We wanted people to go into McDonald’s to play and win – no matter what team they were lovin’ - with Game Time Gold! The brand has always fostered lovin’ actions, and we wanted to inspire positivity across the league! By testing people’s NFL team loyalties and actually getting fans and NFL legends to root for their rivals, we would encourage lovin’ across America and drive conversation and interest in McDonald’s.

It was no small sweepstakes. Every week, McDonald’s gave away $500,000 and a trip for two to Super Bowl 50, plus hundreds of other fun items. Fans and non-fans were encouraged to go to McDonald’s for millions of instant-win food prizes and tune into Sunday Night Football to see if they won the ultimate NFL prize LIVE during halftime.

To kick it off, we leaked a video of legendary Chicago Bears coach, Mike Ditka, “caught” wearing archrival Green Bay Packers’ jersey. This video freaked out the world of football. NFL fans and players alike were stunned by Coach Ditka’s change in loyalty. After 1 million+ views and countless headlines in just hours, we launched our campaign, telling fans why Coach Ditka became a Packers fan — all for the chance to win McDonald’s products. Soon after, we had the best wide receiver in NFL history, Jerry Rice, sport the gear of his rival team, the Dallas Cowboys. Again, the world noticed.

Partnering with the NFL allowed for huge media exposure; NBC Sunday Night Football is the most watched primetime program throughout football season. Our coveted placement on SNF included a live read of winners by NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth, furthering our massive penetration in American households.

The campaign entries far exceeded expectations for a McDonald’s first significant mobile-entry sweepstakes. Results were as follows:

• 50.64% opt-in rate, with the rate increasing daily until the last day of the promotion

• $170MM increase in brand sales vs. previous year, an increase of 5.6% (exceeding their goal of +3.0%)

• 12 million+ game codes entered overall

• 3,472,790 sweepstakes registrations entered via SMS

• 8,779,277 mobile text entries entered via SMS

• 1,758,591 customer opt-in phone numbers acquired

• Based on a random survey, consumers said they were 26% more likely to visit a McDonald’s during the GTG campaign

• 16.6 million video views

• 77.3 million Facebook impressions

• 13.6% engagement rate on Instagram

• 80 million Snapchat filter views