Tool Wakes Up With McDonald's

Tool of North America's Tom Routson, in collaboration with DDB Chicago, produced a trio of clever :30s promoting McDonald's new Dollar Menu at Breakfast. The campaign is a showcase of Routson's keen sense for casting and comedic ability that synch perfectly with the tone and style of the restaurant's well-defined overall branding.

Don't Talk to Me/Coffee features a hipster grump who dismisses morning greetings from friends, colleagues, and even a flirtatious woman on a bus. "Not `til I've had my coffee," is his mantra. He meets his match at McDonald's, however, when a cup of Premium Roast Coffee from the Dollar Menu at Breakfast transforms him into a chipper chatterbug who strolls down the streets talking to everyone in sight.

Mark Olson shows a hapless suitor trying to woo a beautiful young woman in their apartment building's laundry room. A narrator recollects his previous disastrous attempts to get her attention and her sudden piqued interest when young Mark brings up McDonald's discount breakfast menu. Even the delicious offerings are not enough to spark romance in the end, however, as Olson remarks, on the elevator ride back upstairs, that the tune playing could become the couple's song.

The Creds:

Client: McDonald's
Spots Title: Don't Talk to Me/Coffee (featured), Mark Olson (featured), Office Gossip
Air Date: January 2010

Agency: DDB
SVP, Group Creative Director: Bill Cimino
VP/ CD: Tim Souers (Mark Olson)
CD: MaryBeth Adduci (Don't Talk to Me/Coffee)
ACD/ Copywriter: David Oif (Mark Olson)
CD: Faye Kleros (Don't Talk to Me)
Executive Director of Integrated Production: Diane Jackson
VP/Group Executive Producer: Marianne Newton
Senior Producer: Mark Olson
Production Manager: Joann Baker
Production Business Manager: Tara Wert

Prod Company: Tool of North America
Director: Tom Routson
EP(s): Brian Latt, Jennifer Siegel
EP Digital: Dustin Callif
Line Producer: Kristy Kessler
DP: Michael Bonvillain
Art Director: Ken Averill

Editorial: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Matt Walsh
Producer: Kristin Branstetter

Online Company: Filmworkers Club
Online Artist: Rob Churchill
Telecine: Complete Post
Final Telecine: Filmworkers Club

Audio Post: Another Country

Sound Design: Another Country
Sound Designer: Dave Gerbosi

Shoot Location: Los Angeles, CA

About Tool:

Bicoastal Tool of North America represents top-tier artists to the advertising industry. Tool's collective of talent includes: directors, photographers, cinematographers, technologists, mobile content creators, and video game creatives. This diverse talent pool affords Tool the ability to serve as a resource for agencies across commercial and digital productions, packaging the best creative teams available to develop compelling advertising with our agency partners.