It's a good time for the great ads of McDonald's

It’s not often that we at Sportscentric step away from sports. And never before have we left the fields of play to enter a fast food emporium. But two wonderful new films from McDonald’s have forced us into their waiting arms.

Did somebody say McDonald’s?

Sorry.

But yes, it’s McDonald’s with two new pieces of human communication that tickle your fancy and just plain made you smile and feel good. Isn’t that what McDonald’s is supposed to do?

Waitasec. On second thought, we can talk about McDonald’s and sports. They joined together in one of the most famous TV commercials in history.



First of all, MICHAEL: WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!?!

Sorry. Lost myself for a second there in the dizzying array of colors in MJ's shortpantsuit.

It’s classic McD's advertising. Just kind of makes you smile and feel a warm fuzziness for the brand. Kind of like this new interactive billboard in London's Picadilly Square.



It’s whimsical, surprising, and engaging. I watched it a couple of times. I could've watched it more. I'm sure many people will.

And while the London billboard is the future of marketing, there’s always room for a good ole TV commercial. Especially silly ones that just make you giggle.



This work is good for people from 5 to 50. I first saw the fish spot over my son’s shoulder on his computer. It does what great McDonald’s advertising—and in this day and age, what any great advertising should do:

Connect people of any race creed shape age or gender to their product. When it comes to the work McD’s is doing, they’re hitting nothing but net.

And PS, I'll pay 100 bucks for MJ's shortpantsuit.

Unpredictable service, good ads

I’m a big fan of Verizon Wireless. My loyalty to them (and my contempt for AT&T) is why I got a Storm vs iphone. So I know very little about T-Mobile, other than the fact that their ads with current and former pro basketball players crack me up.

I’ve been paying attention to their ads for a while, mainly because I think Catherine Zeta-Jones is, how you say, shmokin’ hot. CZJ, you were rooked by Zellweger for the Oscar nod. I’d do a number with you any day. But I can’t do it alone…

Since Catherine’s been gone, D-Wade and Charles Barkley have picked up the torch, and they’ve done a great job. The spots are funny and strategic, crafted around T-Mobile’s selling idea of their Fave Five calling plan. They even ran a Super Bowl ad last year, which ranked in the middle of the USA Today Ad Meter, but as high as any ad in the online user poll.



Getting celebrity athletes to act well is so hard. Most of them would rather be on the court than on a set (or on the golf course). And in a spot with a lot of dialogue, the desired nuances in performance that dictate the need to do take after take…it’s just not what athletes want to be doing (Michael Jordan used to start saying “That was perfect. What was wrong with the one?!” after the second take).

There are so many factors involved; obviously, having an athlete with a scoche of acting ability is nice, but it’s rare. So sometimes you have to write around it, and sometimes you can take advantage of it, like in the ending of this commercial:



All challenges considered, the new T-Mobile commercial is wonderfully pleasing. Nice performances, good writing, surprising appearances from Magic Johnson and Dr. J. I’m surprised they didn’t hold this one for the Super Bowl. Seems to have all the ingredients.

If you want to laugh out loud, watch the Heineken spot in my blog from a couple of days ago (you must), but if you want a nice chuckle, and a great example of how to use athletes well, you could do a lot worse than the work from T-Mobile.