Lovin’ It: How THAT Jam mastered mouth-watering McDonald’s meals

What’s better - the knowledge that a cheeky McDonald’s order is currently en-route to your door, or the feeling of biting into that first, piping hot french fry? 

There are few brands in the world who can connect with such a universal feeling of satisfaction and joy, but McDonald’s is one of them. And the company’s ads tend to do a great job of invoking these instances, whether it be the glorious teenage moment where that one friend who can drive takes everyone out for a McDs at lunchtime, or unashamedly pilfering one of your partner’s fries having protested that you “weren’t hungry, honestly”. 

Clearly, there’s an art to these ads. And there are few directors working today with a deeper understanding of that art than Joe Beverley and Samuel Hurlock, who combine to create That Jam.

From the McDouble to the McMuffin and everything in between, That Jam’s work with McDonald’s to date encompasses a wide variety of products and briefs. So to learn more about how they combine storytelling with mouth-watering food shots and much more, LBB caught up with Joe and Sam.

LBB> McDonald's is a brand with a lot of creativity in its ads - is there ever a 'McDonald's template', or brand guidelines that you need to stick to with them? 

TJ> They of course always want the food to look great - and that’s never a challenge - but in regards to a template? Not really. We’re always working with a great creative team that wants the ads to work for the scripts. 

We’ve been surprised by how much we’ve been able to have a say in the visual concepts, and we’ve even suggested music that was approved which is a rare treat. I think it always helps when you are on the same page as the agency and client you’re working with.

LBB> Suitably enough, your work with McDonald's tends to end with a shot of a product that leaves you craving a bite. Have you picked up any tricks of the trade with regard to product photography through these ads? 

TJ> We found that as long as we work with DOPs that are great with optimistic and fun lighting, it crosses over to the food shots seamlessly. We like to think of ourselves as optimistic directors and our style is bright and colourful, so it never feels like we have to change how we’d shoot the all-important product shots.

LBB> In a broader context, you guys are known for comedy work. Do you think that's a quality which lends itself especially well to McDonald's as a brand? 

TJ> It certainly seems to. We’ve made 10 spots for them this year, and felt like we were able to add touches of humour to all of them. Come to think of it we’ve not come up against any pushback on anything we’ve suggested, so the proof is in the pudding.

LBB> How involved are you in the casting process for these ads, and what kind of qualities are you generally looking for in the talent we see on-screen? 

TJ> We’re always heavily involved in the audition process. The characters are the core of any project we take on, and you can only add so much personality with lighting and camera movement. 

We really like to stress-test our ideas during the audition process. We’ll usually do two different exercises, one where we allow the talent to free flow a scene so they can get their own ideas and performance across and one to check that they can do some of the more technical aspects of what we’ll be doing on the day of. 

LBB> Besides collaborating on casting, what have been your other favourite collaborative moments working with Cossette and McDonald’s? What did you have to problem solve together with the teams?

TJ> Some of the 15-second spots we did earlier in the year were super fun to try and work out with the lovely Cossette creatives. We had to get these universally recognisable moments into short films, and working with them to get the beats right was a really fun challenge. Scenes have to be established, the audience has to be told a story, there has to be a conclusion, and then don’t forget end cards and product shots! Despite that challenge and with Cossette’s help, we succeeded in making well-paced and humorous scenes that audiences resonated with.

LBB> All of your McDonald’s spots have taken place in different scenarios and locations. Have there been any funny behind-the-scenes stories or moments where you had to pivot at the last minute on set?

TJ> Of all the various locations, the trickiest was perhaps the McDonald's restaurant itself. Only because the drive-through had to be open while we were filming, and we insisted on having beautiful golden light come through an entire wall of windows. Everyone who sat in their cars queuing right in front of that window was treated to apocalyptic levels of bright light as they were waiting for their food. It was pretty funny seeing people wearing sunglasses on a wintery day. 

LBB> What has been your favourite spot/concept so far?

Joe> I really loved our McMuffin spot for the Food Quality campaign. It’s yet to be released, but I feel like it has so much personality and flow. We can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Sam> My favourite has to be our Lunch Break spot. It was so much fun to work with Jessica Albano (our go-to stylist) and pay homage to high-school movie scenes through the costume. It was also fun as we got to flex our dry sense of humour and not to mention, as a Brit it’s always been a bit of a dream to feature an iconic yellow school bus in our work. 

Fun fact - it was a full-on snow scene that day but the amazing post team at Alter Ego changed the backdrop to a beautiful spring day. Genius.

LBB> And finally, since we have you guys here - what's your go-to order?! 

Joe> I’ve always said that the best cure for a hangover is the Sausage 'N Egg McMuffin and I’ll stand by that. Slide a hash brown in there and you’ve got yourself the most delish mix of flavours and textures. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Sam> Big Tasty is back! That is something I’ve said many times over the years when those limited-time bad boys were advertised on billboards in London.

Take a look at the full article on LBB here.