As part of McDonald’s longstanding commitment to DE&I and multicultural communities, for 30+ years, the brand has given back to Hispanics through initiatives in music, education and sports, as well as supporting local charities and other organizations.

To expand on its initiatives to benefit the Latino community in the U.S., the brand wanted to launch a purpose-led, long-term brand action with real impact. Knowing that Gen-Z are loyal to brands that support causes they care about, this was a dedicated effort to increase brand trust among Gen-Z Latinos.

Objectives:

1. Drive awareness around the new program, with amplification across social, content creators/influencers, digital, PR, experiential and local tactics

2. Increase McDonald’s brand trust measures by improving brand relevance (aka making Latino Youth feel good about the brand)

3. Actively engage the Latino Youth consumers and its values (fair and authentic representation is something that truly matters to them)

To introduce the multi-year platform, McDonald’s launched a nationwide contest calling Latino writers, directors and producers to pitch their screenplays.

Three finalists were chosen to produce their short films, while McDonald’s would provide financial support, visibility and mentorship opportunities with successful Latinos in the film industry, including actress Stephanie Beatriz from Encanto and Brooklyn 99.

Consumers watched the finalist films through the microsite, and a winner was selected by popular vote.

The winner received the yearlong opportunity to work with McDonald’s on its creative initiatives. This was a win-win— the winner received exposure and had their short film produced, while the brand brought top voices of the community to help elevate relevance to our audiences.

With the success of the first contest, McDonald’s announced a second competition in March 2023 at SXSW, showing continuous, dedicated commitment to the Hispanic community.

As they carve out their identity in the U.S., young Latinos are highly passionate about authentic representation and reward brands who stand up for them.

We came across the data that despite Hispanics making up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, they make up less than 1% of stories told by Hollywood.

Leveraging its scale and resources, McDonald’s saw the opportunity to bring exposure to Latino talent in film and help improve representation both in front of and behind the camera.

The target audience were Latino filmmakers in the U.S. and 18-24-year-old U.S. Latinos.

The idea engaged filmmakers who participated in the contest, and young Latinos who followed the competitors and voted for a winner. McDonald’s would also make Spotlight an annual competition, showing long-term commitment.

The effort demonstrated authenticity by bringing real, long-term impact with the goal of ultimately changing the film industry for good.

The contest was announced in April 2022 through OLV and social, featuring Latino screenwriters on movie sets — such as desert car races and outer space — as they narrated their movie plots, driving audiences to the Spotlight Dorado microsite.

McDonald’s partnered with actress and Hispanic community advocate Stephanie Beatriz who spoke to the press and on socials about the importance of programs like this for underrepresented communities.

In August 2022, three finalists were selected, and each received ongoing mentorship and $75,000 to produce their short films over 4 months.

Audiences watched the short films through the microsite and voted on a winner.

In December 2022, the winner was announced at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA and received a yearlong opportunity to work with McDonald’s on their creative campaigns and submit their work to film festivals.

After its success, McDonald’s launched Spotlight Dorado Year Two at SXSW23.

• 95% Key Message Penetration across all earned media placements

• 6.3B Earned Impressions

• Over 80,000 episode views on YouTube with the journey of the three Spotlight Dorado Finalists

• Brand trust among HCM reached its highest number in the past three years

Most importantly:

• McDonald's brought visibility to the inequality in Latino representation in Hollywood

• McDonald's changed the narrative and gave undiscovered Latino filmmakers the chance they've been waiting for

• Spotlight Dorado is a sustainable brand platform that will in 2023 as an annual competition as the brand follows through their continued commitment to the cause of Latino representation in film