McDonald's holds global 'day of joy' after worst sales in a decade

Food giant will roll out a 24-hour campaign across 24 cities on March 24 in its biggest marketing push since its "I'm lovin it" campaign over a decade ago

By Ashley Armstrong 24 March 2015 • 5:00pm

McDonald's is launching the 24-hour global marketing push as it combats falling sales and stiff competition Credit: Photo: Alamy

McDonald’s has moved to to turnaround a global slump in its fast-food sales by holding a "24 hours of joy” marketing campaign on Tuesday.

The one-day advertising campaign across 24 cities came after the company reported its worst sales performance in a decade and replaced its chief executive, and was the food giant’s biggest global marketing push since its “I’m lovin’ it” campaign in 2004.

The company, famed for its Golden Arches, started its "imlovinit24" campaign with a giant seven metre wide coffee cup in Sydney filled with balls for commuters to dive into. The worldwide campaign is tailored to different cities cultures: In the Philippines drive-thru customers were treated to a free breakfast; in Italy McDonald's hosted a pyjama party, in Stockholm the Swedish national ski team put on a fashion show and in Vienna a philharmonic orchestra surpised guests. Some diners in other cities will receive customised Coca-Cola cans with #ImLovinIt printed on the side.

In London, pop star Jessie J hosted a surprise concert on a double decker bus.

^{Jesse J has been recruited to help the ailing giant}

Earlier this month the pop-star revealed she would be starring in the secret gig.

Guess who’s going to be playing a secret gig in London on 24th March?!? I'm going to tweet more info very soon .. #jjlovinit #ad #McDonalds
— Jessie J (@JessieJ) March 12, 2015

The fast-food chain tried to generate a social media buzz throughout the day by tweeting pictures of the event.

Here are some of the highlights from @JessieJ's secret bus tour! Come back for more... #jessieislovinit #imlovinit pic.twitter.com/KY5C23JYp9
— McDonald's UK (@McDonaldsUK) March 24, 2015

The global marketing drive ended in the US with a free concert by R&B singer Ne-YO who sang a "Lovin' anthem composed of crowdsourced lyrics".

"Customer service is the focus of everything we do, and each day we aspire to serve joy to millions of people," said Deborah Wahl, McDonald's chief marketing officer. "Today, we're bringing the world together in a fun, positive way like only McDonald's can."

The advertising drive comes as McDonald's reported its first fall in sales in 12 years. In January the fast-food chain reported a 14pc fall in annual profits to $4.7bn and it hasn't reported a positive sales quarter in its home US market since 2013.

Last year global same-store sales fell by 1pc while just last month sales slumped by 1.7pc across the world and 4pc in the US.

In March the company admitted there was an "urgent need to evolve with today's consumers".

McDonald's hired British-born Steve Easterbrook as its new chief executive to replace outgoing Don Thompson in January.

Mr Easterbrook joined McDonald's in 1993 before leaving briefly to become chief executive of highstreet restaurant chain Pizza Express and Wagamama. He returned to McDonald's as global chief brand officer in 2013.

On Monday, it emerged that McDonald's UK boss of the restaurant chain, Jill McDonald, would join car parts and bike retailer Halfords. McDonald’s employs 97,000 people in the UK.