Key to the campaign was the scorching summer heat in the Philippines: with the heat index predicted to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius during the month of May. And with the lead product platform for the campaign being McDonald’s desserts, we came up with the clever wordplay: Beat The May Weather.

At the height of the pre-fight buzz, we placed a small ad on a tabloid, ice-cold dessert products with the headline: Beat The May Weather. Underneath the ad was the McDonald’s twitter handle and a desserts hashtag.

Online, we whetted people’s appetites with mouth-watering pictures of McDonald’s desserts and the same headline: Beat The May Weather. Less than 24 hours after it was first re-tweeted, ‘Beat The May Weather’ had become the country’s battlecry going into the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight … and a resounding reminder to get themselves some ice-cold McDonald’s desserts. More materials using the headline were rolled out in a span of 4 days. Five minutes after Pacquiao’s defeat, McDonald’s posted a consoling social card for the figher and the nation, which reaped massive positive responses.

Even with only a 4-day run, “Beat The May Weather” fever swept the country, with conversations even spilling over to foreign press.

The campaign achieved astounding social media success, delivering remarkable results:

• Top trending topic on Twitter Philippines

• Over 24.6 million impressions

• Php 23.7 million earned in media values

Even more impressive are the sales figures for McDonald’s desserts:

• 10% increase in total dessert sales

• 6% increase in McFlurry sales

• 17% increase in McFloat sales

• 61% increase in ice cream cone sales