MCRIB TOUR

In 2016, McDonald's brought back the McRib after a year-long absence, and Southern California fans were ready to celebrate. The McRib had become a cult phenomenon, appearing and disappearing from menus unpredictably, which made its return feel like an event worth marking. We needed a campaign that matched that energy and tapped into Southern California's deep music culture. The Pork & Pepper Comeback Tour positioned the McRib and Dr Pepper as headliners on a multi-city tour across the region. The integrated campaign drove a 25% increase in McRib sales over the previous year and earned recognition as a 2017 Webby Award Honoree in Best Integrated Campaign.

IDEA AND EXECUTION

As Director of Digital Services, I oversaw the digital ecosystem supporting the experiential activation. This meant building a microsite, producing animated display banners in multiple languages, creating Snapchat geofilters for social sharing, integrating social media mechanics, developing real-time tour tracking, and coordinating onsite at live events to ensure the digital and physical experience worked seamlessly together. We created outdoor boards, broadcast and online video, and targeted digital advertising on Spotify to reach customers while they were already engaged with music content. The physical tour bus traveled to locations across Southern California, wrapped in campaign branding and handing out tour swag to fans who showed their digital badges.
MICROSITE

McRibTour.com served as the central hub where fans could create and share customizable backstage tour badges to unlock exclusive prizes at physical tour bus activations. I coordinated with DE Advertising's development team to build the badge creator, real-time tour tracker, and social sharing functionality. The site generated strong engagement, with visitors spending an average of 3 minutes on the landing page and over 20% creating and sharing badges.
Snapchat Geofilter/Lens Frame
BROADCAST
ANIMATED DISPLAY BANNER STORYBOARDS
THE TOUR BUS
BUZZ
The campaign generated significant organic social media engagement across Southern California, with fans spotting billboards, encountering the tour bus in traffic, and sharing their experiences across Instagram and Twitter. Posts ranged from excitement about the McRib's return to surprised reactions at seeing the branded bus on local streets.
CREDITS:
Director, Digital Services: Matt Graber
Creative Direction: DE Advertising
Development: DE Advertising