McDonald’s will soon feature cartoon-style characters on McCafé coffee cups for a limited time. That’s not particularly strange. However, in this case, the animated character is from Doodles, a Web3 project. And it’s just the latest sign that some people are trying to bring back the NFT craze after a very brief but huge explosion on the tech scene a few years ago.
Remember non-fungible tokens? When NFTs went mainstream in the winter of 2021-2022, everyone wanted to get in on the hype. Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton bragged about themselves bored monkey On late night TV, Budweiser launched a Dwyane Wade NFT to promote its non-alcoholic beer, and Starbucks launched a marketplace for NFT stamps.
But it didn’t last long. Fallon’s Bored Apes promotion in January 2022 was the beginning of the end. By September 2022, NFT trading volume had decreased by 97%. Doodles, which started as an NFT project, declared it would no longer be a project by early 2023 Just an NFT project. And now, Doodle is teaming up with McDonald’s on a coffee cup promotion, and the price of Doodle NFTs is reportedly soaring. cointelegraph.
McDonald’s X account shared a teaser on Tuesday that includes a short 7-second video with the numbers 11/18, meaning November 18th.
•ᴗ •11/18 pic.twitter.com/LDxlE9pnrx
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) November 12, 2024
It was revealed by Thursday, when a tweet was posted that teased a new holiday cup coming soon.
McCafé x Doodles Holiday Cup will be available exclusively from 11.18✨☕️ pic.twitter.com/nBdc8VroYl
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) November 14, 2024
Doodles also explains how digital assets are promoted to people who shop at McDonald’s through the restaurant’s app.
Cups are just the beginning – we’re introducing Doodles to millions of McDonald’s fans through the free Studiodio experience available with in-app drink ordering.
Each pack unlocks a McDonald’s digital wearable and gets you a pass to watch Dullsville and Doodleverse pic.twitter.com/L0eRjLRVGp
— Doodles (@doodles) November 14, 2024
This likely indicates that Doodles is ending the tweet thread with a warning about scammers.
“This is the last official post in this thread @graffiti Be wary of spoofed accounts and phishing links. Do not click on any link that appears to be from Doodles before cross-referencing it with http://.doodles.app,” the tweet said.
Why would Doodles need to do that? Because the cryptocurrency and NFT community is completely filled with scammers masquerading as legitimate operations. One popular way to do that is to create an account that looks just like Doodles, buy a blue checkmark from Elon Musk for $8, and push your reply to the top of all replies. It’s about getting people to click on a link. It seems to be part of the original thread. So saying “This is the last post in this thread” makes it clear that anything less can be dangerous.
Tariq Hassa, McDonald’s chief marketing officer, promoted the promotion in an email to Gizmodo on Thursday and seemed suitably optimistic about the partnership. And it seems clear that marketers are much more open to returning to technologies like NFTs than they probably were a year ago.
“While it may not be the first thing you think of when talking about McDonald’s, coffee is an integral part of the McDonald’s experience. Over the years, we’ve continued to improve the flavor, experience, and even sustainability of our delicious coffee. We have continued to prioritize it,” Hassa said.
“This year, much of our content revolves around mornings and coffee moments, so by offering a fresh and unexpected collaboration with our perfect partner, Doodles, on our seasonal packaging, we are excited to share our coffee That makes it even more special,” Hassa continued. “The Doodles fanbase has long dreamed of collaborating with McDonald’s, and it’s only right to say they made it happen. We couldn’t be happier that our fandoms are colliding.” Beyond Web3, we chose Doodles. is an agent of change in the cultural landscape and extends beyond digital assets, which itself brings us to more and more people that we can’t wait to interact with. An entertainment brand with a fearless community across America.”
Can McDonald’s and Doodles actually bring back NFTs in earnest? No one can say for sure. However, with President-elect Donald Trump actively adopting virtual currencies, it seems likely that many people will try to ride this wave and make some kind of profit. When a big brand like McDonald’s is dipping its toes back into the water, it really feels like something is happening.
