The McDo Cheese Dunk: How to Use Social Media Marketing to Create a Perfect Brand Response

Food trends come and go nowadays, especially in the post-pandemic era. With accessibility to platforms like Grab, Foodpanda, and food services on Instagram and Facebook, there are many more choices and options for consumers. Yet, fast food brands prove that they still have a strong presence online especially when it comes to releases of new food items.

Who could forget the hype surrounding the return of KFC’s Double Down or Jollibee’s Chicken Sandwich? For the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of talk surrounding the hype around McDo’s new Cheese Dunk. Despite it trending online, the product has gotten mixed reviews on social media and other brands have used this as an opportunity to “dunk” on the McDonald’s Cheese Dunk. 

Brand Responses

The witty and sarcastic responses started when Burger King posted that their 4 Cheese Whopper doesn’t need dunking.

This followed with KFC saying that they have the OG Dunk in the form of their fried chicken and gravy combo.

Other brands quickly started following suit and this went beyond just food. BPI and even SM have optimized having the dunk a part of their social media posts. 

What They Did Right

Brands and Restaurants’ responses are able to effectively compete with McDo by using the “dunk” element and comparing what their brands have to offer. These remind consumers about why they should be familiar with their famous food items and orders. By making the message clear in both caption and copy, consumers engaged with the posts and often found them funny. 

Despite mixed reviews and shady reactions from other restaurants and brands, McDo’s campaign for their Cheese Dunk is still remembered by other consumers since the clamor started with the said campaign in the first place.

By responding and making their own hashtag with #barDUNKgulan, McDo effectively used the criticism to gain more attention. With more restaurants and brands chiming in on the dunk, brand recall effectively goes back to McDo’s campaign.  

Key Takeaways

2 main things that we can takeaway from the “dunk” campaign to create an effective brand response are timeliness and originality.

Brands showed a new way of using an idea and making it their own for their posts in promoting their own products. Marketers can also learn that the right response and wording can make their campaigns memorable and effective for their audience.

In making and managing an effective campaign through social media, it’s always important to be aware of the sentiments of consumers and other brands online. A brand’s awareness creates the opportunity to be able to jump into a conversation and use responses and posts as a better marketing strategy.

Want to create a memorable and meaningful social media marketing campaign? Message Near Creative to learn more about our marketing services!