McDonald’s taps into Minecraft fandom in new campaign

McDonald’s is the latest brand playing in Minecraft’s sandbox. The fast-food giant is coming out with meals for both kids and adults tied to the video game and the upcoming “A Minecraft Movie” that include toys, collectibles and trading cards. The limited-time meals are backed by a campaign called “Yours to Build” from Wieden+Kennedy New York that feeds into the insight that Minecraft players have been choosing to put McDonald’s in their Minecraft worlds. Warner Bros.’ “A Minecraft Movie” debuts in theaters on April 4. McDonald’s teased the collaboration on social media yesterday. View this post on Instagram A post shared by McDonald’s (@mcdonalds) Microsoft-owned Minecraft is a sandbox game known for its blocky characters and pixelated landscape that allows players to explore different biomes, mine for resources, craft items and build structures, including McDonald’s locations. Minecraft saw an average of 62 million monthly active users in 2023, according to Business of Apps. The adult Minecraft Movie Meal includes a Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets, medium fries and a medium drink. The McNuggets come with “Nether Flame” hot sauce that can also be ordered on the side with other menu items. (The Nether is a fiery hellscape within Minecraft.) The meals come with one of six collectibles with accompanying trading cards of Minecraft-ified McDonald’s objects, including a Grimace Egg (a combination of Grimace and Minecraft’s Dragon Egg—a sparkly egg in the game), Zombie Hamburglar (a cross between the Hamburglar and a Minecraft Zombie), Birdie with Elytra Wings, a soda potion, a Big Mac crystal and a helmet that looks like a French fry box. An ad for the adult Minecraft meal shows blocky versions of Grimace, Birdie and the Hamburglar coming through a blue portal into Minecraft, finding a Dragon Egg and wings to make them fly. They then have to hide from zombies that come out at night. The Minecraft Happy Meal comes in a box with a pixelated smile. It includes one of 12 toys inspired by Minecraft animals and the movie’s stars. When unfolded, the toys can be connected. Data-Driven Marketing Playbook Join us May 22 in NYC to explore how data powers marketing Learn more here An ad targeting younger consumers features Sebastian Hansen—who will star in the upcoming movie—building objects to impress a group of Minecraft animals, ending with him building a red McDonald’s Happy Meal box. McDonald’s is not the only major brand working with Minecraft. Fossil recently released a Minecraft-themed watch. Crocs, Hello Kitty and Igloo have also partnered with the video game. This is also not the first time McDonald’s has focused on its gaming customers. The chain has made location stops for Pokémon Go and given out codes for in-game items for Genshin Impact. “McDonald’s fans had already created a presence in the Minecraft game long before the opportunity to partner with the new film,” Jennifer “JJ” Healan, McDonald’s VP of U.S. marketing, brand, content and culture, said in a statement. “So, we built upon what they started and created a totally immersive experience.” In restaurants, McDonald’s employees will wear blue shirts to match Steve, the main starting character in Minecraft. The campaign continues McDonald’s strategy of playing into so-called fan truths, an internal moniker the chain has used to guide its marketing in recent years that makes use of a moment, memory, ritual or behavior related to McDonald’s. The Minecraft campaign is atypical in that it involves both Happy Meals and adult meals, which are usually marketed separately. Wieden+Kennedy, which has held the McDonald’s account since 2019, won the Happy Meal business from DDB last year. The collectibles in the adult meal come with a matching card listing a unique, one-time code for a Minecraft skin. The codes cannot be resold. Customers who purchase their Minecraft meal through the McDonald’s app will get another code for an in-game add-on that includes McDonaldland characters, new tools and McDonald’s-related items players can build.

McDonald’s taps into Minecraft fandom in new campaign

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