Lovin’ it? McDonalds unveils its emoji advert in London

The company is already famed for its minimalist approach to brand awareness – but its latest advertising campaign goes one step further: using a sequence of 18 emjois on billboards erected in London.

Depicting a series of well-known traffic and roadworks symbols to reflect the city's notoriously congested roads, McDonalds even added in its own addition to represent a drive-thru: it's enough to make a crying smiley face turn happy too.

Emoji billboard alert pic.twitter.com/SEUDLCnmYV

— Jennifer Hassan (@GuinnessKebab) June 29, 2015

An image of the billboard was this evening shared on Twitter by social media expert, Jennifer Hassan, who works in London for Viber. She spotted the ad at the Aldgate East tube stop, in the East End area of the city.

Ikea and Coca Cola are some of the other big names who have lately opted to embrace the use of the Japanese ideograms in adverts and promotional drives.

Ikeas's offering was released in February of this year, allowing customers to download images depicting the likes of its famed Swedish meatballs, sofas and bookcases, and the company's instantly-recognisable blue and yellow stores.