Rapper Kanye West took to a leading social media platform to share news that he has teamed up with one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. Here are the details.
What Happened: Kanye West announced he is teaming up with McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) to help redesign the fast food chain's packaging. West is teaming up with designer Naoto Fukasawa on the new packaging initiative, according to Hypebeast.
West shared the news on Instagram, a social media platform owned by Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB). The image shared by West to his 16 million Instagram followers was a new box design for burgers.
The post by West comes after the rapper was previously temporarily banned from the social media platform. West was suspended for violating the platform’s hate speech policies, according to a report.
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Why It’s Important: West appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for McDonald’s back in February. McDonald’s has not publicly announced the partnership with West.
The move to use West in the Super Bowl commercial and potentially for the packaging initiative continues the move by the restaurant company to use celebrities to help bring new customers to McDonald’s.
McDonald’s has used J Balvin, Travis Scott, Saweetie and BTS to curate named meals of their favorite McDonald’s items. The meals have helped drive traffic to the restaurants and also been used for marketing initiatives.
The McDonald’s packaging deal could include West creating his own meal option offered at restaurants.
The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet said West orders a Chicken Tasty, medium fries, a large caramel Frappe, a large chocolate milkshake, three hot wings and six barbecue dipping sauces.
West could be the perfect brand ambassador for McDonald’s, as he has praised the chain for years, saying things like “McDonald’s is my favorite restaurant” and “McDonald’s is my favorite brand. West has also written about how good the fries are.
A partnership between West and retailer Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) created strong interest for several exclusive clothing item drops. It also helped provide a short term boost to the stock price for Gap.
MCD Price Action: McDonald’s shares were trading 1.96% higher at $242.66 midday Tuesday versus a 52-week range of $217.67 to $271.15.
