Write a short summary of what happens in the film

A Love Letter to the City In the film, citizens from all walks of life in Hong Kong are answering questions about their dearest relationships. These Hong Kongers, young and old, working class to white collar, talk about their truest love. With answers ranging from “no matter what we’ve been through, it would have always been you” and “though time has moved by so quickly, you are still the one I want the most”. It is only at the end, across the cities iconic skyline, that the line #DearHK appears, revealing that all the answers were in fact about the city that they belong to, and love the most.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

A Year of Navigating Through Social Unrest One of the biggest challenges coming out of social-unrest into the pandemic era was the negative sentiment consumers had towards McDonald’s and the QSR category as a whole. We found that any news could be construed as negative, especially when media spend was high. Anytime McDonald’s ran a large campaign, including fan-favourites such as its annual “Day-Day-Crazy” campaign, it would receive backlash. As a result, by 2020 many brands went dark, with less large-scale campaigns and reduced use of traditional media, particularly television. This lead to a fractured economy in which consumers made purchase decisions based on a brands political (or lack of) stances. However, every day people were still coming into McDonald’s. We realized this was because McDonald’s is the great social equalizer. No matter what walk of life, which side of the political spectrum, once you enter McDonald’s, you are equal.

Explain how the work innovatively used the film medium.

The movie “i’m livin’ it”, a film about McRefugees (a nickname for the many homeless in Hong Kong who seek shelter in the cities 24-hour McDonald’s establishments) was to premiere in September 2020. As movie about struggle, triumph and grit in Hong Kong that used McDonald’s as a backdrop, we knew it would be the perfect vehicle to amplify our brand message of hope in the city. We quickly partnered with the films production company, and created our #DearHK 90-second short-film to be played exclusively in theatres as a “trailer” that would appear before the “i’m livin’ it” film. This was the first time in McDonald’s history that a brand film was made specifically for theatres.