McDonald’s says “Mangia!”
Imagine a Big Mac transformed by La Cucina Italiana, perhaps with asiago cheese, even pancetta.
After 25 years with limited success in Italy, McDonald’s gave birth to the McItaly menu, a full slate of choices made exclusively from locally grown and raised ingredients—just the way food-finicky Italians like it.
To set the table for the launch, Cohn & Wolfe orchestrated a partnership with the Italian Ministry of Agricultural Policy, securing its highly coveted “Made in Italy” stamp of approval. A press conference at Italy’s first McDonald’s, along with a star-studded gathering on the famed Spanish Steps – the longest staircase in all of Europe – triggered super-sized media coverage at home and around the world.
…triggered super-sized media coverage at home and around the world.
Hundreds of local news reports fed the story throughout Italy totaling more than 200 million impressions. In the first two months, 100,000 proud Italians enjoyed a McItaly menu item each day, including more than 3 million McItaly burgers—enough for every man, woman and child in Rome. And the world took notice, too, as dozens of international outlets reported on the McItaly phenomenon. Thanks to the McItaly menu, McDonald’s could proudly declare: Parliamo Italiano!
