McDonald's China rolls out 'Big Mac Cube' NFTs to celebrate anniversary

Fast-food giant McDonald's launched a set of 188 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Oct. 8 to celebrate its 31st anniversary in the Chinese market.

The NFT, named “Big Mac Cube” in honor of the famous burger, is the first from the company and also marks the company’s new headquarters that was opened in Shanghai.

Samples of the NFTs will be distributed among employees and consumers as a part of the anniversary giveaway.

Zhang Jiayin, the CEO of McDonald’s in China, stated that the company has become a pioneer among domestic catering brands by releasing an NFT collection. He added that:

McDonald’s is a young and trendy brand that always pays attention to fashion trends and cutting-edge technology […]At this special moment, we use the form of NFT to share McDonald’s innovation, digitalization and trend art with employees and consumers.

The decision by McDonald’s China to release an NFT may come as a surprise given how the Chinese government has been making relentless strides to clamp down on cryptocurrencies. It also precedes the official launch of the digital Yuan, which is expected to go live before the Winter Olympics kicks off in February 2022.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s China partnered with the Conflux Network to release the NFT collection, with the latter overseeing the project as an “ultimate example of East meets West.”

The very first McDonald’s outlet in China opened in Shenzhen back in 1990, and current figures suggest it currently has 3,787 stores scattered around the country, with plans to expand further in the coming years.

However, this isn’t the first time that the brand has dabbled in NFTs on the international scene. Its France outlet released digital collectibles portraying pixelated versions of Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets, and ice cream sundaes back in April, and a total of 20 works were available for grabs.

Another fast-food conglomerate (Burger King), launched the “Keep It Real Meals” campaign in collaboration with several celebrities, including American rapper Nelly. It printed QR codes on millions of meal boxes, giving customers the opportunity to collect nine sets of NFTs, each containing three collectibles.

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