The Meal

In 2024, McDonald’s spotted an opportunity to raise awareness of an important truth: it's okay not to feel happy all the time. So, in Mental Health Awareness Week, we removed the iconic smile from Happy Meal branding. This got families talking about the happiness expectations that face kids and re-injected Happy Meal back into culture. The campaign smashed objectives, selling >2.5bn boxes during activation week, and boosted brand love, supercharging positive sentiment to 87%! It earned over 2,000 media articles, prime-time television coverage across continents, and 8bn impressions.