Photo source: Marketing Dive
McDonald’s New Zealand decided to take a completely different direction in sports marketing, without major ambassadors or technological innovations. The new campaign, created in collaboration with football club Auckland FC, focuses on something that until recently would probably have ended up down the kitchen drain – leftover pickle juice from McDonald’s restaurants.
The idea comes from a growing sports and internet phenomenon in which pickle juice is becoming popular among athletes as a quick solution for cramps during matches and training sessions. The salty liquid has been circulating in professional sports for some time, especially among football players and endurance athletes, and is believed to help stop cramps by triggering a neural reflex.
That is exactly what McCann New Zealand and McDonald’s NZ tried to turn into a brand story. Instead of developing a new product, the campaign uses what the brand already has – the recognizable Macca’s pickles and excess brine from its kitchens – and transforms them into a limited sports recovery product.
During the collaboration with Auckland FC, the bottled liquid appeared on the sidelines and in the hands of players such as defender Dan Hall, while the campaign was also expanded into recreational sports. Through social media, McDonald’s organized a giveaway for amateur and veteran football teams across New Zealand, allowing them to win their own supply of pickle juice packs.
The campaign’s visual identity further emphasized the connection between sports and fast-food culture. Neon green bottles, minimalist sports photography and copy lines such as “Hydrate like a hero. Smell like a burger.” and “Be a champion, not a crampion” show how the campaign balances self-irony, sports insight and recognizable McDonald’s aesthetics.
For McDonald’s New Zealand, this is also a continuation of its broader strategy related to sports sponsorships and community marketing, but in a way that feels much more spontaneous and culturally relevant than traditional sponsorship activations. Instead of simply placing logos next to the pitch, the brand is trying to become part of actual player behavior.
“We kept spotting players reaching for pickle juice during games and thought – we’ve got plenty of it in our kitchens,” said Simon Kenny, Head of Impact and Communications at McDonald’s New Zealand, adding that this could potentially be the first project of its kind within the global McDonald’s system.
A similar tone was maintained by Rory McKechnie, Executive Creative Director at McCann, who described the campaign as an example of an idea born from “weird, brilliant behaviors that already exist in culture.”
At a time when brands are increasingly trying to find ways to become part of internet microtrends and everyday behavior culture, this campaign shows how even the smallest production detail can become a communication platform. Especially when audiences already understand the reference in advance.
And perhaps that is exactly why this idea works better than traditional sports campaigns. It does not try to look like a major innovation. It is enough that it looks like something someone could genuinely have done spontaneously in a locker room.
