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McDonald’s is giving anime and manga fans the chance to visit fictional chain WcDonald’s with a campaign kicking off Feb. 26 in more than 30 markets around the world.
An obvious riff off the “Golden Arches,” WcDonald’s has appeared in many memorable shows from anime and manga for decades. McDonald’s is tapping into the meme by hiring manga artist Acky Bright to create limited-edition packaging depicting characters who will also appear in the brand’s own anime web series.
Produced by Japanese animation studio Pierrot, the shorts and corresponding manga from Bright will be released weekly on Mondays, Feb. 26 through March 18, on WcDonalds.com, with each film based on a different subgenre of anime.
A trailer promotes the series “from the creators of the world’s most iconic animes and the creators of the world’s most iconic fries.”
Participating McDonald’s locations will sell 10-piece WcNuggets accompanied by a limited-edition savory chili sauce. McDonald’s previously developed a special sauce for Disney animated film Mulan that became even more popular when it was referenced in adult animated show Rick & Morty.
McDonald’s is also tapping into anime’s isekai subgenre, where characters are transported into a different world, by producing an immersive dining experience in Los Angeles employing projection mapping based on the anime shorts. Tickets will be available through OpenTable beginning Feb. 28.
Agency Wieden+Kennedy New York was inspired to create this campaign by seeing fans’ interpretation of the brand in the anime world, JJ Healan, vice president of U.S. marketing, brand, content & culture at McDonald’s, told ADWEEK.
“Our goal is for anime fans to feel seen and celebrated, and to drive curiosity with those less familiar with the anime world,” Healan said. “What feels special about this idea is that we’re celebrating even the deepest nuances of this subculture in ways that will feel ‘IYKYK’ to the anime community.”
