For nearly a decade, U.S. millennials had been spurning fast food companies in favor of brands that exuded the transparency and authenticity their generation demanded. While research proved it would be difficult to win over brand haters, McDonald’s believed it could change the minds of “curious skeptics” by opening up about its food. And by inviting this large segment of millennials to engage directly with the brand and discover the truth for themselves, McDonald’s U.S. set out to change the conversation on social media, and change its reputation for good.

Every 42 seconds, someone posts a comment or question on social media about McDonald’s food. In recent years, the reviews were not good.

Over time, these questions turned to rumors, hurting McDonald’s reputation. By August 2014, less than a third of U.S. millennials felt good about eating McDonald’s food.

To change its reputation among millennials, McDonald’s needed to change for good.

McDonald’s U.S. launched “Our Food. Your Questions.” And for the first time ever, the brand invited anyone on social media question to ask anything about its food. Through direct social conversations, McDonald’s served up 41,000 real answers in real-time.

Opening up to people helped people open up to McDonald’s. Today, half of all millennials feel good about eating at McDonald’s – a 17% increase since the start of the campaign. McDonald’s didn’t just change the conversation with its social audience, it changed the way people think about its food.

In October 2014, McDonald’s opened up like never before with a campaign called “Our Food. Your Questions.” For the first time in its 60-year history, McDonald’s invited anyone on social media to ask anything about its food.

Never in its 60-year history had McDonald’s U.S. offered such unrestricted access. And in just five months, McDonald’s responded to more than 41,000 questions on social media.

To ensure each food-related question received a personalized response, McDonald’s assembled a team of “rapid responders” – social media experts working with a team of 200 supply chain and food science specialists inside McDonald’s – to answer real questions in real time.

And for the tougher myths out there, McDonald’s enlisted former “MythBusters” TV star Grant Imahara to uncover the truth alongside several real millennial skeptics.

“Our Food. Your Questions.” spanned paid, earned and owned channels, including TV, print, digital and social media channels.

McDonald’s brave new approach to transparency got a lot of people talking. “Our Food. Your Questions.” sparked a 47% increase in social media chatter about McDonald’s food, with a 21% increase in positive/neutral sentiment.

Most importantly, among millennials exposed to the campaign, there was a 53% increase in “feeling good about eating McDonald’s food.”.

And by converting millennial skeptics, a more positive perception of McDonald’s spread throughout the U.S., resulting in:

- A 42% increase in the belief “McDonald’s is taking steps to be more transparent about its food”.

- A 32% increase in the belief “McDonald’s serves real food”.

- A 28% increase in the belief “McDonald’s uses fresh ingredients”.

“Why are McDonald’s chicken nuggets made from pink slime?” For years, questions like these ran rampant on social media channels, blogs, news outlets and at dinner tables across America. Yet the historically conservative brand rarely addressed them.

Through a massive social listening audit, McDonald’s realized it was missing out on nearly 2,000 social media engagement opportunities each day. As social media chatter to rumors, McDonald’s was no longer able to define what its brand stood for.

To rebuild relationships and trust among young adults, McDonald’s needed to change perceptions about its food in a radically new way.