This film for McDonald’s out of Leo Burnett UK introduces us to a group of office workers who conspire together to head to McDonald’s. The piece begins in a typical office, a heavy folder of papers is slammed onto a desk. With a sigh, two colleagues catch each other’s eye. One of them raises their eyebrows to the other in a knowing way, she understands exactly what that means. They nod in agreement and head off. With smiles on their faces, they walk purposefully through the office: raising their “arches” to their colleagues in a universally understood gesture. It doesn’t take long for the whole office to join in for a lunchtime escape–window cleaners and postman included.
The film was directed by Edgar Wright via Moxie Pictures. Wright’s feature filmography includes Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho and Shaun of the Dead.
The “Fancy a McDonald’s” invitation will be turbo-charged through social media, as McDonald’s call on employees, brand fans and influencers to get involved in the eyebrow-raising action in an activation led by The Red Consultancy. Snapchat and Instagram lenses will also support the campaign: the lens will raise the user’s arches, allowing McDonald’s fans to share and invite their friends to get a McDonald’s.
The campaign then heads in-store, transforming the iconic McDonald’s Golden Arches sky signs at two restaurants into the raised arches version of the logo. The ‘M’ will be cropped and animated, moving in a way that replicates the eyebrow-raise shown in the film.
The activity will be underpinned by a generous digital sales promotion, designed by TMS to drive app downloads and deliver a fortnight of offers and rewards to customers from Blue Monday onwards. Over the next 12 months the campaign will be amplified internationally, with almost 40 markets across the world joining the movement.
Michelle Graham-Clare, SVP, chief marketing officer at McDonald’s U.K. and Ireland, said: “In a challenging time, our Raise Your Arches invitation to McDonald’s provides the nation with a small but much-needed moment to let go and feel good. We hope the campaign raises arches and smiles across the country and I can’t wait to see everyone get involved.”
Chaka Sobhani, chief creative officer at Leo Burnett U.K. and global, said: ”An invitation to McDonald’s is an opportunity to put our responsibilities aside and enjoy a little lift. And we hope Raise Your Arches does exactly that, allowing everyone to momentarily let go of life’s pressures and enjoying a Maccers. We were beyond excited to work with the brilliant Edgar Wright to bring this idea to life–from the visual look and feel he creates to what he does with music and choreography, he’s got that knack of making work that grabs your attention for all the right reasons. We’re always looking at ways to raise a smile and create big populist entertainment for Maccers and in the hands of Edgar, we hope we’ve created something that does both.”
Wright shared, “As soon as I read the script I was like, “Oh, I love this song, I love this premise. This will be a lot of fun.”
