Dunphy gets a bite of McDonald's advertising budget

MEDIA & MARKETING:Still here and still cheap is the message from the fast-food chain

NEW YEAR, new diets, and yet to date the television spot that’s attracting most attention from “second-screening” tweeters comes courtesy of McDonald’s Ireland. Featuring football pundit and recently departed Newstalk presenter Eamon Dunphy, the new 30-second instalment in McDonald’s Ireland’s euro-saver campaign is called – no offence intended – “Antique”.

The ad, created by McDonald’s Ireland’s advertising agency Cawley Nea TBWA, is the latest in a year-old futuristic phase of the long-running campaign for the euro-saver menu, the fast food chain’s value platform.

The Dunphy ad shows a group of Dublin lads devouring the “timeless value” of the euro-saver menu in the year 2222, when the Irish capital is reassuringly still functioning, as is the euro itself. Inflation has kicked in, however, as one of the lads has picked up “an antique radio” on sale for €30,000 that displays Dunphy’s head in a glass bowl talking about dribbling – the ball, that is, not the milkshake. Still here and still cheap is the message from McDonald’s, though it’s Dunphy’s parting line, “give us a bite there baby”, that seems to be garnering the most visceral reactions.

“It’s basically just toying with the idea that in a world where there is a humongous amount of change and disruption, McDonald’s offers constant value,” explains Cawley Nea TBWA executive chairman Chris Cawley.

Dunphy isn’t the first Irish personality to send himself up in a McDonald’s campaign, as anyone who remembers Eurovision singer Johnny Logan’s services to a 2007 phase of euro-saver ads will know.

“There isn’t a policy on using personalities or not using personalities. It really is down to the particular campaign,” says Cawley, adding that Dunphy is someone who “takes himself seriously and doesn’t take himself seriously in about equal measure”.

From the perspective of McDonald’s Ireland, it’s “very important” to issue a reminder of the euro-saver brand during the “value-conscious” month of January, according to marketing director Roma Milligan.

“We decided to use Eamon to reinvigorate the campaign and bring more of a standout factor to it,” she says, adding that McDonald’s was “delighted” that he signed up.

"Using Eamon gives us the chance to express our local relevance," Milligan notes. Dunphy's association with football certainly doesn't do any harm in a year when McDonald's is a sponsor of Euro 2012. But this is, for the moment, a one-off alliance with the RTÉ and Irish Daily Starfootball analyst, and the next euro-saver ad will be Dunphy-free . . . baby.

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RUPERT MURDOCH'Sfully verified Twitter account has sparked speculation that the former MySpace owner is set to get his social media chequebook out again. In a roundabout way, he already has.

BSkyB, still 39 per cent owned by Murdoch’s News Corporation, this week bought a “multimillion pound” 10 per cent stake in Zeebox, a second-screen app that unites Twitter, “social television” and a dash of m-commerce. The app, launched in October, places a Twitter feed alongside “live zeetags” that link to programme information as well as iTunes and App Store tie-ins. Sky calls it “augmented viewing”; Zeebox employs a degree more hyperbole, somewhat oddly describing itself as “the best thing to happen to TV since TV”.

Sky will now integrate Zeebox’s technology into its own apps, Sky+ and Sky Go. The Sky+ app has already been downloaded more than 3.3 million times by smartphone users in the UK and Ireland who manage their Sky box recordings remotely, and since its launch, users have generated more than one million remote record requests each month.

For now, Zeebox's charms are hit-and-miss. A TV guide for UK channels leads into a Twitter feed of (mostly) relevant tweets, so for example, if you're watching the Channel 4 quiz Countdownwith a second screen, the show's Zeebox feed will contain all tweets mentioning new host Nick Hewer or co-hosts Rachel Riley and Susie Dent, not just those tweets directly referencing the programme title itself. The "zeetags" accompanying yesterday's Countdownincluded a link to a Monday Guardianblog on Hewer's debut as host, as well as a wholly less relevant link to a "countdown" app that ticks down the seconds until the end of time, as predicted by the Mayans.

So far, so whatever. But from later this year, Sky customers will be able to use Zeebox-powered Sky apps to turn their iPhones or iPads into that even more traditional hand-extension, the remote control. Now that’s cool.