Edgar Wright, the acclaimed director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, has directed a minute-long advertisement for McDonald’s.
The filmmaker was hired by the popular fast food chain to make a short TV spot.
However, many fans of Wright were left scratching their head over the advert, cut using Wright’s distinctive rhythmic editing style – because it didn’t actually show McDonald’s at all.
Titled “Fancy a McDonald’s?”, the advert instead depicts an office full of people, who all wordlessly communicate their desire to go to the fast food restaurant.
The commercial then follows the people as they make their way out the building, making eyes at one another as they leave.
Fans fo the director expressed surprise over the advert on social media.
“Edgar Wright McDonalds ad was not on my bingo card tbh,” one person wrote.
“We need to parent trap Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg immediately. This is an emergency,” someone else wrote, alluding to the director’s acclaimed early-career collaborations with the Spaced star.
“I genuinely don’t understand it,” someone else commented.
Others, however, defended the advert, and Wright’s decision to work for McDonald’s.
“This might be controversial but the Edgar Wright McDonalds commercial is pretty good,” one person opined. “Like yeah its weird that such a renown[ed] director is working for Ronald but im sure it was a crazy good paycheck and only took a few days.”
“Not understanding the dunks on Edgar Wright for the McDonalds ad. Directors have always done this sort of thing,” another wrote.
Screenwriter Pat Casey wrote: “ Are people really mad at Edgar Wright for directing a McDonald’s commercial?
“Years ago I was a P.A. on a shampoo commercial directed by David Lynch. Was it a weird Lynchian shampoo commercial? No. It was exactly like very shampoo commercial ever. Just a director doing his job.”
