We had always been fascinated by the sound of a straw gliding through the opening in the lid of a drinking cup – just like so many McDonald’s guests. What was this quirky sound? A mule? A humpback whale during mating season? An out-of-tune violin mutant? And could you actually play a tune with whatever it was? We got a chance to answer the question, when we had to create the last Facebook post of the year for McDonald’s at Christmas time – just like every year again. That rang a bell: We simply had to play “every year again” (the famous German Christmas carol “Alle Jahre wieder”) using the iconic McDonald’s cups – enter the first straw-organ of the world. So we posted our briefed message as a musical greeting in a video clip, that literally comes from within the McDonald’s brand.

The straw organ consists of eight conventional McDonald's beverage cups, branded with the Monopoly Promotion logo, including lids and straws, filled with softdrinks. When moving the straws up and down the typical squeaking noises are produced. When sorted by the tone pitch - like a on a keyboard - one can play melodies with the straws within the range of a G major scale. With the German Christmas carol "Alle Jahre wieder" ("Every year again") the posting video shows how the instrument works and spreads the desired message of of the winter break at the same time. The posting text invites users to play, record and share their own songs on Facebook.

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We created one of the most successful McDonald's Germany Facebook posts ever.