McDonald's Didn't Come Up With 'I'm Lovin' It' — Here's The German Company That Did

As catchy as the accompanying jingle might be, McDonald's tagline "I'm Lovin' It" wasn't the result of some massive American ad agency or a flash of inspiration from a corporate executive. Instead, a small German agency known as Heye & Partner came up with the idea in 2003. A floundering McDonald's was looking for a global marketing campaign that could spark business and set up a competition among 14 international advertising agencies to see who could come up with the best idea. Heye & Partner's pitch took the German phrase "Ich liebe es," which translates to "I love it," offering a phrase that could be easily translated into various languages without changing the meaning.

Next, Mona Davis Music, a German production house, composed a jingle that took the words and set them against a snappy melody that can now be easily recognized around the world. Though the exact melody was kind of an accident, as a tired vocalist improvised the sound during a late-night studio session, the team decided to roll with it.

With both jingle and tagline finalized, McDonald's tapped Justin Timberlake to record a full-length pop version of the song, co-written by hitmaker Pharrell Williams. The result was leaked on purpose, without any mention of McDonald's, before McDonald's complete campaign was made public. This reverse-engineered strategy helped create buzz before any connection between the song and the company was made clear, and the idea worked. 

McDonald's first launched the campaign in Germany since the concept originated there. Since McDonald's is operated through franchises, the company's decision to run the same advertisements worldwide to create a unified brand voice was a new, yet targeted decision. Sales both in the United States and globally saw an incredible spike following the rollout, with a $680 million and $1.8 billion increase, respectively, in the year after the campaign's release. Decades later, "I'm Lovin' It" has held fast as the longest-running tagline in the company's history. While many companies make choices that reflect local markets, this international marketing strategy shows that a single message that focuses on feeling can resonate with generations of consumers.

As for Heye & Partner, the small advertising firm went on to do more work with McDonald's. They also landed campaigns with some other heavy-hitters, including Greenpeace, BMW, Bosch, and New Balance, winning several awards for their work.