Minimalist McDonald's ads use fries to guide motorists

Have you ever been so hungry that you didn't know where to turn? If so, McDonald's is here to help thanks a set of minimalist posters that sit up there with the best print ads we've ever seen.

Designed by TBWA\Paris for McDonald's France, this series of bright and cheerful out-of-home adverts turns McDonald's French fries into directional arrows that lead motorists to the fast food chain's nearest drive thru.

Each poster displays a message like "straight ahead" or "turn left", with the elongated fries communicating the instruction visually by bending this way and that. The campaign includes 64 variations to stop the message getting stale.

To remind motorists that they're heading to McDonald's and not another fast food outlet, the fries are tucked into a distinctive red sleeve that displays the McDonald's Golden Arches logo. 

Watch the campaign in action with the video below.

It's a brilliantly simple but effective campaign that doesn't beat you over the head with its message. These posters are kind of like the reverse of up-selling – McDonald's is luring you in with a low-ticket item safe in the knowledge that your hunger could easily make you add a burger to your order. And it's all nicely in line with McDonald's new visual identity, created by Turner Duckworth. 

This isn't the only creative poster series we've seen from McDonald's and TBWA recently, either. Back in May, McDonald's proved its brand strength with blurry ads that let its famous food speak for itself.

And as for out-there marketing campaigns, we've yet to see the likes of Burger King or KFC compete with the world's smallest MCDonald's that was open exclusively to bees, although the KFC hat-bucket did raise a few eyebrows.

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