CASE 140 / McDonald’s UK / 2023
Raise Your Arches
Find a small social action that naturally expresses the brand, then connect it to an easy, voluntary next step.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook; published by SNS Media Tech. No named human reviewer is claimed.
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: Leo Burnett London; film directed by Edgar Wright. OMD, Framestore and Moxie Pictures credited; tms developed the companion app activation.
Recognition: 2023 One Show Silver Pencil, Integrated Campaign.
Launch / edition: 2023. Award years: 2023.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
Leo Burnett wanted to dramatise the small release associated with an invitation to McDonald’s without relying on food close-ups or a restaurant scene. The agency says research with enthusiasts led it to the knowing eyebrow raise used between people proposing a visit.
How the idea came to life
Edgar Wright’s film follows office workers exchanging raised eyebrows until the invitation spreads through the workplace. The gesture echoes the arches. Instead of treating a logo as only a static signature, the campaign made it something people could perform.
How it reached people
Owned-channel seeding led into the film, social participation, creator activity and filters. Separately, tms built an app experience in which users raised illustrated eyebrows to reveal an offer redeemable the same day, running in the UK from 16 to 29 January 2023.
Supporting sources: Primary agency case → Primary activation partner announcement → Primary award archive →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
The One Show records a 2023 Silver Pencil. Leo Burnett reports more than 162 million views in just over a month, without a published deduplication method on the case page. That exposure does not demonstrate that the gesture independently increased restaurant visits.
The creative mechanism.
Performable brand mnemonic
Observe the invitation, not only the consumption
Marketing often focuses on eating the product, while the decision can begin with a tiny social signal beforehand. Study how people actually propose, coordinate and agree on a visit. A useful creative brief may sit in that transition between private desire and a shared plan rather than in another depiction of the product itself.
Give the brand a performable form
A simple gesture can travel through people’s own behaviour and formats. It needs to be easy to recognise, comfortable to repeat and optional. Test cultural meaning and accessibility before treating a facial expression as universal; offer ways to participate that do not require a particular body movement or public self-presentation.
Connect the emotional invitation to a clear action
The app did a different job from the film: it translated the motif into an offer reveal. An integrated campaign should define each channel’s role explicitly. A playful interaction should not hide price, conditions or expiry, and the offer must be understandable even to someone who never saw the hero advertisement.
Preserve the mnemonic without repeating the whole film
The eyebrow connection is a compact creative rule that can survive short clips, stills and interactive treatments. Write down that rule, then let each channel solve its own problem. For smaller teams, one robust motif adapted carefully is usually more useful than recreating an expensive cinematic production across every placement.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Recognise invitation
- 02Choose to share
- 03Make a practical plan
Growth job: Awareness → Community participation → Conversion. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Find a small social action that naturally expresses the brand, then connect it to an easy, voluntary next step.
Keep these boundaries
Do not assume a gesture is universal or use entertainment to conceal offer conditions and same-day expiry.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A local lunch venue tests a simple opt-in invitation card that regular customers can send privately to a friend.
Build the test
- Interview a few consenting regulars about how they actually suggest meeting for lunch.
- Create one recognisable visual cue with clear venue, price and booking details.
- Offer both a static accessible card and a short animated version, without importing contact lists.
Measure the right thing
Compare completed plans or bookings with a plain invitation; ask whether the cue made coordination easier.
Know when to stop
Stop if recipients feel spammed or the motif is misunderstood in the intended community.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Awareness → Community participation → Conversion
What to adapt: Find a small social action that naturally expresses the brand, then connect it to an easy, voluntary next step.
Prerequisites: Audience observation; Recognisable identity; Clear offer operations.
Smaller-team route: A local lunch venue tests a simple opt-in invitation card that regular customers can send privately to a friend.
Budget: Not established by the opened evidence. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- Leo Burnett: Raise Your Arches →Primary agency case · Supports: Research rationale, director, seeding and social sequence; reported views.
- tms: Raise Your Arches app →Primary activation partner announcement · Supports: 13 January announcement; 16–29 January app activation, interaction and offer expiry.
- The One Show: Raise Your Arches →Primary award archive · Supports: 2023 Silver Pencil and agency/production credits.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.