For the first time ever, McDonald’s invited TV cameras into one of their top-secret U.S. facilities. ABC News made the journey and broadcast it to the public in the video above.

Rickette Collins, McDonald’s Director of Quality Systems, outlined the new campaign:

“We’re starting on a journey called ‘Our Food. Your Questions,’ and we want to open up the doors and let our customers ask us any questions they have, and give them answers.”

McDonald’s wants you to ask them any questions you might have via Twitter and Facebook. Think of it like a Reddit AMA, only all the time.

Mickey D’s Chief Brand Manager Kevin Newell offered this explanation for the new campaign:

“This is being done to address the questions, the comments and the concerns of our customers,” company chief brand manager Kevin Newell said. “It’s not linked to the business performance at all. It’s linked to making sure that our customers truly know the story about McDonald’s food.”

An “Our Food, Your Questions” campaign was also launched by McDonald’s Canada in June 2012, where the company deemed it a huge success. In just the first four months of the program alone, over 16,000 questions were asked on social media, and over 10,000 of those questions were answered.

For the U.S. version, Mickey D’s brought former Mythbuster Grant Imahara on board.

You can see him in this new ad that McDonald’s also launched yesterday, as well as several more it will roll out in the coming weeks:

With more and more customers focusing on healthier food options, McDonald’s clearly needed to do something. Comparative upstarts like Chick-fil-A are coming for their market share, so it was in the company’s best interest to evolve with the times.

Food industry watchdog Naomi Starkman told ABC, 

“The writing is on the wall. McDonald’s sees its market share diminishing. Millennials are now driving the food bus, and they’re heading straight to places like Chipotle and other establishments they’re offering better, healthier fare. So I think they’re trying to catch up.”

Newell told ABC that the message is very simple: “Don’t judge us before you know us.”

Meanwhile, Starkman wrote a piece for Time mag where she says she’d like to see even bigger changes from the fast-food giant:

“If McDonald’s really wants to connect with consumers, it should take a hard look at the practices behind the ingredients it uses and begin to change them incrementally. It could take a real stand for sustainability—including changing to suppliers and producers who raise meat without antibiotics. As the biggest fast food company in the nation, McDonald’s choices are no small potatoes. A change like that could mean a much happier meal.”

[via ABC, Time]