McDonald’s Netherlands has launched a hyperlocal outdoor campaign that documents the unofficial footpaths customers carve through the landscape to reach its restaurants. The project moves away from staged advertising by focusing entirely on desire paths. These are the organic shortcuts formed when pedestrians instinctively choose the quickest route to their destination.
The physical execution relied on a data led discovery process. The team combined open map data with restaurant coordinates to find unofficial trails leading directly to McDonald’s sites. Photographers captured these paths in their raw unfiltered state across several Dutch cities. Using real world photography instead of synthetic imagery establishes authenticity. It highlights the physical proof that people already choose the shortest path to satisfy a craving.
Each billboard features a single high resolution image of a worn path in its natural surroundings. The minimalist approach removes heavy messaging and lets the physical evidence of human behaviour tell the story. This print and outdoor campaign is rolling out locally in cities including Almelo, Eindhoven, Venray, Woerden and Lemmer. Placing advertisements in the specific regions where the paths exist ensures the execution is verifiable and strictly relevant to the local community.
Campaign Name: Shortcuts
Agency Name: TBWA\NEBOKO
Brand Name: McDonald’s
Location: Netherlands
