McDonald’s Moves Beyond ‘Egen Diilit’: The Low-Cost Campaign That Leverages Slang and Surprises Customers with Pricing

McDonald’s is currently running a summer campaign called “Egen Diilit,” which features low-cost products that cater to every taste. The term “ege” in the Helsinki region is a slang word for euro, but some customers were surprised to learn that none of the campaign’s products actually cost one euro. This confusion was addressed by Mats Nyström, the marketing director responsible for McDonald’s in Finland.

Nyström explained that customers who only saw the outdoor advertising with Ege Zulu’s picture and the text “Egen Diilit” might mistake the products for being priced at one euro. The campaign consists of outdoor advertisements, social media promotions, a radio commercial, and a music video produced by Mokulu. The head office of McDonald’s instructed the country companies to create a feel-good marketing campaign, with Mokulu chosen to represent a positive and new form of masculinity.

Nyström mentioned that McDonald’s has been trying to move past the perception of cheeseburgers being priced at one euro, as customers still inquire about them even though they have not been available for about ten years. The Egen Diilit campaign is meant to highlight McDonald’s more affordable products and not necessarily imply that the food costs one euro. The goal is to showcase that McDonald’s offers budget-friendly options. While the term “ege” does mean euro, Nyström sees the coincidence surrounding the campaign as more of a funny twist rather than a deliberate joke. In the past, when advertising coin-operated menus, two coins were used as props to convey price.