Let's Talk McMinimalism

Hey there, it's David Griner from Adweek, where I work as Creative and Innovation Editor.

It's a sleepy Friday in advertising land, what with the holiday week right around the corner, so today I wanted to spend some time recapping one of my favorite creative trends from a major brand in recent years: Minimalist McDonald's.

The restaurant giant's marketing in America has generally been pretty straightforward (though that might change under new creative AOR Wieden + Kennedy), but the past five years have seen some wonderfully distilled work coming out of European markets.

The newest example came this week via German agency Heimat, which created the simple and lovely "Iconic Days" campaign and rolled it out on Instagram Stories

Each ad unit fills simple product outlines with colorful images specific to a time of day when you might crave a specific snack. The German campaign is expected to extend into posters and more in the coming months.

This obviously isn't McDonald's first reduction rodeo. Since 2014, Heimat's sister agency TBWA\Paris has been leading the trend by creating some of the brand's most memorable and minimalist campaigns in recent years.

It largely began with the campaign that turned McDonald's products into pure icons:

In 2017, TBWA\Paris continued to strip things down with two great McDonald's campaigns: one showing only the crumbs left after a meal, and another (my personal favorite) that gorgeously turned photography of lights into an ad for the chain's late-night hours:

What are your favorite minimalist campaigns (for McDonald's or any brand at all)? Drop me an email or hit me up at @Griner on Twitter to let me know!

Wishing you warm and happy holidays,

David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor
Adweek

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FF Los Angeles created the posters for Greta Thunberg's Fridays For Future organization