McDonald’s Christmas story by Leo Burnett UK is a tear-jerker. It’s the story every parent knows – and struggles with – as their child hits adolescence, the story of a young man wrestling with his “cool” grown-up (and grumpy) side and his inner child. The commercial’s emotional impact is enhanced by a pared down (even more heartstring-wrenching) version, Forever Young, sung by UK music artist, Becky Hill.

The 2020 Christmas film is the fourth in the #ReindeerReady series by McDonald’s and Leo Burnett. The film was released on YouTube and Twitter before its TV launch on Sunday, November 15 during ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, when it will air as a takeover of the full 90-second advertisement break. It achieved more than 2.5 million views on Twitter and over 62,000 on YouTube in its first day.

Becky Hill’s version of Forever Young became available to stream or download from Thursday November 12, with Hill giving 10p from every download to food charity, FareShare. McDonald’s has also pledged to donate funding to enable FareShare to redistribute a further four million meals to families in need before next Easter as part of the same campaign, adding to its October redistribution and taking the total to more than five million meals donated to families who need them most.  

Paul Pomroy, chief executive officer, McDonald’s UK and Ireland, commented, “In a year like no other, I am proud that we can stand together with organisations like FareShare and the End Child Food Poverty Task Force to support those in greatest need. Together with our franchisees, we will provide funding to the charity to enable them to redistribute over five million meals to vulnerable families. We hope our donation goes some way to supporting those in the communities in which we operate this Christmas and into 2021.”