Global Camping: Wanna go to McDonald’s?
During the first week of FIFA’s World Cup 2025, McDonald’s launched a new campaign that got the media and marketers talkin.
McDonald’s campaign happens to be a multilingual and multicultural message for world integration. It is not only the famous characters that appear in the global pieces, such as the actor Jason Sudeikis, TikToker Khaby Lame, K-pop sensation ITZY and Twitch streamer Edwin Castro, that makes this campaign interesting and different.
What makes this campaign so current and joyful, are the 10 languages and 4 dialects in which the campaign has been developed.
The purpose of the campaign was to launch a solid communication message to unify the soccer interests of more than 75 markets in the world at the same time (Thinking global), but considering cultural differences, languages and particular activations following the market interests (Acting local).
The campaign brought to the table the real feeling of people by seeing their countries represented in the world, reminding them that no matter the results of the match, the most important thing is the support we can give to each other. And even better, having this positive support by celebrating the participation of cultures in sport, by eating at McDonald’s.
The main global announcement was launched on social media at the beginning of the World Cup 2025 Celebration. The additional versions, in parallel, were launched in their specific markets, and counted on regional celebrities and particular activations for local markets.
For anyone who paid attention, the subtle genius of the campaign lies in nuance. You could scroll through these ads and, honestly, catch yourself smiling a little—like when a phrase you grew up with, quirky and untranslatable, pops up midway through a global McDonald’s spot, and it just feels right. These details aren’t just for show, they signal that someone, somewhere on the creative team, bothered to look up from a spreadsheet long enough to notice how actual people talk, celebrate, and joke in their little corner of the world.
Of course, this move felt refreshing for audiences tired of being treated as a lonely demographic out in the marketing wild. It’s as though rather than translating a generic jingle, McDonald’s handed each country a mic and let them riff for a bit. Marketers noticed, too. All this fuss about localization isn’t just a trend; it reflects something deeper—an awareness that authenticity beats slick sameness every time. Probably why the campaign lingered in conversations long after the final whistle of the match.
Has your country been experiencing local McDonald’s actions during World Cup 2025?
Think global, act local
Nothing new for this brand. McDonald’s has been, in the last decades, a huge example of internationalization and also menu localization. So, what is different this time?
The difference, as we mentioned at the beginning, is the way they use the communicating power of language.
McDonald’s, probably more than many other global brands, understands how important it is for people to feel represented and recognized by a brand, thus generating positive business results.
In other words, McDonald’s used the correct form of localization in their Marketing storytelling, copies, actions and strategies, so people could see themselves in the ads and act exactly as the brand meant them to.
As a large enterprise, the business knows that to impact globally, the secret is to understand local behaviors. Build global goals, but develop local actions for getting those global goals.
It so happens that hearing your native language being well used following the specific cultural behaviors, generates a sense of property and empowerment. This is what McDonald’s has been doing for so many years, and finally made it more explicit with their World Cup 2025 campaign.
Conclusion
A couple of decades ago, localization wasn’t cheap at all, and it was difficult to implement. Today, with all the internet has to offer, localization is a MUST for every brand with international or global goals.
Translation is odd; localization is the key for global success, because it deals with the local behaviors of a market.
Understanding the other helps us build consistent narratives capable of generating representation. In the end, what people look for in a brand narrative is to feel included and represented.
Remember, who owns the language owns the power. Not in a colonizing way, but in a way of embracing the other’s language by entering and being part of it.
Who owns the language of the audience, has the market power. McDonald’s just simply mastered the skill.
To understand how to start developing a digital, yet global, communication with your brands, Why not understand what Google has to say about it?
