List of McDonald's ad programs


This is a list of promotions by McDonald's restaurants.

Slogans

Here is a partial list of slogans:
indicates the Golden Arches logo was used in place of a regular letter M.

Arab world

English

English

Perhaps the best-known jingle was "You deserve a break today" a song sometimes incorrectly attributed to a young Barry Manilow, was in fact, written by jingle singer/songwriter Kenny Karen. In the accompanying TV commercial, there was almost no mention of food. Instead, the ad featured an all-male McDonald's cleaning crew, singing after-hours about their individual tasks, and emphasizing that "at McDonald's it's clean!" just before launching into the almost operatic chorus: "You deserve a break today / So get up and get away / To McDonald's!"
Another well known jingle was the "McDonald's is your kind of place / It's such a happy place / Hap, hap, hap, happy place..." from 1967, sung to the tune of "Down by the Riverside".

Big Mac

English (1974-)

Portuguese (1987-)

Russian (1990-)

"McDonald's and You!" (1983–1984)

"It's a good time for the great taste" (1984–1988)

There is also a full version used in one commercial.

Good Time, Great Taste (1988–1990)

There is also a full version sung by Ronald McDonald, some kids, and the McDonaldland gang in one commercial.

A Visit to McDonald's Makes Your Day (UK, 1988-1991)

Food, Folks and Fun (1990-1991)

There is also a full version used in one commercial.

McDonald's Today (1991-1992)

What you want is what you get (1992-1994)

There was also an extended version used in one commercial which goes like this:
There was also a full version used in 25 years of The best of McDonald's on TV VHS which goes like this:

Have you had your break today? (1995-1997)

Have you had your break today? (Big Mac/Canadian version, 1995-1997)

There was also a Canadian version that also promoted the Big Mac.

Livet har sina goda stunder

This campaign was used in Sweden in 1996 and was recorded by Swedish band Ultima Thule.

Every time a good time

This campaign was used in Germany in 1999 and was originally recorded by Billy White and Patricia Darcy Jones. The campaign was also used in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, and Hong Kong.

I'm lovin' it (2003–present)

There are also two full versions sung by Justin Timberlake. The first one was used in one commercial.
The second one was used in one commercial.

McDonald's menu song

The McDonald's $1,000,000 Menu Song was an instant-win promotion created as part of an advertising campaign, which ran from 1988 to early 1989. As the name suggests, the song, which was based on Reunion's 1974 hit single "Life Is a Rock ", incorporates all of the items on the McDonald's menu: sandwiches, other lunch/dinner items, breakfast items, dessert items, and drinks, in that order.

Promotion overview

Either flexi-discs or cardboard records containing the song were attached to advertising inserts and distributed within newspapers across the United States. On all but one of the issued recordings, the singers were not able to recite the song perfectly from start to finish; when the singers made a mistake, the record was over. On the unique, prize-winning recording, the singers were able to complete the song; this record was a $1,000,000 instant winner.
Approximately 80 million records were distributed, and only one of them was a winner. The promotion was won by Galax, Virginia, resident Charlene Price, who used the money to purchase the convenience store where she worked.
United States
In the United States, the lyrics read as follows:
Canada
In Canada, the lyrics were as follows:
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the lyrics were as follows:

Québec

Around the same time, a French version of the ad campaign was produced for Quebec; however, no promotion was attached.
The order given in this version was sandwiches, other lunch/dinner items, dessert items, drinks, and breakfast. The Québec lyrics were as follows:

Media tie-ins

The following movies and TV shows were made into Happy Meals and other promotional products:
;4Kids Entertainment
;20th Century Fox
;Aardman Animation
;Activision
;American Greetings
;Bagdasarian Productions
;Dimension Films
;DreamWorks
;Fox Kids/Jetix
;Hasbro
;Lego Group
;Lucasfilm Animation
;Marvel Entertainment
;Mattel
;Necco
;Nickelodeon
;Nintendo
;Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies
;Paws Inc.
;Sanrio
;Schneider's Bakery
;Sega
;Sony Pictures Entertainment
;Summit Entertainment
;Time Warner/Turner Broadcasting System
;Cartoon Network Studios
;Universal
;Walt Disney Studios and Jim Henson Productions
:
:
;Warner Bros.
;The Weinstein Company
;Zazzle
;Misc.

United States