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Mr. James appears toward the end of the story, saying, "Welcome
to the club, baby." The scene then shifts to a picture of burgers
and fries with the text "New bacon clubhouse!"
The segment also features Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard
Sherman and top NFL prospect Johnny Manziel.
The stunt is similar to what Taco Bell -- another fast feeder
keen on connecting with millennials -- did last May, when it became
one of the first brand adopters of Snapchat and announced that it
was
reintroducing the Beefy Crunch Burrito via the messaging
service. Like Taco Bell, McDonald's teased a surprise on its
soon-to-launch Snapchat channel on Twitter.
But while Taco Bell sent actual "snaps" containing the taco
images to individual users who had followed it last spring,
McDonald's and a lengthening list of brands are publishing on
Snapchat via "stories," which launched in October. (Taco Bell has
subsequently used
them.)
While snaps are private messages, stories are the closest thing
to a broadcasting option that exists on Snapchat. There's the
option of making them visible to just friends, a custom list, or
"everyone" on Snapchat -- an option that creates the semblance of a
public profile on what's been an extremely private service.
Stories can be stitched together from multiple images and videos
clips, with the most recent one appearing at the end for the sake
of narrative coherence. They appear beside account handles in a
user's list of friends, can stay visible for 24 hours and can be
replayed as often as someone likes in that window.
Snapchat 'stories'
The potential to tell a longer-form story and the clearer privacy
boundaries inherent in stories could give brands more of an
incentive to have a presence on the Snapchat network. (However,
brands like
Wet Seal and GrubHub are still sending one-to-one
messages.)
For example, HBO introduced a
Snapchat account for "Girls" by producing a 200-second story
with pictures and videos stitched together featuring the stars from
the red-carpet event for the Season 3 premiere.
