McDonald’s traces poutine’s origins

Who: McDonald’s Canada and Cossette, with Les Enfants for production (directed by Le GED), Outpost for post-production, La Majeure for sound and Vlooper for original music. OMD Canada for media.

What: A Quebec campaign promoting the new large-size poutine available in the QSR’s Quebec restaurants.

When & Where: The campaign launched late last month, running through the end of May. It’s anchored by a 60-second spot appearing online, complemented by a 30-second version for TV and 15-second and six-second online versions.

Why: Poutine has been a staple item on the McDonald’s Quebec menu for many years, and was added to the national menu with considerable fanfare in 2013. This is about promoting a new addition to the product lineup that is twice as large at its regular-sized poutine.

How: The ad features actors and non-actors from different regions of the province taking credit for their community’s vital role in the creation of poutine, from the cheesemaker in Plessisville that supplies the curds, to gravy from Drummondville.

The ad opens on a shot of a Warwick, Que. woman named Jeannine Vaudreuil reading from a book bearing the The Big Book of Poutine. She was supposedly present when a local restaurateur named Fernand Lachance first came up with the idea of combining French fries, gravy and cheese curds in 1957.

“We wanted to develop a campaign worthy of this iconic Quebec dish that was highly creative and, above all, authentic,” said Cossette creative director Cédric Audet. “That’s why we opted for a style much closer to that of film clips and epic sports videos than so-called traditional advertising.”

And we quote: “What we had in mind for this campaign was to pay tribute to both poutine—a homegrown legend—and the various regions of la Belle Province… We’re extremely proud of this campaign, which represents McDonald’s in Quebec to a T!” — Melissa Hains, regional marketing supervisor (Quebec), McDonald’s Canada

Chris Powell