Alma is the national Hispanic agency of record for McDonald’s. So, you can imagine that there’s more than one story to tell about this account. It’s an account that combines retail and brand in a high volume of advertising executions every year. Here are a few of my favorites along with the strategy lines that correspond to each.
Agency: Alma | Account Planner: Henry Louis Gomez
Title: First Customer | Creative Director: Jorge Murillo
The Story: This assignment will always be one of my favorites. DDB brought in advertising legend Keith Reinhard to brief us on the assignment which was to develop TV ideas for the bi-annual McDonald’s Worldwide Convention. In turn, I had to take Keith’s words of inspiration and turn them into something actionable for the Hispanic audience. I flew to Chicago with the agency president to pitch this idea. It was one of the last projects I worked on for McDonald’s at Alma.
Strategy: Fun, family and friendship are even more extraordinary at McDonald’s.
Epilogue: This spot ran during the Oscars and I won Best of Show at the Hispanic Account Planning Excelencia (HAPE) Awards for the brief. A few months later I was standing in the lobby of State Farm’s headquarters and noticed a piece of framed sheet music on the wall. It was for the “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” jingle. Music by Barry Manilow and lyrics by Keith Reinhard. Did I mention he is a legend?
Agency: Alma | Account Planner: Henry Louis Gomez
Title: Cancha | Creative Director: Nour da Silva
The Story: This spot wasn’t originally supposed to be soccer-themed. It was simply going to be a brand ad, but Nour da Silva, one of my favorite creatives, came up with this gem.
Strategy: McDonald’s isn’t just a restaurant; it’s community, family, friendship, laughter and optimism.
Epilogue: This spot really captures what McDonald’s means in a lot of Latino neighborhoods. The agency was lucky enough to be able to have Tarsem Singh direct it. It ran nationally during the opening game of the 2014 World Cup and was on the short list for a Cannes Lion in Film Craft. A proud moment in my career.
Agency: Alma | Account Planner: Henry Louis Gomez
Title: Burst | Creative Director: Jorge Murillo
The Story: McDonald’s was launching an extension to its McCafé Real Fruit Smoothie line. For the general market, mango and pineapple are exotic, Caribbean flavors, but for Latinos, they are embedded in the cultural palette and memory.
Strategy: Your mango and your pineapple now together in your Real Fruit Smoothie from McCafé.
Epilogue: This spot ran in both English and Spanish. The client loved it so much, they dedicated most of the English-language media inventory for the launch to it. It ran in nationally in the NBA finals that year. Not the Super Bowl, but close!
Henry Louis Gomez 