McDonald’s Emily in Paris placement: Tastes off or just fine?

On December 23, 2022, Netflix launched the third season of its popular comedy-drama series, ‘Emily In Paris’. The show has a strong brand integration with McDonald’s weaved with the storyline. Netizens have, however, called it out as a “big McDonald's advertisement”.

The said episode comes across as the brand trying to promote how chic the restaurant chain is in France and its new product – McBaguette. In the show, the brand is seen showcasing itself as a legacy brand trying to adapt to the culture of France by making a product that will be liked by French consumers. Interestingly, McDonald’s France launched the product in 2012 for a limited time. However, it kept on visiting the menu.

The new season of Lily Collins-starring ‘Emily in Paris’ is turning out to be an experiment for Netflix’s ad business.

e4m asked experts and viewers if they found the integration well-blended or blatantly placed.

Neha Mewawalla, Co-founder, WIFE, said the whole series seemed like an advertisement for McDonald’s, as the brand was being featured several times. “To be honest, the whole season had McDonald’s in it, not just the first episode. It felt like it was there quite a bit, it was a bit much.”

Speaking on brand integration, she said, “The integration feels jarring as the storyline shows a very luxurious lifestyle. They used shock marketing with respect to the brand. There are many subtle integrations in the series like with luxury bag brands and Apple devices. With McDonald’s, it was very upfront.”

Sharing the viewer’s perspective was Salomi Thakur from Mumbai, “I never thought of McDonald’s when it came to Paris. It didn’t look like a marketing thing because the character was given an opportunity to pitch for the brand.”

Independent social media strategist Takshi said, “As a viewer, I felt that the story/content was not executed/written properly. The brand was shown in a way that outdid the content. The consumer is not supposed to know that the show is trying to promote a brand but the idea is to make the brand memorable. In this case, the story’s connection wasn’t subtle. The consumer today is smart and so this could be negative for the brand’s promotions.”

Mewawalla further noted, “Brands love on-the-face marketing. It has been talked about all over the internet. What’s actually not good is it didn’t do justice to Emily in Paris.”

According to Takshi, “French consumers love the fine-dining experience as well as exclusivity. They are about detailing. While the brand was trying to show delectable cuisines, its positioning is as a fast food, restaurant joint. They have to do consistent marketing in order to change their positioning in France. They should have introduced the brand and kept it in intervals, not in the first episode.”

Sharing insights on the role of writing in such cases, Mewawalla said, “It should be a ratio of 10:90 - 10% for the integration and 90% for the story. The story should come first and brand integration should be secondary.”