McDonald’s Australia found itself in a bit of a pickle. Our competitors were getting people talking by adding more and more ridiculous ingredients to their burgers – one replaced seeded buns with fried chicken! We didn’t want to follow suit. After all, why move away from a taste hundreds of millions of people already love? ​ ​ Our brief was to find a way to keep McDonald’s involved in the conversation and remind our audience why they love burgers from the Golden Arches – all without any media support.

We launched a new McDonald’s burger, in conjunction with Mango PR, that looked like one of Australia’s favourites – the Big Mac – and packed it full of an ingredient that people loved to talk, debate and even argue about: pickles!​ ​ The McPickle appeared as a single post across Facebook and Instagram with zero media spend behind it, but it was an instant hit across Australia and the world.​ ​ The thing was...the McPickle didn’t exist. It was an April Fool’s joke.​ ​ But that didn’t stop people from making it for themselves.

Brands across Australia and the world were adding more and more ingredients to get people talking about their burgers. But we wanted to stick with what our fans loved: classic McDonald’s ingredients and taste. ​ ​ So we tapped into a source of passionate discussion amongst our fans and followers: pickles. It was a topic that we noticed growing in recent months, after a post in January blew up with people debating whether they love pickles, or loathe them.​ ​ So, with April Fool’s on the horizon, we spotted an opportunity to take the conversation up a level and seed out a controversial into media placements where we knew we would receive great exposure. This would give our audience a reason to engage with us – and talk to the world about our beloved pickles.

At 7am on 1st April 2019, a short video of the McPickle burger was posted to McDonald’s Australia’s Facebook and Instagram channels. Supporting copy revealed the launch of an all-new burger called the McPickle, before going on to describe the delicious ingredients found within. Our community management team spent the day (and many days after) replying to over 330,000 comments to stoke the conversations and ensure everyone, everywhere was aware of the McPickle.

The results were truly astonishing. Not only did the McPickle April Fool’s story gain traction in Australia, but it ended up spreading across the world for days on end. ​ ​ - 96% positive sentiment.​ - Over 500 million impressions.​ - Equivalent to more than $12 million P.R. value and $4 million advertising value​ - 75 pieces of international TV coverage​ - 19 pieces of international radio coverage​ - Generated 800 plus media stories​ - $0 spend.