McDonald's goes retro to mark 50 years in the UK

I never thought McDonald's could make me emotional.

That was, until I saw this campaign.

Suddenly I was transported back to being 5 years old. I was with all my tiny besties in one of the back rooms at my local Macca's. We were singing S Club 7 and eating ice cream cake. And I was wearing my favourite pink dungarees.

And that nostalgia is exactly what McDonald's has encapsulated with a new 60-second film celebrating its 50th year in the UK.

It taps into the insight that, for millions of people, no party has ever hit the same as a McDonald's party.

The film starts with excited kids singing the Happy Birthday song. It's obvious they're at McDonald’s, and it appears to be the 80s. A young boy starts dancing to the iconic hip-hop track ‘Know How’ by Young MC. Soon enough, the other kids join the fun, dancing around the party.

The takeaway message is that there's nothing quite like the nostalgia of remembering having your birthday at McDonald's.

The film ends with a montage of the brand's restaurants over the last 50 years, and a collective invite to join the celebration.

The scene looks so real, as if it was plucked right out of the past.

That’s because it is real. To make the film, agencies Leo Burnett and Smuggler completely rebuilt an 80s McDonald’s restaurant at Woolwich, London. After all, this was the site of the first UK location 50 years ago.

The 80s restaurant is complete with retro menu boards and menu items. It even has the once-iconic cheeseburger stools, an apple pie tree, and a mural featuring all the characters like Grimace and the Hamburglar.

It’s enough to make a grown woman cry for real.

The campaign also includes 5 bold OOH posters designed like the old McDonald's birthday invites. Created by award-winning illustrator Sofie Birkin, each one is based on a different era of McDonald's history.

In-restaurant activations will also appear around the UK, bringing the festivities to life.

These will include retro stylings and special edition menus featuring items like a Double Big Mac and a cake doughnut.

But wait, there’s more.

The brand has also created nostalgic merch to celebrate 50 years in the UK. These items feature patterns and prints from the past such as striped sweats, printed denim, and scrunchies.

This is just one of many nostalgia-fueled campaigns we’ve seen from McDonald's in the last few years.

From Hamburglar cruising around the US in a custom 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, to the viral purple Grimace Birthday Shake, the restaurant brand has been tapping into the power of the past for awhile now.

This is partly due to McDonald's positioning themselves as an integral part of our lives, particularly our youth. This message is meant to encourage us to feel like McDonald's has 'been there all along.' Because this makes the brand feel trustworthy and credible.

Associating a brand with happy memories from our past is powerful. And it may make us more likely to choose that brand, especially in an oversaturated market such as fast food.

With campaigns like this, McDonald's reminds us they are old friends. A cheeseburger is a comfort meal. Why would we choose anybody else?

Nostalgia marketing is extremely effective. Especially in a day and age where global inflation rates are skyrocketing, 280 million people worldwide have depression, there’s a new natural disaster somewhere every day, and there are like 12 wars going on.

Campaigns like this one take us back to a time when the hardest thing to do was choose between McNuggets or a Cheeseburger Happy Meal. And that's pretty appealing right now.

-Sophie, Writer