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It is becoming increasingly common for brands to use well-known faces to advertise their services or even launch new products in collaboration. In the case of fast food chains such as McDonald’s, in recent years the list of celebrities they have worked with has multiplied considerably due to the success of their launches. We review some of the most popular menus that the chain has created with these celebrities.
Cardi B and Offset
For this Valentine’s Day, McDonald’s is collaborating with rapper Cardi B and her partner Offset, also a rapper. The menu is called The Cardi B & Offset Meal. Cardi opted for a classic cheeseburger with BBQ sauce and large Coke, while her partner chose a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a large Orange Lavaburst. All accompanied by fries and Apple Pie. This collaboration will only be launched in the United States.
Travis Scott
McDonald’s brought this type of action back in 2020 when it recruited singer Travis Scott to launch his own burger in the United States. On this occasion, the artist created a happy meal with a customised box that included a Quarter Pounder burger with bacon, cheese and lettuce, fries with barbecue sauce and Sprite to drink. The name of this menu was Cactus Jack and they also created a line with different merchandising products, among them sweatshirts and dolls with Scott’s figure.
Michael Jordan
Before the campaign with Travis Scott in 2020, you have to go all the way back to 1992 when he first teamed up with a celebrity: Michael Jordan. Together they launched the McJordan, only available in Chicago, which contained a Quarter Pounder with barbecue sauce, bacon, cheese, onions, pickles and mustard. The basketball player was a true McDonald’s fan. In fact, it was said that before practice he always ordered a Sausage McMuffin.
Aitana
In 2021 the collaboration in Spain between the singer Aitana and the burger chain went totally viral. On this occasion, the so-called McAitana contained a CBO with double cheese, potatoes “with lots of ketchup”, 4 Nuggets with barbecue sauce, Coca-Cola Zero and a mini McFlurry Oreo with caramel. The controversy arose mainly because the artist had recently announced that she was celiac, and part of her menu contained gluten.
Sebastián Yatra
In 2022, it was the turn of Sebastián Yatra – coincidentally Aitana’s current partner. Together with McDonald’s, he launched the McYatra, this time for Spain and Latin America. His favourite menu in our country consisted of a double Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries with barbecue sauce, Coca-Cola Zero and Caramelo Sundae. In addition, they also created exclusive and unique gifts from this collaboration, such as sweatshirts, thermoses, stickers and special patches.
Mariah Carey
For its 2021 Christmas campaign, McDonald’s launched the Mariah Menu with the famous singer. Mariah Carey has become a true Christmas icon and the brand took advantage of this situation to create a kind of advent calendar in which every day you could get free Mariah Menu products.
J Balvin
Singers seem to work very well for McDonald’s. Also in 2020, the burger chain hired J Balvin to launch its J Balvin Meal with a pickle-free Big Mac, medium fries and an Oreo McFlurry. In addition, this collaboration included a collection of charms, in the shape of the different products on the menu with Swarovski crystals.
BTS
The top K-Pop male group also launched a worldwide collaboration with the brand -although it was not available in Spain-. On this occasion, the BTS Meal contained 10 chicken nuggets, chips, soft drink and two sauces: sweet chilli and Cajun. This alliance was a success. For example, four days after the launch, 80% of the menus created for the occasion had already been sold in countries such as Mexico.
Haute cuisine burgers
McDonald’s has not only made use of celebrities. It has also collaborated with renowned chefs such as Dani García, Ramón Freixa and Javier Peña to launch burgers and special products created by these chefs. Dani García has collaborated on several occasions with the Signature Collection. For his part, Ramón Freixa launched a Grand McExtreme, in the same campaign together with Dani himself. In addition, chef Javier Peña also created the Grand McExtremeTM Top Chef and launched the Salad Lovers range together with the fast food chain.