Three Months and a Team of Fifty: The Making of "Always Working"

A behind-the-scenes look at what it took to create McDonald’s wonderful little stop-motion piece.

The Making of “Always Working”

“It’s about making something better,” says director Yves Geleyn. “McDonald’s wanted to communicate how they’re always working to make a Happy Meal better, which can be told quite functionally, but we wanted to tell the story with some charm.”

The 60-second spot – created alongside Leo Burnett London – follows a group of miniature men and women on a journey through the idyllic British countryside as they improve the Happy Meal’s contents. “We played with scale and proportion,” says Yves. “I liked the idea of these little characters working to make the box, which remains true to size, better.”

It took Yves and his team of fifty people 12 weeks to bring the spot to life, building six sets, as well as 3D-printing and hand-painting hundreds of characters. “It’s filmed almost entirely using stop motion, which I love,” says Yves. “A lot of miniature work is now done with CGI. Stop motion possesses an authenticity, a human touch, that adds so much to a story. It allows you to create something whimsical that is grounded in something authentic.”