In South Korea, most hospitals regulate that legal guardians must accompany their sick children when they are hospitalised. If they don’t, the child is refused treatment. This leaves hundreds of thousands of mothers living in cramped, uncomfortable conditions on tiny caregiver beds for days, weeks, months – sometimes years – on end.

This unique caregiving culture is taken for granted by Korean society, and the struggles faced by mothers often go neglected. McDonald’s, a partner with RMHC (Ronald McDonald House Charities), wanted to bring attention to their hardships and highlight the need for an RMHC House in Seoul. Each RMHC House supports families with sick children by providing a home away from home, but currently, South Korea has only one RMHC in Yangsan – 388km away from Seoul, where most children’s hospitals are situated.

So Leo Burnett Korea created Mom’s Bed for McDonald’s, a campaign that shows just how cramped and uncomfortable caregiver beds are. Overnight, dozens of installations appeared in locations around Seoul, highlighting how the city’s ubiquitous tiny benches are no bigger than parents’ hospital beds. On streets, landmarks, shopping malls and at McDonald’s restaurants, these tiny bench spaces, invited Koreans to lie down and experience the discomfort. The installations compared the actual size of ‘mom’s bed’ with universal bed sizes, each inscribed with a real mother’s name, while QR codes link to genuine stories to inspire change and invite donations.

Following a massive Mom’s Bed installation in one of Seoul’s largest shopping malls, named Goyang Starfield, influencers and ambassadors also shared photos of themselves to show how unacceptable and uncomfortable caregiver beds are, leading to record-breaking donations to RMHC.

With this support, plans for a second Ronald McDonald House in Seoul are being discussed to help more families with sick children.

“With Mom’s Bed, we wanted to raise awareness of the desperate need for a RMH in Seoul,” stated Haeyeon Lee, chief marketing officer at McDonald’s Korea.

“Learning about the hardships faced by so many parents was an incredibly humbling experience. We hope that more parents will sleep a little easier, ready to face whatever challenges might lie ahead, as a result of this campaign,” added SooHee Yang, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe Korea.

The campaign recently won the Outdoor Grande Lotus at ADFEST 2024, and two Silver trophies at Spikes Asia 2024.

Credits

Client: McDonald’s Korea
Chief Marketing Officer: Haeyeon Lee

Agency: Leo Burnett Korea
Chief Creative Officer: SooHee Yang
Executive Creative Director: Hyeah Nahm
Creative Director: Chungmo yang
Art Director: Hyesun Shin, Inwon Lee
Copywriter: Junseok Kang
Group Account Director: Joohun Kim
Account Managers: Chohui Kim & Seunghyun Kim
Media Planners: Jeehee Jung & Gwangsoo Yun