Ad Campaigns
McDonald’s India launches ‘It’s a McD Thing’ campaign – redefining ‘Adda’ culture
MUMBAI – Celebrating the magic of togetherness and spontaneous moments that have defined the McDonald’s experience for generations, McDonald’s India (West & South) has launched its latest brand campaign – ‘It’s a McD Thing’. This new campaign conceptualised by DDB Mudra is all about the strategic narrative that elevates McDonald’s restaurants into a cultural canvas where life’s unscripted moments create lasting connections and memories.
The campaign launches with two distinctive films that capture unique ‘McD moments’ in different contexts. The first film beautifully leverages behavioural insights about Gen Z’s relationship with physical spaces in an increasingly digital world. The narrative centers on a quintessential ‘McD moment’ where a group of concert-bound friends are enjoying their time at McDonald’s before heading out to the event. Instead of getting disheartened the group spontaneously orchestrated a jam session using McDonald’s food, packaging, beverages, and table-tapping beats, transforming disappointment into a moment of joy and connection.
The second film highlights McDonald’s as a destination for professionals working late at night. Set in a quiet office during late hours, it follows a programmer who is startled by mysterious growling sounds. The tension builds until he discovers it’s simply his colleague’s hungry stomach. The scene transitions to both of them enjoying a meal at McDonald’s, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to being there whenever hunger strikes. The tagline ‘Your night shift, our night shift’ emphasizes McDonald’s presence during unconventional hours and showcases the brand’s regional connection.
McDonald’s India (W&S) CMO Arvind R.P. said, “McDonald’s has been that special place where friends gather, celebrations happen, and everyday moments become memories. With ‘It’s a McD Thing,’ we are celebrating those authentic connections and spontaneous moments that can only happen at McDonald’s where our food becomes the backdrop for life’s meaningful experiences.”
DDB Mudra executive creative directors, Harshada Menon & Siddhesh Khatavkar said, “McDonald’s has its own unwritten rules when it comes to the way fans order, eat, share and hang out. With ‘It’s a McD Thing’, we wanted to spotlight those quirks and rituals that are so familiar, iconic, and happen only at McDonald’s. In other words, it’s not just a place to eat; it’s where stories begin. A cultural space where everyday moments turn into lasting memories. That’s what makes McDonald’s unique.”
The campaign taps into the memories of those who grew up with McDonald’s as their go-to meetup spot, from first dates and post-exam celebrations to late-night study sessions and weekend hangouts. It acknowledges the restaurant’s unique position in India’s cultural fabric as an ‘adda’ or communal gathering space that crosses generations.
The films are also created with a distinctly local flavour and the tagline ‘Our food, your mood’. This campaign has been rolled out across television, digital platforms, and in-restaurant promotions designed to encourage user-generated content.
The brand films were created to resonate with both Gen Z customers who are creating new memories at McDonald’s and older customers who carry fond recollections of their own McDonald’s moments from years past.
Every Indian has a McDonald’s story, whether it’s celebrating a birthday, catching up with old friends, or just grabbing a quick bite during college breaks. This campaign is an invitation to remember those special McDonald’s moments and create new ones. That’s what makes it ‘a McD thing’. Those shared experiences happen naturally when good food and good company come together.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
