McDonald's ad features ice cream and pickle combo

Ad Nut would absolutely try a pickles and ice cream sundae. (Hey, you never know!) But in reality this ad out of DDB Sydney, entitled 'Cravings', is not introducing a new product. It's a Mother's Day thing. 

Ad Nut's reaction, like the sundae, is a mix of sweet and sour.

Sweet:

1. It's a cute story with a fun ending, in which the brand is presented as a comfortable part of everyday life, which it is for many people and which the brand is smart to accentuate.
2. The brand doesn't go too far in trying to ingratiate itself—a mistake it has made in other ads in other markets (see "Thank mum for years of Ramadan feasts with...a couple boxes of McDonald's?").  

Sour:

1. [Spoiler alerts] There's a slight note of acid in the story. Since the mother is a bit pushy about her daughter's reproductive choices, the daughter delivers news of her pregnancy in a mildly passive-aggressive way. To be clear, Ad Nut enjoyed this flavourful undercurrent. One might say the mum gets her just desserts.
2. What increasingly leaves a bad taste in Ad Nut's mouth is ad creators who continue to rely on an overdone and lazy musical choice:—the breathy remake of a familiar song by a young, female singer. In this case, it's Amercian Idol alum Haley Reinhart singing the Elvis classic Can’t Help Falling in Love. It seems like a fine cover, and Ad Nut would enjoy it in other contexts. But this choice has been so overused that it's now shorthand for 'This ad will give you the feels'. And it no longer works, at least not on this ad nut. Worse, in many cases, including this one, the lyrics don't have anything to do with the storyline, which really underscores the lack of creativity at play. It's well past time for agencies to try some more surprising musical flavour combinations.

CREDITS

McDonald’s Australia:
Marketing Director: Jo Feeney
National Marketing Manager: Amanda Nakad
DDB Sydney:
Chief Creative Officer – DDB Australia: Ben Welsh
Chief Creative Officer - DDB Sydney: Tara Ford
Creative Partner: David Joubert
Senior Art Director: Anna Paine
Senior Copywriter: Owen Bryson
Lead Senior Producer: Tania Jeram
Managing Director: Priya Patel
Managing Partner: Lisa Hauptmann
Business Director: Nicole Drabsch
Chief Strategy Officer: Carl Ratcliff
Planning Partner: Anna Bollinger
Production Company: Finch Company
Director: Christopher Riggert
Executive Producer: Karen Bryson
Producer: Camilla Mazzaferro
DOP: Jeremy Rouse
Editor: Stewart Reeves, The Editors Sydney
Grade: Ben Eagleton
Online: Quade Biddle, Atticus Post
Sound Engineer: Abigail Sie, Song Zu
Music Licensor: Level Two Music, Melbourne
Media: OMD

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.