Angry birds invade China via McDonald's & TBWA

Angry birds have invaded China by way of McDonald's. A special location-based campaign created by TBWA\ Shanghai in collaboration with Rovio allows game-players who visit McDonald's to unlock special hidden game modes and get free Power-Ups. Oh Finland, once you sold tyres all over the world, then cutting edge cellphones, and now you're the king of smart-phone games.

The location-based campaign is available to the millions of Angry Birds fans on iOS devices in China and serves as an invitation to others to join in and download the game.

“We’re delighted about this exciting new initiative in China,” said Christine Xu, Vice President, Marketing for McDonald’s China. “Both McDonald’s and Rovio are brands that are very focused on their customers, wanting to constantly bring them better and more engaging experiences, and that’s what brought us together.”

“We’re always creating new engaging experiences for our fans everywhere,” said Paul Chen, General Manager for Rovio China. “With this campaign, we are once again bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds, with the in-game experience complementing the 1500 completely branded physical locations in a new, surprising way for our fans in China.”

“The partnership with McDonald’s and Rovio is truly unique and this campaign is the first of it’s kind for Gamelab and TBWA,” commented Väinö Leskinen, Vice President of TBWA\HELSINKI and Gamelab. “Games are becoming increasingly more important as a media for brands. We’re thrilled that we were able to bring our insights on how brands can optimize their presence in games to McDonald’s and work in partnership with Rovio, a true leader in games.”

The campaign launches with a TV commercial to introduce the story. In the commercial, a battle is waged between the Pigs (Green) and the Angry Birds (Red). The battle begins when the much loved McDonald’s burger is stolen from a customer by the pigs, which sets the birds in motion.

In addition to the TV commercial and customized game, which features in-game advertising and is available on both mobile and desktop devices, the campaign also includes in-store promotions, online advertising, social and outdoor media. Consumers will also be given the opportunity to vote on the city that will get to build an actual slingshot, like those used in the Angry Birds games, to protect McDonald’s food from the Pigs.

Ad agency: TBWA\ Shanghai