McDonald’s HK and BBDO HK win big at MARKies Awards HK 2026

McDonald’s Hong Kong's "Back to the Beginning" campaign and BBDO Hong Kong have won big at MARKies Awards 2026 and were crowned Best of Show - Campaign and Best of Show - Agency, respectively.

Serving as a platform to honour the most innovative and impactful creative work within Hong Kong’s dynamic marketing services landscape, this year’s MARKies Awards gathered industry experts at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong on 29 May to compete for recognition of their outstanding work. All submissions were carefully assessed by a distinguished panel of 33 professionals.

See the full list of winners here.

See the full jury here.

McDonald’s Hong Kong’s "Back to the Beginning” campaign took home eight trophies, including seven golds and one silver, successfully winning the hearts of the judging panel.

Done in collaboration with creative agency BBDO Hong Kong and media agency OMD Hong Kong, the campaign ran from 14 September to 19 October last year. Targeting Hongkongers of all ages, it celebrated McDonald's Hong Kong's 50th anniversary by going back to the brand's earliest days in the city.

To make a 50-year-old brand feel vital, relevant, and emotionally resonant without looking like a narcissistic corporation, the campaign transformed its 1975 origin story into an immersive time machine, leveraging Hong Kong's craving for nostalgia to uplift brand and business to new heights.

The campaign launched with a 10-minute film, "Back to the Beginning", starring Nicholas Tse as McDonald's Hong Kong's first store manager. The drama captures opening day chaos in 1970s Hong Kong, as a rookie crew gets overwhelmed by a massive crowd on Paterson Street. Using historical archives, the team built a 1:1 replica of the 1975 store. Aired as a primetime TV special, the film turned the brand's origin into a mass-audience entertainment event.

The campaign then broke the fourth wall, moving the physical film set to the West Kowloon Cultural District for a ticketed immersive exhibition . Visitors could walk through the 1975 store, explore 50 years of artifacts, and relive their childhoods. It served as a museum-grade experience that allowed fans to physically inhabit their childhood memories, generating massive earned media and social sharing.

To drive restaurant foot traffic, the campaign brought back Tse's "My Taste of Hong Kong" burger, originally created years earlier. Tse, a celebrity chef, designed the limited-time burger to reinterpret local flavours. Fans had frequently requested its return, so the revival connected the campaign's nostalgic theme to a tangible product.

Behind every successful campaign, agencies play a significant role in crafting and shaping the storytelling concept. This time, BBDO Hong Kong, the Best of Show – Agency winner, secured a total of 19 trophies, including 11 gold, seven silver, and one bronze award.

In addition to the "Back to the Beginning" campaign, BBDO Hong Kong executed several thought-provoking initiatives, including the "i'm lovin' 50" and "From Bites to Beats" campaigns for McDonald's Hong Kong; "Building the Future Today" for MTR Corporation; and "Octopus GO – Turning Unseen Convenience into Unignorable Culture" for Octopus Holdings. These campaigns impressed the judges with their emphasis on creative ideas and effective implementation.

The "Building the Future Today" campaign, created in collaboration with media agency WPP Media Hong Kong for MTR Corporation, caught the judges' attention with its clever use of cultural storytelling. Running from 15 October to 6 December last year, the campaign targeted the general public.

MTR Corporation knew that people often doubt railway projects during construction but love them once finished. The goal was to change the timeline - earning that appreciation early, before a single track was laid, rather than changing people's minds. To do this, the campaign connected with the return of "Back to the Past" and used its futuristic theme to make MTR's expansion plans more concrete and relatable through a story people already loved.

Themed “Step into the Future”, the campaign featured two TV commercial mini-blockbusters with Raymond Lam as the “emperor” from Back to the Past. He travels through Hong Kong's MTR network - from today's Tuen Ma and East Rail Lines to the future Kwu Tung Station and Tung Chung Line Extension. A Linda Chung cameo reinforces that with MTR, anywhere is reachable.

To drive deeper message penetration, the campaign hijacked an MTR-owned touchpoint: in-train announcements. It replaced the standard corporate script with the emperor's unmistakable voice and signature laugh as he "patrolled" the network, declaring the benefits of future rail lines.

The campaign closed with the "Step into the Future" exhibition, which took visitors through three chapters: The Beginning, The Present, and The Future. With the emperor narrating an immersive experience, abstract plans became a real journey through time.

This year's entries showcased exceptional creativity from marketing professionals who pushed boundaries. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE would like to thank the judges for reviewing over 640 submissions across 40 categories. We also congratulate all the finalists on their success. A total of 127 trophies were presented to top brands and agencies in the region. We believe this year's awards have paved the way for exciting industry initiatives for years to come.

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