Creative branded entertainment is a relatively new phenomenon in Sweden and the examples so far have been fairly traditional; such as classic buy-ins in movies and TV-shows, sponsorships, branded video games and so on. As always with McDonald’s, all eyes are on us. To some extent, you might say that the brand is struggling to regain its position as the classic and fun family favourite.

We created an interactive challenge where you could use your Smartphone as a joystick to control a game, in real time, staged on a large digital screen in central Stockholm. To make it user-friendly and simple we went for a web-app using JavaScript and Html5; no applications or downloads required. Simply pick up your phone and get online, go to picknplay.se and enable Geo-location in the mobile browser. Then pick a goodie and steer the paddle by using the touch-screen on your phone, as you follow the game in real time on the big screen. The event let people interact and control the screen in a new and unique way. The campaign also had a tactical component; if you lasted 30 seconds in the interactive challenge digital coupon was automatically sent to you phone with directions to collect your free goodie at McDonald’s. Game on!

Pick n´ Play became a big hit as the interactive challenge re-boosted the fun in McDonald’s. The premiere weekend we attracted 460 players during 5 hours; which resulted in 400 cashed-in coupons and a record-sale (the best Saturday of the year) for the closest McDonald’s. That was just the beginning. The events went on to create longer lines, lots of engagement and lots of publicity. Pick n Play reached 430,000 views on YouTube, 1,000s of tweets, millions of Google-hits and has been mentioned all over the net ranging from tech-blogs to The Independent UK, and everything in between.