McDonald’s has launched a social-first campaign titled ‘Raise Your Arches’ that centres on the idea that the invitation to grab a McDonald’s meal is so universal, it can be communicated without uttering a single word.

The campaign, created by Leo Burnett UK, was teased on the brand’s social channels and TV end frames this week with a simple graphic ‘eyebrow raise’ adaptation of the McDonald’s arches logo. The full campaign launches today with a film directed by British filmmaker Edgar Wright.

The film, ‘Raise Your Arches’, tells a story of a group of office workers who, through a series of these unspoken invitations, conspire together to head to McDonald’s. It begins in an office. A heavy folder of papers is slammed onto a desk. With a sigh, two colleagues catch each other’s eye. One of them raises their eyebrows to the other in a knowing way, she understands exactly what that means. They nod in agreement and head off. With smiles on their faces, they walk purposefully through the office: raising their ‘arches’ to their colleagues, and the whole office joins them for the trip to McDonald’s. It’s the first ever McDonald’s film to not feature a McDonald’s restaurant or the food, The film will launch this evening on social and TV, premiering during Coronation Street on ITV at 8:15pm.

The ‘Fancy a McDonald’s’ invitation will be amplified through social media, with the campaign supported by Snapchat and Instagram Lenses. The Lens will raise the user’s arches, allowing McDonald’s fans to share and invite their friends to get a McDonald’s.

The campaign then heads in-store, with Linney designing in-restaurant digital takeovers and transforming the iconic McDonald’s Golden Arches sky signs at two restaurants into the raised arches version of the logo. The ‘M’ will be cropped and animated, moving in a way that replicates the eyebrow-raise shown in the film.

The activity will be underpinned by a digital sales promotion campaign, designed by TMS, to drive app downloads and deliver a fortnight of offers and rewards to customers from Blue Monday onwards. Over the next 12 months, the campaign will be amplified internationally, with almost 40 markets across the world joining the movement.

“In a challenging time, our Raise Your Arches invitation to McDonald’s provides the nation with a small but much-needed moment to let go and feel good,” said Michelle Graham-Clare, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at McDonald’s UK & Ireland. “We hope the campaign raises arches and smiles across the country.”