McDonald’s Unveils Doodles Collaboration for Coffee and Collectibles

The golden arches get a pastel makeover for the holidays.

Fast food giant McDonald’s and Web3-native brand Doodles unveiled a collaboration on Thursday, featuring custom cups that showcase the colorful, hand-drawn style of the Ethereum NFT collection. Additionally, customers can unlock digital collectibles and content and gain access to co-branded physical merchandise.

Dubbed the “GM Spread Joy” campaign, the marketing initiative is billed as an immersive experience that pays tribute to the Crypto Twitter mantra. The promotion is available to customers in the US and can be found in participating stores across 13,500 McDonald’s restaurants.

The limited-edition cups, decorated with shades of pink and blue amid holiday-themed scenes, give customers access to a “pack ripping” experience, McDonald’s said in a press release.

They tie in with Doodles’ digital avatars and include accessories and clothing for Doodles characters, along with other goodies like access to music videos and Doodles’ animated series. In addition to the original Ethereum NFT collection, Doodles has launched an avatar creation app “Stoodio” on Ethereum Layer-2 Network Base, where the digital assets can be used.

Outside the US, where NFT projects have not faced intense regulatory scrutiny, the burger chain has used NFTs to promote its purple icon Grimace and launched a metaverse game called My Happy Place. Additionally, McDonald’s used The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based metaverse game, to pay tribute to its chicken nuggets.

McDonald’s partnership with Doodles could be the biggest move into the NFT world since the US division unveiled McRib-inspired NFTs in 2021. In fact, McDonald’s was an early adopter of using digital assets as a way to reward customers and cultivate brand loyalty.

Earlier this year, Doodles partnered with sportswear giant Adidas and introduced virtual swag packs that allowed buyers to claim exclusive physical apparel. As Doodles’ Chief Brand Officer, some collectibles paid tribute to a song made with musician Pharrell Williams.

As part of the holiday promotion, McDonald’s customers can get access to a Williams-produced song called “Good Mornin,” performed by artist Marley Bleu. Williams, who once worked at McDonald’s, was inspired by internet culture and “viral ‘GM’ memes,” McDonald’s said.

Doodles consists of 10,000 Generative Profile Photos (PFPs) and features art by Scott “Burnt Toast” Martin. According to CoinGecko, the collection is currently valued at 20,296 ETH ($64 million), with the cheapest NFT from the collection listed on secondary markets for 2 ETH ($6,300).

Known as the collection’s floor price, this figure rose to 2.7 ETH ($8,500) earlier this week after McDonald’s teased the collaboration on Twitter (aka X).

Edited by Andrew Hayward