Historian writes about McWings: storytelling as effective marketing.

Will historians be writing about McDonald’s chicken McWings in the future?

Well, one historian is now writing about McWings.

 McWings and historians are not a strange mix.

Historians excel as storytellers, and this is what McDonalds has harnessed in its McWings campaign, leveraging off the metaphor of the historian as a storyteller.

McDonalds have excelled at storytelling in the marketing campaigns since the 1960s.

The theAD agency website argues that McDonalds has demonstrated that

 effective marketing is about more than just selling products; it’s about creating an emotional connection with customers. McDonald’s commercials and campaigns have consistently focused on storytelling and building these connections. (theAD (2024).

More to the point McDonald’s marketing

  pairs massive media reach with emotionally resonant storytelling—leveraging nostalgia, pop-culture tie-ins and limited-time twists on familiar favourites—so campaigns feel fresh yet comfortingly familiar, a formula that repeatedly drives traffic spikes and high campaign recall across markets. (theAD (2024).

Historians are storytellers just like the agency types who wrote the McWings advert for McDonalds. The ad-writers created a story and used historians as a hook.

Storytellers and McWings

Agency CAASie.co has taken a look at the McWings campaign by McDonalds, which was led by international advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy of Sydney. They have created a story around McWings. The historian serves as the hook to capture the viewer’s attention.

Agency CAASie.co writes that the campaign began with a mystery and expanded across most advertising platforms, referencing Cleopatra, the Renaissance, dinosaurs, and the Mona Lisa. All to ‘maintain this cluckin cultural moment’. (CAASie.co. (2025).

The McWings campaign has used the metaphor of a historian to show authenticity.

Historians enjoy delving into a good mystery from the past, and the advertising agency claims that historians are experts in this area. Historians can be like historical detectives solving mysteries of the past. (I. C. Willis 2016 )

Agency Wieden+Kennedy references real historical events that have been made famous by historians in the McWings campaign. Historians tell the truth about these historical events and what happened at the time.

Historians evaluate the evidence to see if it is accurate and relevant to the story. McWings utilised the historian’s hook because McDonald’s wants to portray the messages surrounding McWings as correct and authentic. (Willis, I. (2016).

 McDonalds are using historians and McWings to say that this is an authentic story about a new product in these days of fake news and conspiracy theories. 

Historians can be trusted to be authentic. Just like McWings is a genuine product.

The McDonald’s story has been examined by agency theAD. Their website states

The history of McDonald’s marketing is a fascinating journey of innovation, branding, and strategic marketing. Since its inception, McDonald’s has revolutionised the fast-food industry, not just with its food but also with its marketing prowess. (theAD (2024).

 The theAD agency website argues that

McDonald’s commercials have played a pivotal role in its marketing strategy. The company’s ability to tell compelling stories through its ads has created lasting emotional connections with customers.  (theAD (2024).

What is the McDonald’s story in the Macarthur region?

 In the Macarthur region, there is a McDonald’s outlet within a five-minute drive in almost any direction.

This could be taken as a cue for telling the McDonald’s story in the Macarthur region.

How did McDonalds first arrive in the region? Why did they want to set up in the area? How did their presence change the local food industry? How did a global food brand come to dominate the Macarthur region restaurant industry?

In the 1930s and 1940s, there was no McDonald’s in the region. What was the Macarthur food industry like in the 1940s? Did one restaurant brand dominate the market? Was it a global brand?

In the 1960s, a fast food treat was to visit the local fish & chip shop on a Friday night in the Macarthur region. When did this all change? Why did it change? How did it change in the Macarthur region?

How did a global food brand come to dominate the Macarthur region food industry? When did it happen? What does this say about global capitalism and its links to the Macarthur region?   What does this mean?

Conclusion

You see, a historian has written about McDonald’s McWings.

McDonalds and historians are storytellers. The McWings campaign is another chapter in the McDonald’s story.

 Stories create an emotional connection between the storyteller and the listener, making them solid marketing tools.

The emotional memory of McDonald’s customers is harnessed as an effective marketing tool, just as historians utilise memory to craft compelling narratives.

 What is your story of McDonalds in the Macarthur region? What is your memory of your first visit to a McDonald’s outlet in the Macarthur region? Why were you there? What did you do? How did the visit go?

You can create a compelling story about a fast-food giant and its presence in your life.

References

Caasie.co. (2025). McDonalds: A Study in Wingdings | Cool outdoor ads | CAASie.co. [online] Available at: https://caasie.co/cool-ads/mcdonalds-a-study-in-wingdings [Accessed 28 Jun. 2025].

Willis, I. (2016). Being a Historical Detective. [online] Camden History Notes. Available at: https://camdenhistorynotes.com/2016/02/19/being-a-historical-detective/ [Accessed 28 Jun. 2025].

theAD (2024). History of McDonald’s Marketing: A Lesson in Branding. [online] theAD – Mobile & Web | Design and Development. Available at: https://www.thead.com.au/history-of-mcdonalds-marketing-a-journey-through-branding-and-innovation/.