McRib Mistakes

Ten years ago, McDonald’s made a mistake: they took the McRib off the menu. So to bring it back, we made one little mistake. We “mistakenly” sent a test notification to our biggest McRib fans, identified by their preference for BBQ sauce in our app. Using data in this way helped us capture a targeted audience. This little “mistake” became the number 1 trending topic on X and achieved £350 million worth of earned media, along with an 850% increase in conversation. We sold over 500,000 McRibs on the opening day, making the McRib the fastest selling launch day promo of all time