For the second time in a week I find myself writing about McDonalds. I haven’t been this enthusiastic about the brand since I was a child. But once again they have developed a wonderful piece of outdoor activity, proving that hugely effective consumer interaction is not restricted to on-line channels.

McDonald’s have taken their iconic permanent outdoor site at London’s Piccadilly Circus and created an interactive LED sign that lets passersby pose from a distance to create optical illusions like wearing a bowler hat or holding an umbrella or a bouquet of flowers. This brilliantly taps into the knowledge that this is one of London’s most popular spots for tourist’s holiday snaps and gives consumers a little something extra to remember their trip to London by.

In addition to the site itself McDonalds have set up a Flickr group to allow people to share their photos and a fan page on Facebook to deepen the engagement with consumers. All in all this is a very clever use of a site that could easily have become wallpaper and given McDonald’s real cut-through in probably the most cluttered advertising space in the world.

See the Flickr Pool here.

In what is a perfect piece of comparative advertising for these recessionary times, McDonald’s in the U.S. have capitalised on Starbucks’ reputation as the home of the $4 coffee.  

In doing so they have have reinforced their own value for money credentials while giving a major competitor a kicking, without even having the decency to help their awareness by naming them. Nice work.