Raise Your Arches and Jump into McDonald's Christmas Ad

McDonald’s builds on the 'Raise Your Arches' campaign with a feel-good Christmas advert, created by Leo Burnett UK, inviting the nation to ask friends, family and co-workers ‘Fancy a McDonald’s?’ this festive period. 

In this year’s Christmas advert, McDonald’s is celebrating the little moments of release that an invite to McDonald’s can provide during the festive period. The 90 second feel-good film ‘Fancy a McDonald’s Christmas?’, created with advertising agency Leo Burnett UK, shows just how irresistible an invite to McDonald’s is, as we see a simple invite to McDonald’s between two friends snowball, as a crowd makes their way across a town to their local McDonald’s.

The ad was directed by Shannon Murphy, known for directing Killing Eve, and features the iconic 80s song ‘Jump’ by Van Halen. The film will debut during the ad break of The Voice on ITV and Terminator: Dark Fate on Channel 4 on 11th November, and the same day on cinema. It will also run ahead of Love Actually 20th Anniversary screenings, one of the UK’s best loved Christmas films. 

The film begins at a dull office Christmas party, where a woman in a snowman costume reluctantly takes part in a karaoke sing-along with her colleague. She receives a text from her friend – a burger and Fries emoji followed by a question mark. The friend raises his eyebrows at her, extending the invite that needs no words  - ‘Fancy a McDonald’s?’. They rush out of the office excitedly, with the rest of the party in-tow. The crowd walk across town, as other groups of people with the exact same idea, leave their own festive gatherings to join in. Even Father Christmas can’t resist, leaving Santa’s Grotto to join the group. They arrive at a train station, where a family in matching Christmas jumpers appear glum as their train has just been cancelled. Spotting the bustling crowd, the family gleefully raise their eyebrows at each other and join the group. The film cuts to schoolchildren performing a Christmas nativity play: a hall full of disinterested parents watch. When a teacher asks, “Who wants one more song?” the adults charge outside to join the herd, swiftly followed by the schoolchildren. The huge crowd stride towards their local McDonald’s branch and the McDonald’s sign comes into view. The film ends with smiling McDonald’s staff greeting everybody before ‘Fancy a McDonald’s?’ appears on-screen. 

The ‘Fancy a McDonald’s Christmas?’ campaign is supported by a social media campaign including an innovative Snapchat filter that gives everyone the chance to try on outfits from the film by raising their arches. Alongside this, the brand will be running 30 days of app offers through the Festive Wins promotion, allowing customers to win food and merch including a partnership with Crocs that features the popular footwear decorated with McDonald’s iconography. McDonald’s will also bring festive joy to families, with a Festive Paddington Happy Meal® partnership over the Christmas period.

The Red Consultancy has led on PR and the launch event, OMD UK has handled all media planning and buying, CRM by Armadillo and Linney  - all point of purchase activity and competitions have been driven by TMS.

Michelle Graham-Clare, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at McDonald’s UK & Ireland, said: “Celebrating the iconicity of a knowing look, an unspoken communication to signify the all-consuming craving for a Big Mac is something we’ve proudly celebrated all year. I cannot wait to see the reaction to our Fancy a McDonald’s Christmas campaign. Underpinned by generous offers and competitions in our app to kick-start Christmas early, we hope to raise many smiles – and eyebrows – once again.”

James Millers and Andrew Long, Creative Partners at Leo Burnett UK, said:“The beginning of 2023 saw us turn a simple raise of the of eyebrows into an invitation to Maccies. So, what better way to finish the year than bringing this iconic action back for Christmas? This feel good campaign hopes to spread some joy, by celebrating all of those important moments of release during the festive period.”