McDonald’s Revamps Its Iconic Piccadilly Circus Ad

McDonald's iconic advertising sign has been part of the fabric of London's equally iconic Piccadilly Circus for over 20 years, and now McDonald’s is re-launching this advertising site. Named ‘Little Piccadilly’ the site is the world's first digital advertising screen to be fully interactive 24/7, 365 days a year. 

Little Piccadilly holds a mirror up to London and reflects the democratic values of the McDonald's brand by enabling everyone to make their mark on one of the most visited locations in the world.

As people pass by the McDonald’s screen, they will be invited to create their own animated character and send it directly to the Piccadilly screen via their smartphone, so they become a permanent resident of Little Piccadilly for all to see – transforming the McDonald's screen into a gigantic, interactive visitors' book showcasing all the little residents, past and present. 

Little Piccadilly is an ever-changing world, reflecting the real-time conditions in Piccadilly Circus itself - from seasonality and time-of-day to local weather conditions. And the more people who interact at the same time, the more exciting and surprising the results.

With over 300 million possible combinations of illustrated artwork and animations, you'll never see exactly the same thing twice - and that's just for launch. Little Piccadilly is a long-term initiative, with new combinations and functionality being added over time, such as messaging and real-time games.

People simply visit LittlePicca.com on a connected device to start creating their very own little resident.

Nathalie Pomroy, Director of Marketing, McDonald’s UK, said: “Little Piccadilly is the next step in McDonald’s digital journey, allowing people to interact with this iconic landmark in a unique and exciting way.  We hope that passers-by will enjoy the fun interactive elements of this, creating their very own Little Piccadilly resident for all to see.  We have embraced recent innovations in the digital media field, and as new trends develop and as the interactive media industry reaches maturity, we will continue to look for innovative ways to communicate with our customers.”

The creative was devised by Leo Burnett’s Pansy Aung & Anna Sweet, developed by Amanda Julius & Elisa Frediani, with creative direction from Charlie Martin & Ben Lunt, and art direction from Russell Brown. Character design by illustrator Stanley Chow. Front-end development was handled by Pirata London and Holler, with back-end development by DEP.

Credits

Client McDonald’s UK

Creative agency Leo Burnett

Planner Kit Altin

Copywriters Amanda Julius and Anna Sweet

Art Directors Elisa Frediani and Pansy Aung

Creative Directors Charlie Martin & Ben Lunt

Head of Art Russell Brown

Art Buyer Christine DeBlangy

Illustrator Stanley Chow

Producers Rene Chan, with Becky Crilly and Lorenzo Guernieri

Front-end Development Pirata London and Holler

Back-end Development DEP

Account Management Emily Somers, Rosie Greaves, Ali Wilde, Annabella Smith, Katie Dally