‘McDonald’s 50th Birthday’

2024 marked the 50th anniversary of McDonald’s in the UK. To celebrate the occasion, we tapped into the insight that no party has ever hit quite like the experience of an iconic McDonald’s birthday party, by bringing back those nostalgic memories for fans old and new.

The festivities kicked off with a 60 second film transporting fans back to a nostalgic 80’s McDonald’s birthday party. The film was shot on the site of the first McDonald’s restaurant in the UK, and features a young boy losing himself in the rhythm of iconic 80’s hip-hop track ‘Know How’ by Young MC. As the film progresses, the dancing proves contagious, and the rest of the party join in, demonstrating that there’s no feeling like McDonald’s.

To encourage the nation to join in the celebrations, we created a series of bold OOH posters, that aimed to modernise original McDonald’s birthday party invites from the past 50 years. Collaborating with the D&AD winning illustrator Sofie Birkin, we created 5 original artworks, each based on a different era of McDonald’s history.

The campaign extended across the rest of the McDonald’s experience. From a limited edition party food menu, a digital party bag activation, and the exclusive ‘I Had My Birthday Party at McDonald’s’ merch collection based on the iconic slogan from the 80’s and patterns, prints and characters from the past.

Like any great party, there was one final surprise. Iconic brand mascot Grimace gatecrashed the campaign along with the viral Grimace Shake. Campaign assets were covered in the purple liquid to tease the arrival, then on launch day we held a LIVE tasting party on Instagram with Grimace as DJ. Within hours the Shake had sent Britain into a frenzy and by the next day restaurants nationwide had sold out.

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Selected recognition:

British Arrows ‘Shortlist – Results TBC’ / Campaign ‘Top Campaigns Of The Year 2024’ / Epic Awards ‘Shortlist’ / Creative Salon ‘Work of the week’ / Ad Age ‘Editors Pick’ / Campaign ‘Ad Of The Day’ / The Drum ‘Ad of the day’ / David Reviews ‘Pick of the day’