At a time when almost any imagined world can be created digitally, McDonald’s Brazil and agency GALERIA chose a far more tangible path for the return of McFish. They did not leave the mythical Atlantis, where the new McFish and the Lost Recipe of Atlantis campaign takes place, solely to digital production. For the film, models of the city, buildings, ruins and a series of handmade miniatures were physically built.
That decision accompanies a story that turns the return of a single product to the menu into an expedition. McFish is once again available at McDonald’s restaurants across Brazil, and instead of a conventional announcement of its return, the campaign imagines that the recipe was discovered at the bottom of the sea, among the remains of a lost civilization.
In the film, a group of Fish Lovers sets out on an archaeological search after McFish disappears from the menu. Their journey leads them to Atlantis, where, in addition to the lost recipe, they discover murals and other traces of the civilization, as well as something very familiar to Brazilian McDonald’s customers: an ancient version of Méqui 1000, the iconic restaurant on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo.
The expedition also brings something new back to the menu. Alongside the classic McFish, McFish Deluxe has been introduced, a version of the sandwich with added lettuce and tomato.
Atlantis was not chosen by chance as the next destination in this story. In previous seasons, McDonald’s Brazil took its communication all the way to Alaska to explore the origin of the fillet used for McFish. This time, real geography has been replaced by mythology, while retaining the idea of developing the seasonal return of the product as a story audiences can follow.
This approach also builds on the specific relationship McFish has with part of its audience. According to Rodrigo Marangoni, Executive Creative Director at GALERIA, the product has a devoted community of fans behind it, which is why the brand does not treat its return as simply another menu item coming back, but as an event around which it can build a longer narrative.
The story therefore began even before the release of the main film. Through social media and content aimed at digital communities, McDonald’s gradually built the path toward McFish’s return, drawing on nostalgia and reactions from audiences who had been asking for it to come back. McDonald’s Brazil Marketing Director Ilca Sierra says the decision followed thousands of requests from fans.
The visual world of the main film is inspired by the language of Wes Anderson’s films, but its creation was deliberately tied to physical craft. GALERIA Creative Director Gabriel Felde explains that the ability to produce almost any image today with the help of artificial intelligence has raised questions about originality. The team therefore decided to plan the entire underwater world around physical production, from the architecture of Atlantis to the smallest elements of the set.
The idea does not end with the film, and the campaign includes a television film, digital strategy, OOH, content and collaborations with influencers, a special launch event and a series of brand experiences.
McFish and McFish Deluxe are available at McDonald’s restaurants in Brazil for a limited time, or while supplies last.
