McDonald's brings monster in for CNY push

According to Chinese legend, a Nian Shou – or New Year monster – comes to town to eat people until a brave old villager learned to fend it off with red couplets and firecrackers.This year, McDonald’s and TBWA\Shanghai relive the myth with a bit of a twist: with red bean pie and fireworks.The monster – depicted with an animated cartoon – barges into families’ homes and McDonald’s stores demanding for various foods (each spot features something different); yet the customers all refuse in a comical way.“We wanted to really take a fresh approach to the CNY period and surprise and engage our audiences with something new and yet still locally relevant,” said Christine Xu, vice president of national marketing at McDonald’s China.“We challenged the agency to develop something that would provoke a conversation.”Brian Swords, managing director of TBWA\Shanghai, added McDonald's is a global brand that always strives to connect locally.“That was a very important goal for this campaign period. I think we have managed to do that in a fun and engaging way in this campaign,”  Swords said.The spots red bean pie, burger, chicken and New Year combo can be viewed on Youku and will be aired on television over the coming weeks.The media agency in charge is OMD.