As anyone who's been a patron of McDonald's (MCD) for any number of years can tell you, the brand has had great success with celebrity collaborations.
Gen X most fondly remembers when it all started with the McJordan meal, a Chicago-only burger topped with pickles, onion, bacon, and barbeque sauce. At the time, Michael Jordan's celebrity was riding a tidal wave, and anything associated with the athlete was guaranteed to leave people starry-eyed.
It took the fast food chain some time to unveil another collab named after a celebrity -- 2020, to be exact -- with the Travis Scott meal, which the American rapper got paid $20 million to do.
In recent years the fast food brand has been carefully curating which influencers it wanted to promote its food. It reached out to a bevy of new stars and promoted meals as they ordered them when they ate at McDonald's, such as Korean megastars BTS, rapper Saweetie, and Columbian singer J Balvin.
McDonald's is keeping an eye on more than just influencers, though. Last year it also announced a partnership with FaZe Clan (FAZE), an esports organization that started off as a YouTube channel where the first three members showed off their skills in the popular video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare." Today FaZe has bloomed into a robust collective of competitive esports teams, going public in July 2020 with a valuation of $725 million.
And now, Mickey D's is doubling down on its partnership with these rock stars of the gaming world.
McDonald's and FaZe Clan Planning New Content
When McDonald's kicked off its first collaboration with FaZe Clan in 2021, it sponsored several promotional events to promote diversity in gaming, such as the "Spotlight" series, connecting high profile members of the FaZe community with up and coming Twitch (AMZN) streamers.
It also created an event called Friendsgaming, encouraging gamers to check out special Twitch streams from FaZe Clan members and enjoy its Crispy Chicken Sandwiches. It also took part in FaZe's "FaZe Member For a Day" event.
McDonald's intends to further build on this efforts this year, promising what it calls "content activations that capture the diverse stories of FaZe Clan members while elevating voices of underrepresented groups in the gaming industry."
McDonald's Aligns Itself With Gen Z
By working with FaZe Clan as well as modern celebrities like BTS, Travis Scott, and Saweetie, McDonald's shows that while it may be a 67-year-old brand, it's about as with it when it comes to what Gen Z digs as it can get.
The fast food giant understands that selling burgers to today's customer really isn't so different than the way it got Michael Jordan fans to line up in Chicago for the McJordan meal in the '80s.
People look to celebrities to excite and inspire them, and that's the same as it's always been. McDonald's move to associate itself with the best of what today's most vibrant musicians and athletes are doing is a wise one, and is likely to continue to pay off.
