McDonald’s Perú Celebrates World Bicycle Day with Art Deco-Inspired Illustrations

For World Bicycle Day, June 3, McDonald’s has released a suite of vintage, Art Deco-inspired print work, that turn the Golden Arches into cycle tracks. The campaign was devised by Publicis Perú.

McDonald’s has been working to encourage people on non-traditional vehicles to use their drive-throughs, creating weekly promotions for people on bicycles and scooters.

During the pandemic, McDonald’s noticed that the use of bicycles increased significantly – both generally and passing through the drive-throughs. So, for World Bicycle Day they wanted to pay tribute to cyclists, and the agency team at Publicis Perú faced the challenge of creating a high-impact, punchy visual idea that could celebrate the diversity of cyclists.

“What better way than to pay a special tribute with a unique style that only McDonald’s can wear: our own iconic logo,” explains creative director Rodrigo Melgar.

The resulting campaign smashes together contemporary, pared back and dynamic design with retro inspiration, informed by vintage Tour de France posters. The illustrators were Alexis Callan and Ricardo Echegaray, both highly talented art directors on the Publicis Perú team.

Finding that distinctive visual style was something of a journey for the time. “We explore different types of illustration that could represent the essence of each cyclist in an inspiring way, that is why we looked for different references that work with simplicity and highlight the human form,” explains Rodrigo. “One reference we worked with was the Tour De France, with a special vintage graphic style. So, we arrived at an Art Deco style that had all the characteristics to achieve the awareness and impact we were looking for. Starting from that style and its chromatic aesthetics, it was easy to compose two-color shapes, and it helped us to highlight the cyclists but also our logo.”

For any advertising nerd, the chance to play about with McDonald’s distinctive brand assets is always fun. “Using the McDonald's logo is always a great challenge for us, because it has been used as a resource to create all kinds of ideas around the world, so we had to investigate, analyze, test, erase and start over,” says Rodrigo. “McDonald's is a fun brand to work with and the process couldn't be any different. Finally, as a team, we are very happy with the end result.”