Koningsdag

One little twist with our logo, brought us big results:
• 30 minutes of the 2 hours broadcast on national TV, with more than 3.5 million viewers (>20% of the entire country)
• An incredible amount of free publicity
• Media time on different TV stations
• A grateful Facebook post from the king himself

A perfect opportunity arose: the main stage where the king would celebrate his birthday and where the live broadcast would take place, was located right in front of our restaurant. 
So we hacked the event. For the first time ever, we changed our logo. On Kingsday we flipped the famous Golden Arches on the outside of our restaurant, creating a W for Willem as a tribute to the king. And because the king’s visit to Kingsday is broadcast live on national television, our stunt was picked up by major TV stations and went viral.
Inside our restaurant, we changed everything and we mean everything, in- and outside our restaurant. Every item on the menu had a flipped M from the packaging to the name tags and even the Arches on the bins. 

One of the biggest cultural events in The Netherlands is Kingsday: the day we celebrate the birthday of our King Willem. It’s a national festivity with activities all over the Netherlands. And every year, the king visits one city to celebrate his birthday with local residents. The event is broadcasted live on national TV and watched by millions of people. 
The rules and protocols surrounding the royal family results in a highly predictable and thoroughly choreographed event. However, our popular King Willem is known to be a jovial guy that appreciates a joke.
The challenge was to infuse Kingsday 2016 with McDonald’s spontaneity and to show that the brand is in touch with local culture.