Purple Consultancy £38000 - £45000 per annum, London
- Account Director Purple Consultancy £45000 - £52000 per annum, London
Most viewed
- Blippar connects disjointed families, says MEC executive
- Fans take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Twitter-powered tennis game
- Nature Valley awards integrated business to start-up
- LMFM challenges bakers to be Brave on World Baking Day
- Samsung strikes placement deal with The Wanted
- Jaguar readies global campaign for F-Type launch
Most commented
-
30 Seconds to Mars stratospheric rise on social media
In the week that it was shown that users only visited the planet Google+ for less than 7 minutes a month it’s interesting to look at how a contemporary rock artist brand goes about using social media in their marketing and the different levels of interest on different platforms.
