McDonald’s is not clowning around – hoping its collab with the footwear brand, Crocs, pays dividends for its Ronald McDonald House charities.

McDonald’s and Crocs’ first-ever collaboration dropped earlier this month with a full line of shoes, socks and Jibbitz charms in more than 30 countries including Canada. The lineup of items was inspired by McDonald’s characters and fan-favorite menu items.

“All our creative ideas start with what we call a ‘Fan Truth’ – the little moments and ideas our fans already love about McDonald’s – and in this case, Crocs too,” says Alyssa Buetikofer, VP and chief marketing officer at McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada. “We’ve used this creative approach to drive some of our most impactful work, both globally and here in Canada.”

Buetikofer tells strategy that for this campaign, it aimed to bring to life fans’ “over-the-top” love for McDonald’s and Crocs. She adds that the collaboration is leaning into nostalgia as well as fans’ self-expression.

The collaboration was launched and amplified through a series of fan-forward methods, Buetikofer explains.

“On social, our content approach was to speak to that fan-to-fan excitement, to show our fans that we were as excited as they were about the collab,” Buetikofer says. “We also took inspiration from streetwear brand drops and generated social buzz with custom creative mailers sent to influencers and tastemakers, shaped like McDonald’s clamshell boxes.”

The McDonald’s x Crocs collab also supports Ronald McDonalds House Charities (RMHC). In celebration of its partnership with Crocs, McDonald’s will make a donation to help support families with children who are sick, and give access to the medical care and resources they need.

The QSR’s tactical approach in Canada was to go big in culture with a social and digital-first campaign that celebrates the union of the two brands and pays homage to superfans. Buetikofer says they did this partly by partnering with performance marketing and media platform the Student Life Network to offer the opportunity win the first pair of McDonald’s x Crocs shoes.

The media buy in Canada is centered on meeting its audience where it spends time  – TikTok, Snap, Meta – with all creative executions anchored in what McDonald’s callas an “unapologetically human approach to lo-fi content that resonates with Gen Z Canadians and ensures we’re showing up as part of the conversations they care about.”

OMD is the buy partner, Weber Shandwick is offering PR support.