McDonald’s and communications agency Ready10, alongside marketing agency TMS, today launch the McDonald’s ‘draw how you feel meal’ where, for the first time ever, McDonald’s iconic Happy Meal® boxes will be blank to encourage children to express their emotions and unleash their creativity.
Following last year’s Cannes Lions-winning campaign which saw the removal of the iconic smile from the boxes as a conversation starter for kids and their families to discuss their feelings, this year’s follow up takes the creative a step further with the famous red Happy Meal® boxes replaced with a limited-edition white design and will come with a set of Happy Meal® crayons to help spark young imaginations and prompt meaningful family conversations around emotions.
Nearly four million of the limited-edition boxes dubbed the ‘draw how you feel meal’ will be available in all of McDonald’s 1,400+ restaurants across the country for two weeks from 5th November, with a comms campaign delivered in partnership with one of the brand’s charities, BBC Children in Need during the charity’s key November fundraising window.
The campaign comes in response to new research commissioned by McDonald’s which found that four in ten (42%) kids aged 5-10 struggle to talk to adults about how they feel, but nearly three quarters (73%) say they find it easier to talk about their feelings when drawing. McDonald’s hopes the new Happy Meal® box will become a tool for junior artists across the UK and ROI to make their own and explore their feelings in a fun and imaginative way.
A dedicated family hub on the McDonald’s website has been developed in partnership with BBC Children in Need to provide families with access to a host of resources to support conversations on emotions with children. The hub will accessible via a QR code printed on the limited-edition Happy Meal® boxes, as well as via the McDonald’s website and its social media channels.
Presenter, singer and mum-of-three Kimberley Walsh is supporting the campaign, drawing on her own experience as a parent of young children. As part of the launch, Kimberley trained McDonald’s crew on how to get the most from the blank Happy Meal® box as part of social media content which will be live on owned channels. Kimberley participated in photography, media interviews and social media amplification to support the campaign.
A comprehensive earned comms plan will support the campaign, with a variety of parenting influencers also recruited to ensure widespread awareness of the initiative.
Ben Fox, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s UK & Ireland, said: “Our partnership with BBC Children in Need has helped McDonald’s to play a vital role in supporting young people across the UK and Ireland. By launching nearly four million limited-edition Happy Meal® boxes we are able to reach families in-restaurant and at home through McDelivery®, as we provide them with the tools to get creative and encourage conversations that support children’s wellbeing.”
Kate Addy, Managing Partner, Ready10 said: “Last year we removed the iconic smile from 2.5 million Happy Meal® boxes and directly saw the positive effects a campaign like this led by a brand with a global footprint like McDonald’s could have in enabling family conversations about children’s emotions. This year we wanted to bring it back bigger and better by removing the iconic colour from the boxes, nearly doubling the number in circulation and by handing creative control over to the kids.”
Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive Officer at BBC Children in Need, said: “Art and creativity can help to give children an outlet when words aren’t enough. At Children in Need we know that strong, supportive relationships between children and the important people in their lives is critical in easing their worries and supporting their emotional wellbeing. But we also know that it is not always straight forward to know where to start with these conversations. We are thrilled to support this campaign which turns a simple Happy Meal box into a fun, family-friendly tool for expression and connection, something every family can use to come together.”
Sarah Poole, Creative Director, TMS said: “On the back of last years successful campaign, we wanted to ensure that this year was just as rewarding by creating a visual language that encourages kids to literally draw how they feel on a Happy Meal box, that has the iconic smile and colours removed. We created a warm and uplifting hand-drawn world to house our new blank box and welcome ALL the emotions. Some of which were illustrated as relatable “emotional scribbles” and helped us to invite kids to open up and have meaningful conversations about their own feelings.”
Ready10 developed the idea, working with McDonald’s partner agency TMS to build the campaign visual ID and in-restaurant assets. Ready10 is responsible for PR, talent, social content and influencer recruitment with TMS responsible for all design and visual executions.
Source: Ready10
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