McDonald's Latest Queer-Themed Campaign Deserves a Nice Big Sundae Cone
We can imagine the pitch meeting. The ad agency folks are throwing ideas around a long table at the office while munching on fries (McDonald’s, of course). Pride Month is coming, and they’ve got to stay relevant. Somebody offers up a story about a friend who always waits for his girlfriend to finish her shift at a BPO.
Maybe the CD (creative director)’s ears perk up and he switches the characters and setting and turns them into a lesbian couple at the local McDo. We need action, the CD says, and somebody suggests having one of the characters go around and around the drive-thru ordering stuff until the end of her girlfriend’s shift. No, wait, somebody else says; why don’t we have her go around in a skateboard instead of a car? Shades of Margielyn Didal, who, herself, identifies as proudly LGBTQ.
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“I love it,” the CD says. And they get to work. A few weeks (or months) later, the shoot’s done and the ad breaks. Big hit. Less than 24 hours later and the video has already racked up over 1.6 million views on Facebook. Add a few thousand more from YouTube and other platforms and we’re probably looking at well over two million. Everyone gets pats on the backs. And, perhaps a few more of those French fries.
Okay, yeah, this is an extremely simplistic imagining of how the latest McDo ad celebrating queer love came to be. (Hey, I don’t work in advertising). The point is that a video like this, like many consumer ads—objectively well-produced, with a clear message, and undeniably feel-good—takes a team of professionals to conceptualize and execute. And it’s timely, because, well, Pride Month is that one time of the year when gigantic corporations ditch the staid messaging, splash rainbow colors on their logos, and proclaim themselves allies of the LGBTQ community.
We’re not here to throw shade at the companies who do this—there have been countless thinkpieces that have slammed “rainbow washing,” or the corporate practice of jumping on the Pride bandwagon by using the rainbow symbol on their slogans or logos, in their advertising or marketing, and basically proclaiming their support to a much-maligned and disenfranchised sector of society without any evidence of tangible or real-world support. No, this isn’t a dig at McDonald’s’ latest ad and what some might call out as a shameless attempt at relevance and allyship.
On the contrary, we’re here to offer the fast-food giant a gigantic thumbs-up and maybe even a virtual bear hug. Instead of wasting time attempting to explain McDonald’s intentions, we’re choosing to take the ad for what it is—a saccharine-sweet tribute to love in a form that’s rarely ever given the spotlight in the mainstream.
Liberal corners of the internet here in the Philippines might have this notion that the country has become a model for tolerance, if not acceptance, for people of LGBTQ persuasion, and while that might be true in small amounts—advances in gay rights in corporate settings, more widespread representations in the media, a thriving drag culture—the reality is that vast swaths of the population remain deeply conservative. For them, the prevailing thought seems to be that gay people can exist, as long as they “stay in their lane.” They can thrive in the arts and entertainment, as long as they’re the funny sidekick or the stereotypical loudmouth. And they can work in professional settings, as long as they keep their outward appearance “presentable.” In other words, they can choose who they want to be (and be with) as long as they keep their heads down or stay in the shadows and don’t announce it to the world. That’s not tolerance nor acceptance; that’s acquiescing to the demands of the ignorant.
Which is why we need ads like McDonald’s’ “You’re My Happy Place.” Taken at surface level, it’s a simple, minute-long story of two queer women being cute and being themselves (they just happen to be those things in a fast-food outlet). But in the context of a society that remains hopelessly repressed and prejudiced against gay people, it’s so much more. It’s a big middle finger to homophobes who want to wipe gay people out of existence or want them to remain closeted. It’s an unequivocal sign that a humongous, global corporation like McDonald’s is choosing to make a stand on an issue that still clearly divides people, at the risk of alienating a pretty sizable customer base and potentially losing revenues and profits. And, most importantly, it’s a rallying cry for gay people themselves to step out of the shadows and maybe explore things that would make them feel happy. Because we all deserve to be happy.
No, this isn’t the fast-food giant’s first LGBTQ-themed ad, and we’re hoping it won’t be that last. But we’re taking this opportunity to say good job, McDonald’s. The only thing unrealistic about the video is that there’s no line at the drive-thru (come on, when did that ever been happen?!), but other than that, you deserve a big pat on the back. (Or maybe a nice sundae cone, but something tells us you’ve already got that covered).
Watch the ad here:
