McDonald's Promo Suffers Wrath of Perfect Parent Police

McDonald’s, McCafé ad showing a father driving at night, with his baby sleeping in the back seat cops criticism.

Afraid that the baby will wake up if the car stops, but desperate for a coffee the dad of course heads to a McDonald’s drive thru. But rather than risk his baby being disturbed, the dad whispers his order into the speaker as he goes through the drive thru again and again.

Mumbrella reported that, “Complaints posted to Ad Standards pointed out the driver – who had a young sleeping child in the back of the car – didn’t have two hands on the wheel, used pay pass while driving, failed to stop while going through the drive-thru and hung out the window.”

In its response to the complaints, McDonald’s noted that the father is not risking the infant with speed or compromised safety, and has two hands on the wheel for the majority of the time.

“The driver is continuously checking his rear view mirror, his surroundings, where he is going and for the majority of the advertisement, has two hands on the wheel.

“It is not questionable whether or not the driver in this advertisement appeared in proper control of the vehicle in all scenarios of the advertisement and did not appear to be driving dangerously or in a manner that may be uncontrolled,” McDonald’s said.

The Ad Standards Board agreed and acknowledged that while the driver used pay pass to pay for the coffee, he only takes his eyes off the road for a negligible time.

Furthermore, they found it was “a fleeting scene in the advertisement and is not encouraging irresponsible driving habits”.

Despite the complaints, the board dismissed the case, trusting that viewers would understand the humour intended by McDonald’s in depicting this common parenting scenario of the challenges of keeping a baby asleep whilst looking after their own needs.
Read more:

Share your comments below

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.

18 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 29 Oct 2022
    10:09 am
Seriously??? If this is all people have to complain about then its a good life isnt it? Get a grip people

- - mggarner said
  - 03 Sep 2018
    2:16 pm
I liked the ad, but wouldn’t be able to do it here cause there would be too many people in front and wouldn’t be able to go though over and over again.

- - rovermum said
  - 03 Sep 2018
    10:04 am
Clearly the naysayers and outragers have never had a child that won’t sleep during the night. My son did not sleep through the night for the first 8 months and my hubby would often take him out in the car. Sadly for us, that didn’t work either. But I know that it has for many others. I loved the ad and found it quite relatable.

- - tessie said
  - 03 Sep 2018
    8:44 am
I can’t see a problem with it. It’s an advert and they never make sense or they show someone doing something dangerous. Look at some of the insurance ads, now that is dangerous.

- - Blossom said
  - 01 Sep 2018
    12:35 pm
There is a lot of advertisements that show bad behaviour, including car advertisements. However I hope this isn’t shown during child viewing time. Some children will take it literally and expect their parents to order them meals and snacks that way. They will see it as the “normal” speedy way to get what they want without waiting.

- - rachel1970 said
  - 31 Aug 2018
    7:05 pm
I think this is so silly, it’s an ad for goodness sake. People are taking things too far.

- - mom73710 said
  - 31 Aug 2018
    2:28 pm
Looks to me his hands were on the wheel at all times, talk about nit-picking.

- - sars_angelchik said
  - 31 Aug 2018
    11:48 am
Oh my word, people need to get a life!

- - mom73106 said
  - 31 Aug 2018
    8:16 am
For pity’s sake, the dad is NOT on a road, it’s NOT real. It’s an ad and in my opinion, it’s extremely cute and funny. Have the people who complained not noticed all the gambling ads that start about 6.30 every evening and saturate the TV for about an hour, I would think they should be complained about, not some FICTIONAL dad acting in a loving and caring manner.

- - mom111059 said
  - 30 Aug 2018
    9:19 pm
It’s only an ad and we know. It’s not real life.

- - BellaB said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    9:54 am
And we all know there’s a difference between “ideal” and “reality” anyway. I haven’t seen the ad but it doesn’t really sound problematic.

- - Ellen said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    7:46 am
It’s just an add, you miss the message if you’re pulling things out of perspective.

- - mom93821 said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    6:21 am
Naw! It is rather cute and the piece of paper with sugar written on it is so sweet! pardon the pun!

- - nealsq said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    9:28 pm
grow up people, as if Maccas drive through is ever that empty

- - Mum2archer said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    9:15 pm
Oh goodness, it’s an add. A funny one at that. It’s not real life. People just like to find anything to complain about.