McDonald’s recently broke a new Spanish-language commercial aimed at the U.S. Hispanic market. What makes the ad, "Anthem," interesting is that it is part of the fast food chain’s first branding effort intended to celebrate the cultural richness of Hispanic consumers. The commercial is part of the year-long "Points of Pride" campaign created by advertising agency del Rivero Messianu, Coral Gables, Fla. The ads are scheduled to air on the Telemundo and Univision networks.
Del Rivero Messianu has handled the fast food chain’s Hispanic advertising account since ’94, but "Points of Pride" sets a precedent for McDonald’s via the agency. Luis Mi- guel Messianu, chief creative officer at del Rivero Messianu, says the campaign—which will also include print and radio ads, a concert, television specials and talent contests—is a breakthrough. "DDB [Chicago] is the lead agency for McDonald’s and they do the general market commercials. Burrell [Communications Group, Chicago] does African-American. Leo Burnett [Co., Chicago] does youth, and we do Hispanic," says Messianu. "Most of the time, we all work supporting the different promotions and the different brand efforts. This is the first time there’s been a full-blown, Hispanic-specific [branding] campaign. This is the first time it’s separate from the other programs, and it’s a dedicated effort, which is very exciting.
"[McDonald’s] asked us, ‘What can we do to do a better job of showing our commitment to this consumer segment?,’" he continues. "The reality is that McDonald’s has been a very committed advertiser. They just wanted to take it to the next level. Our challenge was to go beyond the traditional programming we normally do. We looked at it as an opportunity to do a truly integrated campaign. It contains television commercials, but it’s much more than that. It’s an umbrella that’s going to house all the different Hispanic-specific activities throughout the year. It also includes the first Hispanic Web site for McDonald’s."
"Anthem," the initial spot in the year-long campaign, was directed by Claudia Alberdi of Film Planet, which has offices in Venice, Calif., São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rome and Paris. The ad broke last month during Lo Maximo del Espiritu Latino (The Best of the Hispanic Spirit), an hour-long special that was telecast nationally on Telemundo.
"Anthem" contains several vignettes of Hispanic-Americans in various settings and situations. The black-and-white spot, which features frames of color scattered throughout, opens with an image of an ecstatic crowd at a soccer match cheering a goal. The ad blends images of everyday people with celebrities, including the singer Enrique Iglesias and boxer Oscar De La Hoya. At the end of the commercial, the color frames merge together to form the logo of McDonald’s Web site (www.LoMcXimo.com).
Image builder
Messianu points out that the Spanish-language copy is "very emotional. The music is very upbeat; it has the feeling of the Caribbean; [and also] has the more Mexican feeling. It’s a combination of the different subgroups."
"This was very much an image campaign," adds Alberdi. "The whole concept of the spot was to show what the Latin spirit is all about."
The spot was shot in several Miami locations in December. Alberdi, who is based in Los Angeles, says, "We had a lot to cover. It was a tight schedule. Every vignette happened in a completely different location. We had to cover at least three different locations every day. It was pretty hectic."
"We pretty much approached this as a master shoot," says Messianu. "We ended up with a library of footage that we’re going to be able to edit for different spots." In addition to "Anthem," the agency plans to air four other commercials in the campaign throughout the course of 2000.
Why did the agency choose Alberdi for the project? "We love the way she composes images," Messianu says. "We didn’t want to come up with the traditional vignette spot, so we looked for someone who had [a] great [sense of] composition, great art direction and great photography. What we liked about her work was that she really communicated that [cultural] passion on film."
The commercial was originally filmed in color, but the agency wanted its look to tie in with the campaign’s Web site design. "We went to black and white so that the LoMcXimo.com [color] logo would stand out. The logo is composed of four squares," explains Messianu. "In postproduction, we brought in the [colors of the Web site logo] and accentuated different details, and the squares all came together to form the logo at the end."
The agency creative team on "Anthem" included Messianu, creative director Jose Luis Villa, copywriter Christian Reslen and art director Marcos Macias. Aidita Urra-Alamo served as agency producer. Alberto Slezynger of Personal Music, Miami, composed the music for the commercial. Del Rivero Messianu will continue to do brand and product spots for McDonald’s, but those efforts will remain separate from the "Points of Pride" campaign.
Other recent credits out of the agency include "UFO" and "Hose" for Consejero.com, a financial Web site with a focus on Latin America. Consejero.com is part of Intelligent Life, an online provider of personal finance resources. The ads, created for the U.S. Hispanic market, were directed by Pablo Gutierrez of Milagrito Films, a Uruguayan production company.
While del Rivero Messianu’s Spanish-language spots air far and wide, it is also becoming more common for the agency’s Hispanic market ads to cross over into the general market. Messianu cites "Daddy’s Little Girl," a McDonald’s spot helmed by Bob Ebel of Ebel Productions, Chicago, as an example. The Happy Meal promotion was shot in both Spanish and English. "We’re trying to target Hispanics that feel more comfortable with English," says Messianu, adding that "Daddy’s Little Girl" also aired on general market stations.
