If you're attacked by a bear while changing a tire on an icy road, McDonald's suggests hiding in your car, closing your eyes and going to your happy place—which might include dreaming of a fast-food sandwich.
So says one of three new ads from TBWA\Paris promoting the burger chain's new "American Winter" line as a sort of extreme comfort food.
A second ad finds the same character—a young man—post-mauling, wandering a snow-clad forest. After a classic slapstick mishap with a log bridge over a frigid river, he returns to the same fantasy—a warm ski-lodge, with a roaring fire, where the number of blonde models has doubled to two since the first commercial.
The third ad captures his inept spear-fishing, at the expense of his left foot—before he reaches the same escapist resolution (he didn't really want to eat raw trout, anyways—and it's pretty clear this guy doesn't know how to start a fire).
Overall, it's a fun little storyline, (perhaps thankfully) absent much discussion of the details of the food itself (the American Winter burger includes bacon, and ground meat and lettuce, and can't really be that different from the standard offering, after all).
As silly a sequence as it may be, the details of the execution are solid—down to the hero's oafish grin as he transports himself out of his various predicaments, and the high-powered activities of the otherwise clichéd ladies at the lodge (reading two books at the same time, playing speed chess, dancing upbeat to harp music).
There may also be traces of The Revenant in the conceit. Only this guy—like most modern softies—wouldn't last long in the harsh American wilderness. (Any ad that subtly insults its audience earns extra points.) That said, should you find yourself in such dire straits, it's probably best to dream about any number of other meals you probably won't get to eat—starting with, say, a ribeye.
CREDITS
Agency: TBWA\Paris
Clients: Xavier Royaux, Camille Lopéo, Sarra Fetni
Agency: Luc Bourgery, Matthéo Pressmar, Camille Favriau, Agathe Bruneau
Executive Creative Directors: Benjamin Marchal, Faustin Claverie
Copywriter: Stéphane Kaczorowski
Art Director: Sébastien Skrzypczak
TV Producer: Benoit Duchemin
Production: Moonwalk Films
Director: Ben Gregor
Food Director: Maud Poilpré
Food Production: Else