First, take a listen to the radio commercial:
The geniuses who created this radio spot for McDonald’s spend almost the entire 30 seconds of the ad helping listeners understand the concept of “missing” something.
The product name gets buried in the opening, because listeners aren’t expecting it and the copy doesn’t prepare them for it.
If people actively listen until the end of this advertisement, which is unlikely, then they’ll hear who the sponsor is and what product is being promoted.
“But Dan, what about the power of frequency, of listeners hearing that commercial repeatedly?”
Few will hear it repeatedly. Most will tune out repeatedly.
A radio commercial such as this is especially wasteful, because they have a well-defined target audience:
People who have eaten McDonalds’ McRibs…and who enjoyed it.
They’re not trying to introduce this product to the marketplace. The sole message of this campaign should be:
“Hey, you guys who like McDonalds’ McRibs! It’s back on the menu! Go get some!”
And the copywriting….Good grief.
“Like the Mojave Desert misses a tropical storm”?
Really? Precisely how can the Mojave Desert miss something it’s never experienced?
That first metaphor leaves the audience either puzzled or bored. That’s not a good thing to do at the beginning of a radio commercial.
Well, I guess the fresh-out-of-college intern who wrote that needs to learn radio copywriting somewhere. It’s quite generous of McDonald’s to underwrite that person’s on-the-job education.
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Wow, Dan. I’ve heard this commercial multiple times in my market, and every time I hear it, I’ve thought the EXACT SAME THING about that stupid Mojave Desert metaphor! It doesn’t make any sense because you can’t miss something you never had! I would agree that it leaves the audience puzzled or bored, and I would even add “annoyed.” And, of course, it’s always a smart move to associate a negative emotion with your product (if listeners even remember the product).