McDonald’s has made the latest move in the value wars with a new campaign starring John Cena. The campaign highlights McValue, a “Buy One, Add One for $1” platform meant to appeal to price-sensitive customers and give them offers for other brands including Amazon Prime and American Airlines. 

In the ad from Wieden+Kennedy New York, the wrestler-turned-actor is seated in a McDonald’s and dressed in a yellow sweater and tie, while showing off what customers can get for an extra $1, even at breakfast.

McValue, which was announced late last year, features a new “Buy One, Add One for $1” offer on popular items for breakfast, lunch and dinner. McDonald’s plans to drive app downloads with exclusive in-app offers such as free medium fries with a $1 purchase every Friday and a free McCrispy chicken sandwich for new app users. Value offerings will be tailored to specific locations based on community favorites or include higher savings, such as 20% off orders of $10 or more when placed through the app.

The value push also includes the popular $5 Meal Deal (a McDouble cheeseburger or a McChicken sandwich, small french fries, four-piece McNuggets and a small soft drink) that was launched last June in response to customers growing tired of increasing fast-food prices.

Cena was not originally part of McDonald’s plan to announce McValue, according to an X thread by Guillaume Huin, McDonald’s senior marketing director. The idea came from Wieden+Kennedy New York after Cena joined a live stream the fast feeder arranged with Kai Cenat to talk about the launch of the Chicken Big Mac. Cena talked about how McDonald’s past value programs had made him a fan of the brand and his go-to order: two double cheeseburgers and two six-piece McNuggets.

“When this happened, we had already approved all the content for the launch of McValue. Months of work,” Huin wrote. “In less than 10 days, we had a new campaign in hand and John immediately said yes and made himself available to make it happen.”

For McValue, McDonald’s has partnered with 16 other brands to provide over $3 million in promotional offers during the first few weeks of 2025. These include one free month of YouTube TV, 20 minutes of free WiFi on American Airlines and a Tinder Gold Premium Access subscription. To get the promos, fans must interact with McValue ads when they see them on participating platforms.

The focus on value comes after many restaurants saw their comparable sales dip last year as traffic slowed due to customers feeling that eating out was too expensive, even at fast-food restaurants. In response, chains including Dunkin, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, KFC and others quickly rolled out value meals. 

McDonald’s new push comes during what is normally a slower time of year for restaurant sales as consumers watch their budgets after spending over the holidays. Food prices decelerated in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which could give McDonald’s more financial flexibility to offer a wider range of discounts.

The chain’s effort to woo customers with cheap eats comes after an E. Coli outbreak linked to its onions late last year.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, McDonald’s U.S. comparable sales were up 0.3%, while global comparable sales were down 1.5%.