McDonald's and Basketball- Through the Years

Call me crazy, but when I think of McDonald’s, my mind doesn’t immediately spring to thoughts of in-shape, professional basketball players. However, this is the direction McDonald’s advertisers have gone in for literally decades. One of their most recent commercials features superstars Lebron James and Dwight Howard squaring off in a slam-dunk contest where the winner gets a Big Mac, obviously a coveted prize for two professional athletes who, if need be, could buy an entire McDonalds in order to get their hands on one. While this commercial could stand by itself in its entertainment value, what is most exciting is that it is a copy-cat of a 1990’s McDonald’s ad featuring the basketball superstars of the time, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, taking jump-shots for the same prize.

The past commercial creates audience foreknowledge for those who were around in the 90’s, providing definite information the audience can bring to this commercial. The premise and dialog are almost identical, with the exception of changing the jump-shot contest into the more visually spectacular slam-dunks. This might be because Dwight Howard is not a jump shooter, Larry Bird was not much of a dunker and well, MJ and Lebron James do both, or because the technology in the 1990’s was only advanced enough to show outrageously complicated jump shots as opposed to dunks like the ones performed in the recent installment of the commercial by James and Howard. Although it is clear that in both commercials some of the shots were edited, the stars’ skills are still showcased and we can marvel at their outstanding abilities. It is fun as the audience to also witness the playful interactions between both sets of superstars who are each other’s rivals. Dwight Howard’s big, comical personality is front and center in the commercial while Lebron simply dunks when he is supposed to and smiles along with us. Bird and Jordan make faces at each other as the contest continues on and on until they are taking shots from the top of a skyscraper across the street.

The real genius in the recent commercial is its self-referentiality. The Howard/James commercial is not only identical to the Bird/Jordan version, but it features Larry Bird at the end of the commercial eating the player’s Big Mac. The audience can laugh at Bird who is finally getting the lunch he competed for 20 years earlier while watching a new generation of players from the sidelines. For those who do not know of the 90’s version of the commercial but who are still basketball fans and familiar with the Hall-of-Fame career of Bird, the fact that James and Howard do not recognize him is a comical twist. Those of a younger generation, who are similar to James and Howard in their ignorance of basketball history, can relate to the stars and still find the commercial entertaining on a more shallow level.

For someone who loves basketball and watches the NBA slam-dunk contest every year, this commercial is a lot of fun for me. Although I don’t think it is all that likely Lebron James and Dwight Howard are rolling up to the drive through window every chance they get, McDonald’s has used an effective technique to portray the continued success of their signature Big Mac and fries among superstar basketball players. Will they follow up in another 20 years? As long as basketball and the Big Mac are still popular, I can’t see why not.