McDonald's ad campaign inserts junk food into Impressionist masterpieces

DDB Athens has created a new advertising campaign for McDonald's that digitally inserts the fast-food chain's products into iconic Impressionist paintings. The campaign, with the slogan "Meant to be classic," aims to elevate McDonald's food to the status of art classics. In the ads, figures from paintings such as Édouard Manet's "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Bathers" are depicted holding McDonald's boxes and drinks. The article also notes that this is not the first time art has been used for commercial purposes, citing examples like Adidas's reinterpretation of the Sistine Chapel, Ferrarelle's use of the Mona Lisa, and Levi's jeans on Michelangelo's David. It mentions legal disputes over such uses, including Ai Weiwei's lawsuit against Volkswagen and Anish Kapoor's opposition to the NRA's use of his work "Cloud Gate." The campaign was covered by Artribune in March 2022.