McDrip is a fashion collaboration and social media activation created to engage Gen Z and get them to apply for jobs at McDonald’s. One part of the work was a fashion collection designed by the VAIN fashion label for McDonald’s Finland with the clothes made from used McDonald’s workwear. The other part was the social media activation, which used the fashion collection to and how it was communicated to make Gen Z recognise McDonald’s as a brand they can relate to. The fashion was only available to McDonald’s employees: Want the drop? Get the job!

McDonald’s Finland had a problem: Gen Z didn’t think it was cool to work there. As youth is the primary workforce of fast-food restaurants, new talent is crucial to maintain the market leader’s customer and brand experience.

Based on market research and insights from past campaigns, it was clear that McDonald’s had to show affinity to Gen Z through actions and not just messaging. And it should be done social first. McDonald’s Finland is ahead of its competitors with its social media presence and community engagement, so the campaign would build on that. Engaging Gen Z where it could relate to it. The goal was to make McDonald’s a cool place to work, the uniform cool to wear and to get new employees.

How to get Gen Z excited about the McDonald’s brand – excited enough to apply for a job? Our approach combined social activation and breaking into popular culture. The idea was not to just do a fashion collaboration but to make it more meaningful and tie it into recruitment.

McDonald’s Finland collaborated with a local, up and coming, Gen Z fashion designer Jimi VAIN whose career could actually be supported. Fashion was chosen as the field because young Finnish designers have been getting international plaudits in recent years. The clothes were made from used McDonald’s workwear collected around Finland. So essentially VAIN was tasked with making the McDonald’s uniform cool in the eyes of Gen Z. The recruitment angle came from making the collection available only to McDonald’s employees – Want the drop? Get the job! From the launch onwards, everything was communicated on social media and largely through organic

McDonald’s had a problem: Gen Z didn’t think it was cool to work there. To get applications up, we had to show the brand could be a part of Gen Z’s life. The way to go was breaking into popular culture and doing it social first.

Fashion was a good fit as it would connect with a perfect symbol for working at McDonald’s: the uniform. The new fashion line was made from used McDonald’s uniforms and featured recognisable McDonald’s brand elements executed playfully. It became about literally making the uniform cool – and thereby the job.

To highlight the connection to employment opportunities, the drop was only for McDonald’s employees. Want the drop? Get the job! To make Gen Z heard and seen, we used social media in a way that did not feel like advertising and recruitment. Yet still was recognisable and supporting the brand

Creating the fashion collection was the first step. Jimi VAIN was given creative freedom as the fashion expert, and he also got to play with the McDonald’s brand. It was crucial for the fashion to stand out and be desirable.

Launch materials were created including photoshoots of all the 13 looks created, a guerilla-style poster campaign and videos that would be used in McDonald’s Finland and VAIN own channels. The launch fashion show at a McDonald’s in central Helsinki was live-streamed on TikTok with attending fashion influencers sharing McDrip on TikTok and Instagram.

From there, influencers organically shared content with influencers from VAIN’s entourage the most impactful with their clips including footage from a closed McDonald’s at night – these gathered millions of views and combined the VAIN aesthetic with the McDonald’s brand in a playful and unforced way that resonated with Gen Z. Next, the job applications flooded

The number one target of increasing job applications to McDonald’s Finland was reached fast. Number of applications grew by 63% – a record-breaking number of total applications for McDonald’s Finland. There’s no longer a shortage of applicants for McDonald’s jobs in Finland.

Earned media reach: 228 million – to put it into proportion, that’s equal to 40 times the Finnish population.

Earned media value: 11MEUR – that’s over 700 times the media spend.

And for their targeted 16-24-year-old demographic:

Employer image by 52%

Brand responsibility image by 69%

“It’s a brand I trust” perception by 65%

“Is a brand for someone like me” by 30%.

Having Lil Uzi Vert wearing McDrip during a Drake gig and Drake posting a pic of it on Instagram to his 136 million followers was a welcome addition to the attention.

VAIN stats on social media after launch:

example TikTok video shares grew by 1,124,900%

McDonald’s is traditionally seen as a portal to the “big world” even when its marketing is local in nature and execution. McDrip really drove home this point and the local-global connection.

Lifting an up and coming designer to the spotlight was a great way to show how McDonald’s can support local talent – also inspiring youth aspirations. Furthermore, this campaign which started as a local recruitment push, led to the designer Jimi Vain and his label VAIN being recognised internationally, giving him a boost of attention and acclaim during the fashion event Pitti Uomo in Florence and having Drake post a pic of Lil Uzi Vert wearing VAIN’s McDrip designs.

And in Finland, if you are recognised abroad it means exponential media attention locally too – which also served McDonald’s.