"i'm loving it!" annabelle breakey for McDonalds
“Big brand, big photo studio, big images. It’s sweet to be invited to that party—that’s for sure,” says Annabelle Breakey, reflecting on her recent work for McDonald’s. Last November, Breakey traveled to Chicago, home of the Golden Arches, to shoot Crispy Chicken Sandwich and McPlant (McDonald’s proprietary plant-based patty) campaigns—her third job for the legendary international brand, and her second trip to McDonald’s HQ.
Breakey and her production crew used care and craft to fine-tune images that would soon be broadcast to select cities worldwide. The brief was to articulate McDonald’s signature brand of classic comfort portrayed through simple, clean messaging. “We shot everything in super high resolution because the images were to be printed at 55 inches tall,” says Breakey. “There was a lot of technical proficiency required in this job, from styling to shooting to post-production.”
McDonald’s may be ubiquitous across the globe, but Breakey shares that being in the new corporate headquarters showed her that while the brand is consistent, it’s highly adaptable. She explains how the halls are chock full of archival displays of beloved McDonald’s ephemera and memorabilia from across the decades, and that the HQ also has an international café on its main floor where guests can try a variety of specialty menu items from Micky D’s outposts worldwide.
“It’s really cool to see what a company produces over so much time and geography,” she says. “And I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate.”