The idea of celebrity meal deals is getting a little played out it seems. While other fast food chains were playing catch-up (that’s a “ketchup” pun, by the way) by bringing in well-known faces to endorse meals with branded merchandise, McDonald’s is now going a different route by referencing cultural touchstones of the past and bringing the gap between fictitious orders and the real world.
McDonald’s introducing what it calls “The As Featured In” meal, meaning you can get the order as featured in shows or movies like “Seinfeld” or “Coming to America.”
Further, McDonald’s rebranded its sweet and sour sauce to reflect the new season of Disney+’s “Loki.” We know how crazy fans can get over branded sauce, especially at McDonald’s. This new lid includes an AR feature, where fans can scan it using Snapchat to see exclusive content.
McDonald's is coming out with the As Featured In Meal, either a Big Mac, Quarter Pounder or 10-piece nuggets with fries, soft drink and a newly branded Sweet & Sour Sauce with a lid that can be scanned via Snapchat to unlock apparent Loki Season 2 content. $MCD pic.twitter.com/x6B9wUTcJG
— Jonathan Maze (@jonathanmaze) August 9, 2023
Going even further with McDonald’s latest branding push is the ever-popular idea of streetwear. Aside from Supreme, there aren’t many bigger names than Palace, the London brand which also started as a skate shop and grew to new heights of hype.
Palace x McDonalds (2023) pic.twitter.com/LxudAxHdzr
— highsnobiety (@highsnobiety) August 9, 2023
The McDonald’s Palace line includes T-shirts with vintage-looking photos of the Golden Arches, but with “Palace” in place of “McDonald’s;” T-shirts and hoodies with the logos spliced together; and T-shirts playing off of the “As Featured In” idea.
This is McDonald’s going with three big trends all at once: A new tie-in with some pop culture element, branding a printed product and including an smartphone element, and using streetwear to entice young audiences.
