McDonald's Releases a Tasty-Looking NFT
Even though the recent NFT movement has already been given a negative connotation for being overhyped and having all signs of a bubble, one can't deny the fact that it's non-fungible tokens, not fungible cryptocurrencies, that have got big businesses interested in the capabilities of the blockchain technology.
And when it comes to global brands, there's hardly anyone bigger than McDonald's. According to recent news, one of its subsidiaries has successfully "NFT'd" some of its iconic menu items.
Table of contents:
- The scrumptious NFTs for French fast food eaters
- Non-fungible tokens spice up the food industry
The scrumptious NFTs for French fast-food eaters
France might be the birthplace of the world's most exquisite cuisine, but not all people there eat foie gras and confit de canard every day. Most of them enjoy simple things like Big Mac and fries washed down with a glass of cold Coke. That's why McDonald's is as popular in Paris as it is in New York or anywhere else for that matter. However, the French subsidiary of the biggest fast-food chain in the world decided to keep abreast with the latest trends in tech and art by releasing a collection of non-fungible tokens that depict universally known items from its menu, namely McNuggets, Big Mac, McSundae, and fries.
However, unlike other NFT sellers, McDonald's wasn't chasing additional profits when releasing this mouth-watering collection. As per the subsidiary's official statement, the tokens weren't put up for sale, but given away as rewards to the participants of a two-part social media contest, which took place on April 9 - 13 and April 14 - 18.
Non-fungible tokens spice up the food industry
The McDonald's tokens were issued as five tokens per each digitized menu item and showcased on OpenSea, the most popular platform for NFTs. Pierre Guengan, head of SMM at DDB, said that while the tokens couldn't be purchased, their new owners have the right to sell them at a later date at a marketplace of their choosing. DDB stands for Doyle Dane Bernbach, and it's a New York-based globally acclaimed marketing agency that is a part of the Omnicom Group. Apart from NFTs themselves, the winners of the social media contest were given a physical representation of those tokens - special digital frames that reproduce each dish in detail. Although the contest has already been concluded, there have been no reports of someone trying to sell any of the NFTs on OpenSea or any other marketplace, though there is no doubt that they could have been sold for a hefty sum since they are licensed and extremely rare.
Of course, McDonald's isn't the first fast-food chain to meddle with non-fungible tokens. Earlier this year, the California-based Taco Bell franchise issued an NFT collection dubbed Spicy Potato Soft Tacos. The collection had five different tokens composed out of images, animations, and short clips. Sales started from 0.001 ETH and went on to reach 0.7 ETH for a single token.