Side Missions
Read the story- Brand
- McDonald's
- Year
- 2025
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Leo UK
Objective
McDonald's UK&I wanted to turn occasional visits into a daily habit over the summer, giving people a reason to open the MyMcDonald's app every day and head into a restaurant to claim what they'd unlocked. The campaign also had a brand job to do: plant McDonald's inside gaming and pop culture, riding the fan truth that "McDonald's is the side mission of your life."
Solution
Inside the Rewards & Offers section of the MyMcDonald's app, a new pixel-art "mission" is waiting each day. Players open it, see the day's challenge, and tap through to take it on — weekday missions range from a simple "grab a Big Mac for £1.99" to interactive tasks like sorting fries by size against the clock, plus tougher Hard Mode challenges built around gaming creators. Completing a weekday mission unlocks a food offer to redeem in-restaurant; on weekends, the same tap delivers an instant prize on the spot, no draw or wait. Finishing a mission also earns a digital badge, and time- and location-based prompts — a morning coffee run, the drive home from work — nudge players toward the next one before the day resets.
- 1
The player downloads the McDonald's UK app, creates an account (18+), and navigates to the Rewards & Offers section to find Side Missions, an interactive screen rendered in retro pixel-art graphics.
- 2
Each day of the campaign surfaces one new "mission," varying in type, length, and difficulty; the player taps it to "play," a single tap that unlocks a reward tied to the day of the week.
- 3
On weekdays, the tap unlocks a food offer, such as a Big Mac for £1.99 or a fan-created combo deal; some missions instead require completing a real-world action to claim the reward, like sorting fries by size against the clock or ordering a McCafé coffee early in the morning.
- 4
A separate Hard Mode track, fronted by creator Angry Ginge, challenges participants to eat McDonald's under deliberately difficult conditions, filming themselves for points.
- 5
Completing a mission earns a digital collectible badge that is stored in the player's profile, accumulating toward a top progression rank of "Maxed Out" at 99,999 points.
- 6
On weekends the mechanic switches to "loot": tapping reveals an instant prize with no delay or draw, drawn from a pool that includes small food items, cinema tickets, partner vouchers, and cash prizes of up to £10,000.
- 7
Unlocked offers and prizes sit in Rewards & Offers until redeemed in-restaurant, at a kiosk, or in-app, with some offers tied to a limited seasonal menu created for the campaign.
- 8
Missions are surfaced contextually, matched to the time of day, and the app integrates with Citymapper to point the player to the nearest restaurant.
- 9
Each day the previous mission is replaced with a new one, repeating the cycle daily for the length of the campaign and encouraging the player to return to the app every day.
