McDonald’s is popping up to boost its community contributions and tout the quality of its food as it continues celebrating 55 years of history in Canada.

The Gallery of Little Big Things, at Toronto’s Stackt market, will showcase McDonald’s Canada artifacts such as a toy that pre-dates Happy Meal toys, and a ring box from a Cambridge couple who had the first-ever wedding at a McDonald’s drive-thru.

“With The Gallery of Little Big Things, we’re highlighting our food quality and sourcing, but also our commitments to the communities we serve, the planet we share and our people,” says Gemma Pryor, senior director of McDonald’s Canada’s cross-functional Impact Team for McDonald’s Canada.

Its Impact Team handles CSR initiatives like food security and Ronald McDonald House work, and which comprises communicators, government and public affairs professionals and sustainability leaders.

The last time the QSR popped up in a significant way was in 2019 when it made Big Macs in a see-through kitchen at Yonge and Dundas in Toronto as a way to be literally transparent about how their products are made.

“The Gallery is really the expression of our purpose, formally announced back in July,” Pryor explains, adding that its purpose — to feed and foster communities — was officially communicated for the first time in Canada last summer.

The name, Gallery of Little Big Things, Pryor says, comes from the fact that McDonald’s is 90% franchisee owned and operated, so its franchisees are the small businesses contributing to the big business.

Pryor tells strategy McDonald’s has the privilege of having a highly experiential brand that Canadians love.

“During the pandemic, we stayed connected to our communities while keeping crew and guest safety a top priority in different ways, including a wedding where two couples got married in a drive-thru, and a return to McHappy Day last May,” she says.

“We also hope that people who are interested in things like the planet and where their food comes from will give us a visit, whether in person or online,” Pryor says. “We’d like the chance to tell them about some of what McDonald’s is doing that may surprise them.”

Its contributions, she says, include removing single-use plastics and trialing lower emission tailpipe vehicles in its distribution fleet — important changes the QSR is doing that are part of its goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The pop-up also features a live painting of a commissioned mural by Peterborough artist Jason Wilkins. This, Pryor says, taps into the QSR’s long history with art, such as the Last Straw, a recycled tray-as-canvas art project.

To get the word out, McDonald’s is using paid, owned and earned media. It has event listings inviting the public to come to the exhibition, and paid media with Yahoo and CP24. It is also using owned social as well as internal communiques to connect with its approximately 100,000 employees in the country.

Weber Shandwick Canada is the lead agency. Cossette, which announced recently it upstaffed to handle McDonald’s Canada business, is responsible for digital and social. OMD is taking care of the media buy, and ESP Inc. is handling event production and design. Point 3D is the image provider for the digital gallery.