Approximately 4,000 families with seriously ill children stay at one of Sweden’s five Ronald McDonald Houses each year. The houses provide the families with a homelike environment while the children have close access to the care that they need. Studies show that staying at a Ronald McDonald House, and having family nearby during treatment, has a positive impact on the children’s recovery.
In some cases, the children need specialist care in hospitals that are far away from their actual homes, which makes it difficult for the children to keep in touch with their friends. Connecting with friends could also have a positive impact on the children’s well-being. To facilitate this, NORD DDB and McDonald’s Sweden have joined forces with the British game design company Karta to build a new Ronald McDonald House for the Ronald McDonald House Charities on the online gaming platform Roblox. The digital house enables the children to keep in touch with their friends at home but also meet new ones as the game connects all the Ronald McDonald Houses in Sweden.
The children being cared for were encouraged to dream freely when they helped design the new house on Roblox, and it was only their own imagination that could pose limits to what the house would look like. Several of the children wanted a pool, meanwhile others wished they could go tobogganing. As a result, there are always four seasons going on at the same time inside the game. The digital house will only be available to children who have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House in Sweden, but the children can then extend invitations to their own friends.
The idea was developed by NORD DDB and the house on Roblox was created together with Karta. The campaign will be communicated via film, print, DOOH, radio and social media.
“I am so happy that we at Karta have been able to take part in this fantastic journey. It has been so much fun to experience the children’s creative thoughts and to realize their ideas and dreams. This project is very special to me as my second son was born with a heart defect and we spent a large part of his first time at the Ronald McDonald House in London. For me, the stay there was extremely important, I received great support from other parents and from the staff,” said Tony Barnes, COO and co-founder at Karta.
This film–directed Farzad Farzaneh of production company Giants & Toys–explores the making of the Ronald McDonald House on Roblox.
