Beyond its ever-popular Happy Meals, McDonald's Japan is constantly flexing its creative muscles on social media with quirky campaigns, often enlisting voice actors for bizarre ad videos that become instant social media sensations.
To promote its new Black Pepper Chicken McNuggets, McDonald's Japan just dropped a brand-new animated ad titled "Black Pepper!!" The video pays homage to the iconic Touhou Project fan-made music video, "Bad Apple!!" Created by popular 3D animator Gensho Yasuda, the ad faithfully recreates the original's classic "kage-e" (shadow art) visual style and even throws in the legendary McDonald's "Ran Ran Ru" meme, sending netizens into a frenzy and sparking viral buzz.
The "Bad Apple!!" Touhou Project fan-made music video dates back to June 2008, when Niconico Douga users aimed to create a MAD video for "Bad Apple!!," a stage theme from the 1998 Touhou Project shooter game "Touhou Gensokyo ~ Lotus Land Story." Lacking the necessary technical skills, they called upon other users to collaborate.
Finally, in October 2009, the collaborative effort culminated in the official completion of "【東方】Bad Apple!! ＰＶ【影絵】," featuring 2D black-and-white shadow art, and quickly became a hugely popular fan creation online.
▼ Watch the original "【東方】Bad Apple!! ＰＶ【影絵】" video
For this new ad, McDonald's Japan brought in animator Gensho Yasuda, who not only adopted the original shadow art style but also seamlessly blended in the "Ran Ran Ru" McDonald's meme, having the shadow figures mimic the iconic movements from the old Ronald McDonald commercials.
And get this: they even reunited the original creative team behind the song! Masayoshi Minoshima from the doujin music circle Alstroemeria Records handled the arrangement, and nomico returned to lend her vocals once more to perform the new ad-specific track, "Black Pepper!!," a direct homage to the legendary "Bad Apple!!"
As soon as the video dropped, Touhou fans flooded the comments section, reveling in the Touhou references mixed with Ronald McDonald. This old-school Niconico vibe truly transported everyone back almost two decades, confirming McDonald's marketing team must be true Niconico veterans, no doubt.
While it's just an ad for a campaign, it's clear that McDonald's Japan's creative genius is hitting all the right notes. Their unexpected, wild ideas seem endless, and they're leaning harder into internet meme culture than ever before. Seriously, where will McDonald's Japan go next with this?! We can't wait to see!