He’s Lovin’ It

The next time you find yourself on the receiving end of an advertisement for the land of the golden arches, you might recognize the person staring back at you and saying, ‘I’m lovin’ it.’

That was the experience of a few of Ayité Atiwoto’s friends, anyway, who came face-to-face with their high school chum poking his out of a drive-thru window when the McDonald’s ad flashed across their screens.

“I had a few friends that came over to me, they told me that they saw it on TV and on YouTube, and stuff like that,” says Atiwoto, a Grade 12 student at Citadel High. “The most exciting is when my friend came up to me, and she said she saw it in the theatres before the movie came on. That was pretty cool.”

Atiwoto had only been working at the Scotia Square McDonald’s location for two months — his first-ever job, in fact — when friends notified him of a casting call on Hennessey Casting’s website, where he has a profile. The casting call specifically called for auditions from actual McDonald’s employees.

“I applied for it, and they called me,” says Atiwoto. “I went for the first audition, and then the second day they called me for a second audition. The next day, they said I made it, and then started shooting.”

Atiwoto believes part of what made him stand out to the casting agents is when he told them about his love of skateboarding. In filming the commercial in January, the directors decided to frame the commercial around his skateboarding talent, filming him skating with friends of his at the skate park on the Halifax Common, and giving him the opportunity to alter the script in any way he thought would make it more reflective of his personal experiences.

“They gave me the opportunity to kind of switch the script to my own words, but I didn’t really switch a lot around, because it’s pretty much what it is,” says Atiwoto. “I like how they were based around me. They shot some of the clips in my neighbourhood, and they drove me to the skate park, they let me wear my own clothes, and my bag, and that was my own skateboard, too. Everything I had was mine, and it was real.”

Atiwoto’s ad is part of the Welcome to McDonald’s new national marketing campaign, wherein they capture candid moments of employees and customers of the chain across Canada, and showcase their stories.

Atiwoto says that his ad, in which he talks about McDonald’s as being a place that makes room for everyone and anyone, is reflective of his personal experience.

“It really is,” says Atiwoto. “The people here are very nice, the managers, and the people I work with.”

Atiwoto’s coworkers agree with the sentiment of his ad, too — even if he didn’t even mention it to most of them until they were approached for an interview.

“Ayité didn’t say anything to anybody — didn’t boast about it to us, anyways,” says Nichole Lemoine, the assistant manager of the Scotia Square McDonald’s, and Atiwoto’s supervisor. “What he’s saying in this is definitely an honest image of everything that I’ve learned and been taught. Everybody is welcome — if you’ve got the capabilities, we’ll put you to work.”

“I think he reflects us very well. I’m proud to say that, ‘yeah, this guy works for me,’” adds Lemoine.

Joshua Ryan, one of Atiwoto’s longtime friends, and a fellow line cook at the Scotia Square McDonald’s, was one of the few to know about the ad ahead of time, but had yet to see it until just before being interviewed for this story (luckily, Atiwoto had a copy handy on his tablet).

Still, not having seen the ad hasn’t kept Ryan from boasting about knowing its star.

“I’m already telling people that already. I hadn’t even seen it yet, and I’ve been telling people about it,” says Ryan, who’s proud to know that Atiwoto will be representing not only their store, but all of Nova Scotia, on a national level. “I’ll be like, ‘hey, it’s Ayité!’”

Atiwoto’s future plans studying at NSCAD after graduation, but thanks in part to this experience, he won’t deny that he’s been bitten by the acting bug a little bit, too.

“That would be amazing, but for right now, I’m thinking graphic designing at NSCAD,” says Atiwoto. “But if I get more opportunities in acting, I will definitely take that.”

In the meantime, Lemoine says that she might just have to get him out on the counter after seeing his performance in the ad.

“We’ll cross train him to counter, there, and we’ll see how it goes,” says Lemoine. Then, turning to Atiwoto, she adds, “If I’ve got a commercial to shoot, I’m coming to you.”

To see Atiwoto’s ad for yourself, and others like it, visit www.welcometomcdonalds.ca. That is, if you it doesn’t pop up on your TV or in front of your Youtube video first.