Some brands and products are so recognizable that consumers can recognize them merely by color. A brown van from afar can easily be assumed to be the UPS truck, and a yellow-labeled champagne bottle could be presumed to be from Veuve Clicquot. That kind of brand connection based on color palettes isn’t quick or easy, and it takes years of consistent and costly impressions on consumers.
In France, McDonald’s decided to use the recognizability of its burgers and fries with a series of abstract, non-branded posters that simply state “Devinez qui arrive dans votre ville,” or, in the non-Frenchy version, Guess who’s coming to town?
The national campaign is part of the firm’s reopening of locations in France, featuring pixelated posters inspired by McDonald’s classic menu items like the Big Mac, Fillet-O-Fish, cheeseburger, and french fries. Though not immediately apparent to the human eye, the browns, greens, reds, and yellows are unmistakably pickles, lettuce, burgers, and other ingredients that make up the burger chain’s offerings.
The ad campaign is the latest effort in partnership with agency TBWA Paris and the newest example of minimal, anti-branding that leans on the elemental pieces of a company’s visual identity, such as the agencies’ past work for Mickey D’s and Doritos’ experiment with dropping its logo.
