McDonald’s lets fans pick the targets for biggest menu heist yet
McDonald’s and Leo UK are bringing back World Menu Heist, using fan demand to steal nine menu items from eight countries and bring them to the UK and Ireland.
The haul includes Germany’s Big Rösti, Canada’s Maple & Cheddar Chicken and China’s Szechuan Sauce.
Leo UK used social listening to identify the international products people wanted most, turning consumer behaviour into both research and the plot of the campaign.
It expands on the 2025 World Menu Heist, which was subsequently adapted by more than 40 McDonald’s markets. It also continues the fan-led thinking behind this year’s fan-fuelled Secret Menu launch.
Inspired by heist films, the campaign unfolds in stages, with creators cast as insiders and media partners playing reporters. A LADbible partnership will even see a former detective analyse the hero film for clues.
The idea spills into OOH, social and restaurants, with products displayed on gold vaults and a golden parachute appearing across the Golden Arches.
An immersive London event on 25 September will invite media and creators inside the vault itself. A second film lands on 20 October with a promised plot twist.
Hannah Pain, Marketing and Menu Director at McDonald’s UK, said: “Our fans are very good at telling us which McDonald’s products they want us to bring home next, so this year we listened.”
Leo UK creative directors Jason Keet and James Hodson added: “McDonald’s fans gave us the targets. We just planned the heist.”
The eight-week campaign launches on 22 September across TV, cinema, OOH, social, radio, CRM, partnerships and experiential marketing.
Leo UK leads creative, digital and social, with OMD on media, Red Consultancy on PR, events and influencers, LADbible on social partnerships, TMW on CRM, TMS on digital activation and Linney on in-restaurant communications.
It follows McDonald’s recent three-ingredient butcher shop takeover in Shoreditch.
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