Soon, McDonald’s will put cartoon characters on its McCafe coffee cups for a limited time. This is not surprising. But in this case, the animated characters are taken from Doodles, a web3 project. And this is just the latest sign that some people are trying to bring NFTs back into fashion after a very short but loud explosion on the tech scene a few years ago.
Remember non-fungible tokens? When NFTs became mainstream in the winter of 2021-22, everyone wanted to join the hype. Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton bragged about their bored monkeys on late-night TV, Budweiser launched NFT Dwayne Wade to promote its non-alcoholic beer, and Starbucks launched a marketplace for NFT brands.
But it didn’t last long. Fallon’s “Bored Monkeys” campaign in January 2022 was the beginning of the end. By September 2022, NFT trading volume had dropped by 97%. Doodles, which started as an NFT project, announced in early 2023 that it was no longer just an NFT project. And now, Doodles is cooperating with McDonald’s as part of a coffee cup promotion, and NFT Doodles are rapidly growing in value, CoinTelegraph reports.
McDonald’s chief marketing officer Tariq Hassan advertised this promotion and seemed quite optimistic about the partnership. And it’s clear that marketers are much more open to returning to technologies like NFT than they were perhaps a year ago.
“It may not be the first thing you think of when you think of McDonald’s, but coffee is an integral part of the McDonald’s experience. Over the years, we’ve continued to prioritize improving the taste, experience, and even the sustainability of our delicious coffee,” says Hassan.
“This year, we are making our coffee even more special by giving our seasonal packaging a fresh and unexpected look through our collaboration with Doodles, a perfect partner as much of their content is dedicated to mornings and coffee moments,” Hassan continues. “The Doodles fanbase has been dreaming of a collaboration with McDonald’s for a long time, and it’s fair to say that THEY have delivered: we couldn’t be more pleased if our fandoms collided. We chose Doodles not only because they are a cultural landscape changer, but also because they go beyond digital assets – they are an entertainment brand with a fearless community that we can’t wait to engage with and, more importantly, bring to more people across America.”
Can McDonald’s and Doodles really give NFTs a serious revival? No one can say for sure. But with the new president Donald Trump supporting cryptocurrencies, it’s likely that many people will try to ride this wave and make money from it. When big brands like McDonald’s are dipping their toes in the water again, it really shows that something is brewing.
