This quirky ad for McDonalds France and its American Summer burgers is strangely entertaining, featuring a pretentious French method actor talking about his process. We’re not sure why, but we want a hashbrown now. Highlighting three popular American blockbuster themes (shark attack, a declaration of love on the beach, a raft adrift in the middle of the ocean), the ad pushes six new products. The spot is by TBWA/Paris and directed by Ben Gregor of Moonwalk Films. This is Ben’s second ad McDonalds – the previous spot parodied the movie “Gravity” for the agency, with a similar theme.
Method acting has taken a bit of heat recently, with the latest criticism from articles such as “Hollywood has Ruined Method Acting” by the Atlantic:
Actors like Leto could take a cue from Rowlands. Her work is proof that performers don’t need to suffer so pronouncedly to move audiences, and, ultimately, to be remembered. Fellow modern method actresses like Tilda Swinton, Marisa Tomei, and Scarlett Johansson—along with non-method actors like Pitt—prove that grace and power can be found in acting without torturing their co-stars or themselves. The unimaginative and overly stylized quirks of Leto’s performance as the Joker is a reminder to audiences, performers, and critics just how unrewarding and empty method acting has become with all its excesses. To buy into it is to limit the discussion about what kind of performances are worthwhile. It is to feed into a culture that lets actors get away with dangerous stunts in the name of ego and marketing—not art.
Credits
ART DIRECTOR: Jérémy Armand
TV PRODUCER: Mathilde Nanot-Lachkar
COPYWRITER: Nicolas Roncerel
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Faustin Claverie & Benjamin Marchal
DIRECTOR: Ben Gregor
POST PRODUCTION / VFX
COMPOSITOR: Nicolas Neidhardt
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Moonwalk/ Knucklehead
DOP: Stuart Graham
PRODUCER: Gaspard Chevance