McDonald's rolls back the years with Cards collection

McDonald’s UK is launching a new “labour of love” promotion inspired by the brand’s long-standing place in collecting culture by reimagining some of the brand’s most recognisable characters, menu moments and rituals as a new collectible card set.

Two years in development, the nationwide promotion devised by Leo UK celebrates the characters, rituals and cultural legacy that have defined McDonald’s for generations. There are 24 card designs across four categories: Characters, Fans, Retro and Legendary, spanning beloved mascots, cult menu items and nods to the brand’s rich archive.

Every design has been hand illustrated from scratch. Over months, Leo UK refined character poses, line weight, colour palettes and texture to create a distinctive visual language that feels authentic to collector culture while remaining unmistakably McDonald’s.

The physical production involved extensive stock weight and tactility testing to replicate the feel of premium card collections – from standard editions featuring rich matte finishes to legendary designs using holographic foil detailing to heighten the sense of rarity.

At the centre of the collection is a rare 25th card: a gold Ronald McDonald. Only ten exist nationwide, each worth a £10,000 cash prize, marking the character’s return to the McDonald’s universe for the first time in three decades.

Customers can order a ‘Cards Meal’ to receive a pack of four cards at no extra cost. Every pack contains guaranteed free food, while fans will also be able to build a digital collection within the McDonald’s app by entering codes on the back of their cards to unlock additional prizes and explore the original lore behind the McDonald’s icons.

The campaign was co-created with leading UK collector creators Randolph and PokiChloe. McDonald’s has also partnered with Randolph’s grading company ACE Grading, enabling fans to submit their McDonald’s Cards to be professionally graded and sealed – bringing the same authentication standards used for premium card collections into the McDonald’s universe.

The activity began with a pre-launch “hype” phase focused on spaces where collectors already gather and share their finds. Early activity centred on creator partnerships and community platforms, supported by nostalgic social content exploring McDonald’s long history of fan collectibles.

These posts revisited archive moments such as Speedee, the brand’s first mascot, alongside cult menu items including McPizza and other memorabilia from across the brand’s history, framing Cards as the latest chapter in McDonald’s longstanding relationship with collecting.

Following this initial phase, the campaign expanded to a fully integrated national rollout across AV, OOH, radio, social and in-restaurant activity. This includes pack-opening creator content, a midnight restaurant event inspired by gaming release culture, a nationwide tour and exclusive crew badge “cards” and T-shirts for employees featuring foil wraps that reveal the cards.

A social content series created in partnership with Hypebeast explores the craft behind the card designs, documenting the illustration process and the cultural references that shaped the set.

The AV campaign anchors the launch with a 30-second hero film introducing the origin of the game within the McDonald’s universe. Shot by Dan French through Stink Films, the film moves through a series of McDonald’s memories across generations to reveal the inspiration behind each card.

The film is supported by a suite of 10-second and 6-second cutdowns designed to highlight different elements of the promotion, including qualifying meals, free food rewards, in-app set completion and the ultra-rare Golden Ronald card.

Media planning and buying was managed by OMD. PR, event and influencer management was handled by Red Consultancy. CRM was handled by TMW, TMS created the game play mechanic, card production, prizepool curation and merch production, in-restaurant and POP communications were handled by Linney.

McDonald’s UK marketing director Hannah Pain said: “McDonald’s has a rich history of collecting and the more we dug into this, the more we found – from Coke glasses to character memorabilia. Fast forward to 2026, and our McDonald’s Cards promotion is a total celebration of that. We’ve turned memories and iconic features of the brand into something really tangible – 24 unique cards that earn fans free food items, merch and cash.”

Leo UK executive creative director Andrew Long added: “Nostalgia has become real cultural currency, and McDonald’s has always been a part of that story. With McDonald’s Cards, we wanted to take that nostalgia and give fans something fresh and new in the form of iconic Cards.

“Bringing the joy of card culture into an accessible format, we’re opening it up to everyone, which feels perfectly suited to a democratic brand like McDonald’s. It’s been a real labour of love for us at Leo UK. We’ve immersed ourselves in card culture and we couldn’t be more excited for the McDonald’s fans to do the same.”