The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
McDonald's Indonesia's Wi-Fries rewards slow home Wi-Fi with fries — ADFEST Direct Grande
A speed test inside the McDonald's app compares home Wi-Fi with restaurant Wi-Fi — the slower your home, the bigger your fries discount.
McDonald's Indonesia
What it had to solve
After the pandemic, young Indonesians had got used to ordering in and McDonald's restaurants stayed empty; the app was also losing ground to delivery platforms. Meanwhile, Indonesia's notoriously slow home broadband drove youngsters to McDonald's for its fast, free Wi-Fi.
How it works
In 2023, McDonald's Indonesia faced two problems: pandemic-era habits had emptied its restaurants, and its app was losing ground to delivery platforms. VML Indonesia noticed a counter-behavior — youngsters with slow home broadband were already going to McDonald's for fast, free Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fries was an extension built into the McDonald's app. Users slid a fries tray to run an internet speed test; the app compared their home speed with the average McDonald's Wi-Fi speed and issued a discount QR code — the bigger the gap, the bigger the discount on fries. The QR was redeemed in store, capped at twice a week per person.
The campaign reached 6.8 million app users, lifted app usage by 60%, and 45% of vouchers were redeemed in restaurants — making slow Wi-Fi the sales mechanic. It won the ADFEST 2024 Direct Grand Prix, and VML Indonesia's chief creative officer credits it with reviving the app against delivery apps.
Why it lands
- The mechanic was the insight: a national frustration (slow home Wi-Fi) already had a private solution (McDonald's free Wi-Fi), so the promo simply rewarded existing behavior.
- The bigger the speed gap, the bigger the discount — an honest, self-explanatory rule that made the offer feel fair and fun.
- It ran inside the McDonald's app, so every redemption promoted the app itself, which was losing to delivery platforms.
- The QR-to-store flow converted online testing into physical visits, and even 'cheating' the test meant coming to McDonald's.
What it did
The app reached 6.8 million users, usage rose 60%, and 45% of the issued vouchers were redeemed in restaurants — a digital-to-offline conversion rate that turned slow Wi-Fi into foot traffic.
What you can take
Reward a frustration customers already self-solve: slow home Wi-Fi earns fries, so even users who 'game' the test are heading to your store — the mechanic converts online to offline by design.
Since then
Wi-Fries won the ADFEST 2024 Direct Grand Prix and became one of the most-cited examples of real-time utility marketing in Asia. VML Indonesia said it was designed to be relaunched as a recurring promotion, since the insight — slow home Wi-Fi and McDonald's as a Wi-Fi destination — was tied to persistent Indonesian broadband conditions rather than a one-off event.
Sources
- Wi-Fries — VML case page
- How VML Indonesia Turned Frustration into Fries
- ADFEST Lotus Awards: Winners, The First Wave (Direct Lotus Grande: Wi-Fries)
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