McDonald’s-World

8.26.20

Business Insider has leaked a memo confirming rumors that hip-hop star Travis Scott will be collaborating with fast food chain McDonald’s. Travis has had multiple successful Nike collabs, as well as an interesting sell out in a cereal collab. Though the brand at hand seems like it may not belong, McDonald’s shared that there will be several other celebrity ambassadors, in what they have in store.

The memo shares many reasons as to why Travis Scott was the frontrunner for this ambassador position. The memo reads:

From his impossible-to-get Nike sneaker line, to a cereal collab with General Mills that sold out in 30 seconds, to a record-setting virtual concert series inside Fortnite, Travis Scott is the definition of big in culture.

Honestly, they are not wrong. Kids literally break their bones in mosh pits over this guy. If Travis is wearing McDonald’s merch, his fans are going to follow. If he tells them go find the golden rapper to come on tour, the kids are going to go Super Size Me.

Here is the biggest question, though - why? Why would McDonald’s do a collaboration with Travis Scott? I do not think they have merchandise to sell. Really just food. Business Insider also shared a different article suggesting that other fast food restaurants such as Dunkin Donuts and Chipotle, are using this slow time for restaurants to swallow up the small businesses that are closing. Meaning, they are pouncing on old property and areas where their previous competition has had to slow down. With that, McDonald’s is somewhat of a dying fad now. People would rather go to Chipotle, Moe’s, heck, probably Sweet Green, too. Perhaps McDonald’s is looking for a way to make themselves look more cool to their audiences, while their competitors use their money to expand.

Marketing and expansion are both great ways to use your money. But you have to have the consumers before you even think about expanding. Obviously, McDonald’s is the largest global company in the entire world. However, McDonald’s is a lot more up scale in countries other than the US. In many countries, McDonald’s is a sit down restaurant with a long variety menu. In the United States, you can still find a McDonald’s at every exit, but there is a negative stigma about the franchise, given they are not the most healthy option.

So, maybe they need Travis. Everyone is doing influencer marketing nowadays, and with a big name like Travis, they’re doing it right. McDonald’s is such an innovative company that knows exactly how to please it consumers, so whatever it is, I see it working out how they are hoping. Travis Scott is also nominated for a couple of VMA’s this year, so his name will be trending for sure if he takes home a win.

Travis Scott was supposed to come out with his own apparel collection at some point in the near future. While I see this being mostly commercials and media marketing, I am sure there will be some sort of an apparel collection with this partnership. One outlet suggested they’d make Travis Scott action figures for the toys, which would be a really nice play on the fact that he does have a very successful action figure on the market.

This could be an easy access way for Travis Scott to allow his fans to finally cop some of his merchandise. In the past, he almost pulled sneaker drawings from the apps because he was upset that the bots would take all his pairs and the real fans would consistently miss out. If it is just a commercial, it would be a huge miss.

During the Super Bowl, McDonald’s released a commercial with a variety McDonald’s meals laid out on a tray. Each meal was labeled with a celebrity, suggesting this was their favorite order. I am going to guess that some of these names will be the other celebrities in the campaign. A few of these names include Kanye West (6 Piece Chicken McNugget, fries, shake), Kim Kardashian (Burger, Wake Up Wrap, 6 Piece Chicken McNugget with honey sauce, fries and a shake), Magic Johnson (Filet-O-Fish and fries), Millie Bobby Brown (6 Piece Chicken McNugget, side salad and a soda), Keith Urban (Egg and Ham McMuffin, hash-brown, three coffees and a McFrappe), Patrick Mahomes (10 Piece Chicken McNugget, burger and friends) and Travis Kelce (Egg McMuffin, two sausage, one has-brown and a coffee), as well as a few other entertainers, and comical nods to people like The Big Bad Wolf and The Hamburglar.

I think this is a good mix of hip-hop, entertainment, country and sports starts. Basically suggesting that anyone can eat at McDonald’s, no matter who you are or what your diet may be like. Honestly, it is a genius marketing scheme. It is just a bit weird to me.