McDonald’s has decided to rebuild one of its longtime stalwarts, the Quarter Pounder, making it better, faster, stronger, tastier. They have the technology. Behold the Quarter Pounder Deluxe.

Lettuce, tomato and bacon are the new enhancements featured in the new ‘bionic’ version of the infamous QP burger, but the jury’s still out on how it will be received. That’s why it’s undergoing month-long POS testing in the Western and Atlantic regions – promoted through a campaign developed by Cossette in Vancouver, which launched yesterday – before McDonald’s determines whether it will go national.

‘Once a year our regional teams in Quebec and the Atlantic, Ontario and the West, in development with our menu management team, introduce limited-time offerings by tapping into local tastes and preferences,’ says Louis Payette, national media relations manager, McDonald’s Canada. ‘They come up with inspired creations that sometimes prove so successful they become permanent menu items.’

The product-focused creative illustrates, through colourful displays of one-upsmanship, that the QPD was inspired by McDonald’s desire to constantly improve upon its offerings. A TV spot features characters of increasing flamboyance, from Joe Office Worker in the lunch room to Zeus, king of the Greek gods, sitting amongst the clouds, complete with a fighter jet fly-by, stating that they’re better suited to tell people about the QSR’s newest offering.

‘We thought it was a chance to communicate a brand philosophy that improving the Quarter Pounder proved,’ says Mike Felix, copywriter, Cossette West. ‘People are loyal to the Quarter Pounder. They don’t want it tampered with. We needed to say that it was better so they’d even try it in the first place.’

Banner ads, print, radio, OOH and transit ads are all part of the media mix, which was handled by OMD. Souped-up Quarter Pounder boxes, outfitted with a mini sound systems and a custom track, were sent to radio DJs. McDonald’s is also testing two other new burgers, the Smokehouse Deluxe in Ontario and the Angus Third Pounder in Quebec. All three burgers will be available until Sept. 6.