Thirty years ago, in a McDonald’s in Bathurst, N.B., owner and operator Ron McLellan created the McFlurry. To honour its milestone anniversary on June 7, McDonald’s Canada this week launched “An East Coast Original,” a campaign that turns advertising into a canvas for the inventive and artistic nature of Atlantic Canada.

Developed in partnership with Cossette, the campaign features original artwork from seven East Coast artists, each working with hands-on mediums, from rug hooking and quilting to stained glass, driftwood sculpture and cyanography, a photographic printing method. Each piece is inspired by the McFlurry and infused with the textures, symbols and stories of the Atlantic region.

The artworks are featured across Atlantic Canada in out-of-home, online video and social platforms, but never as ordinary ads, McDonald’s Canada says, adding each work is displayed as if it was a curated piece in a regional gallery

This deliberate treatment emphasized not just the beauty of the pieces, but the craftsmanship and cultural resonance behind them, says to Melissa Hains, director of field marketing at McDonald’s Canada.

“This campaign is a love letter to East Coast ingenuity,” Hains says. “Every element is handcrafted by local artists, inspired by the same spirit of originality that gave birth to the McFlurry 30 years ago. It’s our way of honouring the place and the people, where innovation meets tradition, and creativity is part of the culture.”

Among the creations is a rug-hooked scene of the iconic Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, “woven with dyed wool in soft creams and sea blues to echo the swirls of a McFlurry; a delicate stained-glass panel that refracts light like soft serve glinting under a summer sun; and a cyanograph print of native East Coast flora, bright blooms and curling leaves that nod to the natural beauty surrounding the region’s McDonald’s restaurants,” the brand said in a news release.

Jason Hill, executive director at Cossette, says that by tapping into unconventional mediums (quilting, cyanography and glasswork), the campaign reflects the East Coast’s deep-rooted maker culture and proves that even everyday experiences can inspire slow, considered art.

“I love how East Coast originality is embedded throughout this campaign,” Hill says. “All pieces are original. Analogue. Hand-made. It’s refreshing to see this kind of authentic craft in a campaign, and in this case, one that is truly reflective of the crafts associated with that region. It’s not surprising that with this kind of creativity on tap, an East Coaster created the world’s first McFlurry.“