The Dutch tend to not fully enjoy the summer, apart from the two or three weeks we celebrate our holidays, usually abroad. On top of that, the Dutch climate isn’t necessarily known to be tropical. Our call: let’s give into that spontaneous summer mood.

In our not so tropical country, we built an actual tropical island. What better way to spark the feeling of summer, with the ultimate tropical summer experience?

Building on the ‘Acts become Ads’ strategy, we wanted to use real McDonald’s customers in the content, to strengthen the idea that any visit to McDonald’s could be a spontaneous adventure. Blindfolded, they were flown to the island by helicopter.

After this, the island would be the stage for all kinds of entertaining content featuring our guests, who could win a visit to the island by a prize question.

In the course of six weeks, we built an actual tropical island in our not so tropical country. No mirage, but reality. Built on 25 floating pontoons, using 35,000 kgs of sand, and weighing in at 100,000 kgs in total. Complete with a white beach, an 8 metres high waterfall, hammocks and palm trees, it was named Good Times Island.

The TV commercial and online videos, in which we surprised unsuspecting restaurant guests in the McDrive with a trip to the island announced the activation: win an exclusive day on the island with your friends or family. Online content led customers to a landing page where they could answer the question why they deserved a visit to the island.

The island served as a platform for content like guest appearances by music artists, and even a wedding, all featured in a three month long summer campaign.

The content shot at the island, published in popular weekly episodes, garnered a combined total of 75.5 million views on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Good Times Island provided the perfect platform to promote products like the Maestro Smokey BBQ, the Summer Crisp Parmesan, Lemonades and Grilled Shrimps, and kept McDonald’s in the minds of the audience all summer long, not just leading to an unprecedented 11.5% sales increase, but also an increase in brand likeability and the perception of McDonald’s offering an enjoyable experience.