Spicy Chicken McNuggets: Are you having a laugh?

Spicy-Chicken-McNuggets1-1024x576And so to Maccy D’s – really, we hear you ask? – for the launch of a new “amusing” campaign dubbed Schnuggs, celebrating the release of Spicy Chicken McNuggets, apparently McFatty’s hottest new product launch, available for just seven weeks.
According to the blurb, the campaign has been devised by Leo Burnett and “comprises a mixture of food focused content and short films showing models wearing custom made Spicy Chicken McNuggets apparel in aid of the hottest collaboration of the year – Spicy X Chicken McNuggets = Schnuggs”.
Does any of that makes sense to you? Well, maybe, just maybe, this will help: “Drawing upon the love of Chicken McNuggets, the campaign is targeted at 16- to 24-year-olds and aims to tap into the cult-like brands this age group is infatuated by”, by creating a spoof clothing brand modelling the Spicy Chicken McNuggets.
Anyway, it all kicked off last week apparently, with press and social media ads featuring a “mystery” burn visual to “tease spice lovers of the latest product release”. Then, last Wednesday the mysterious burn holes in The Metro newspaper announced the launch of Spicy Chicken McNuggets.
Back to the blurb: “Soon to become the most talked about food launch of the year, the social campaign will run across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Further supported on Snapchat with a hilarious Spicy Chicken McNugget Face Lens that allows users to turn their face into a fire breathing Spicy Chicken McNugget”.
Moving forward, activity will also feature Snapchat Marker Tech, “one of the latest innovations in AR which will bring posters to life through Snapchat. A series of GIFs and stickers have also been created that will live across digital channels allowing consumers to engage and interact with one another using the hot social currency”.
McDonald’s brand manager Liz Whitbread can barely contain her excitement. She said: “The Spicy Chicken McNuggets campaign is a very exciting product launch for us. An existing innovation to one of our most loved products and with Schnuggs, we’ve got a campaign to match.”
Leo Burnett London creative director Graham Lakeland is equally gushing. He added: “We drew inspiration from these cult-like brands that have this young audience going crazy for their latest product. Therefore, creating a spoof ‘hype beast’ clothing brand to model our new Spicy McNuggets felt like a great fit. This, coupled with a mixture of food-focused posts helps us create a buzz to become one of the most talked about foods this year.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office? Will we be going “crazy” for Spicy Chicken McNuggets? Will it be the “most talked about food launch of the year”? Will we be rushing to social media so that we can impress all our friends by using the “hilarious Spicy Chicken McNugget Face Lens to turn our face into a fire breathing Spicy Chicken McNugget”?
Possibly not. Try as they might, they won’t get us anywhere near a Chicken McNuggett no matter what new variant they try to lure us in with.  Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re not vegans, but if there is one thing that might turn us, it is the stench that comes out of a Maccy D’s kitchen.
As for this “hilarious” campaign, we’re afraid it is a bit of a stinker, too. All of which makes us wonder, where are all the decent campaigns these days…

Decision Marketing Adometer: 3 out of 10