Jesse James McElroy & The Grinch serve up a mysterious meal for McDonalds

Prior to his heart growing several sizes and being invited to a Christmas feast in Whoville, do you think the Grinch would enjoy eating at McDonald’s? It’s an oddly specific question, but one we now know the answer to due to a massive undertaking from McDonald’s Canada, Wieden+Kennedy, Alfredo Films, and Jesse James McElroy.

Of course, to kick off something of this scale, a strong marketing approach was needed. Considering the fact that this is McDonald’s Canada’s first holiday campaign in a while, it only seemed right that things be amped up a notch, and so the creative team went all out alongside director Jesse James McElroy to practically bring Whoville, Mount Crumpet and the Grinch’s lair to life for a visually-striking, cleverly-narrated hero spot.

To learn more about how this went from idea to execution, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with McDonald’s Canada’s marketing director, brand strategy, Rebecca Smart, Wieden+Kennedy creative directors Paddy Treacy and Rose Sacktor, as well as Jesse James McElroy for a chat.

LBB> What was the brief for this campaign, and what immediate ideas came to mind?

Rebecca> We haven’t done a holiday campaign in quite some time, but had long been inspired by the ‘Reindeer Ready’ work from McDonald’s UK. So, we decided that this year, we wanted to tap into the season in a way that felt authentically McDonald’s. 

We believe that there is a natural intersection between the feelings of the holiday season and McDonald’s – both bring friends and families together for good times and moments of connection, tapping into childlike joy with nostalgic memories.

As such, the brief was quite simple: create a unique and ownable role for McDonald’s over the holidays. We already had the ‘Grinch Meal’ in the plan, and it was a great opportunity to take this loved character and bring his story to McDonald’s in a bigger way. 

LBB> The idea of a Grinch-themed meal is super fun! What were the discussions like with Dr. Seuss Entertainment, and at what point did you know this would be feasible?

Paddy & Rose> The Dr. Seuss Entertainment team were great partners all the way through. They were genuinely excited to get a new perspective on their character. They obviously know the Grinch better than we ever could, so they helped us understand his perspective on things so that when we brought ideas forward, they were accurate and within the range of his personality. They liked seeing him go on new adventures, which was fun for us.

It felt so ‘Grinch’ to us when we had the idea for dill-pickle fry seasoning. You initially think that could make them less desirable, which is exactly what the Grinch would want, but then they’re delicious and fans love it. Also, gifting people with mismatched socks makes it seem like he’s up to no good, but funnily enough, mismatched socks are in fashion! So again, it’s that mischief and joy coming together.

LBB> What was the writing process like, both for the spot and narration? How did you bring this concept to life?

Paddy & Rose> A lot of poetry was written! We read and reread ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ just to get into the rhythm of the writing. We consumed every book, movie, and video game so that we could speak with confidence to the world. We also studied the metre of the books so we could rewrite in a new (but familiar) way. We were counting our syllables every day to make sure the cadence was right. Shout out to Nikki Vandervelde and Mikayla Dumas who, by the end, were able to write Seussian verse in their sleep!

In terms of craft, we aimed to do it as practically as possible. We wanted to capture the spirit of the holidays and capture the majority in-camera – designing bespoke sets, the cave, all of ‘Canadaville’ – to give it that real, tactile, holiday festive feel. (Including live snow blowing in the background).

LBB> From here, what was storyboarding like? Did the final piece closely resemble the initial vision?

Jesse> Since I used to be an editor, I naturally have an ‘editor brain’. So, storyboarding is like my first round of editing – it’s where I start to see the film take shape. I imagine the dialogue, music, or sound effects, and it just helps solidify the treatment. Since I’m not a fan of the traditional approach of covering a scene from every angle, my boards tend to be pretty precise. Of course, framing might shift, or the order of shots might change in the edit. And, I’ll admit, I can get greedy on set if I see opportunities for extra shots. The one constant on my projects is my storyboard artist, who I’ve been working with for years. He just gets me and knows exactly what I like.

LBB> Of course, the spot needed the right person to bring the Grinch to life, as well as a great set! What went into establishing these elements?

Jesse> A lot of the Grinch’s lair and Whoville came directly from my treatment. You want to pay homage to the book, but also steer clear of other adaptations… But of course, like everything in film, it was a collaboration between McDonald’s, the agency, and my crew.

Because of the tight timeline for building the lair, we couldn’t create a full 360° cave. Instead, we created multiple flats that we used within the arched spaces of the cave to create a sense of depth. We could then rearrange the arches to create the different looks and areas of the cave.

It's a fantastical world, so most of the props were custom-made. We probably went way overboard with all the tiny details and in-jokes, but I love that stuff, and I think the team did too (or at least I hope they did!).

As for casting, hahaha… I woke up on the first day, drove to set, and thought, ‘OK, we’ve built Mount Crumpit, the Grinch’s lair, the town of Whoville… what else am I forgetting?’. And then it hit me, I still had to direct the Grinch!

But, as they say, when you have the right person, everything just falls into place. The actor absolutely nailed it, despite sitting through four hours of makeup and dealing with an insanely hot suit. It was a masterclass in patience, zero claustrophobia, and just completely becoming the character. I called him ‘Grinch’, and he just did what he did. 

LBB> Tell us more about the shoot! Do you have any anecdotes from the experience?

Jesse> We worked with a llama… probably my fourth llama experience. At this point, I’m basically a llama whisperer!

LBB> Finally, do you have an element of the project you’re most proud of? And why?

Jesse> I’m completely obsessed, maybe even addicted to world-building and coming up with something new for every project. My colleagues always joke, ‘What puppet, suit, or crazy prop are you building now?’.

One of my favorite parts of this film was the miniature of Whoville and Mount Crumpit (though it was more of a ‘bigature’ because it was massive). Designing and building the town felt like living out a childhood memory. Back when I played ‘SimCity 2000’ on my dad’s PC, I’d create my dream town and then let earthquakes and tsunamis tear it apart… good times. For our shoot, I even pitched the idea of having Grimace go full Godzilla and destroy the town on wrap day, but unfortunately, he was busy making milkshakes.

This article has been abbreviated, read the full article on LBB Online here.