How McDonald’s Just Redefined NFT Partnerships

The chances of NFTs taking Web3 mainstream just received a massive shot in the arm with 100+ million coffee cups branded in the family-friendly colorful artwork of the Doodles IP starting to appear at McDonalds across the US.

Grabbing a Doodles coffee in Atlanta (X)

While some users have been frustrated so far hunting down the branded cups, which launched Nov. 18, McDonald’s has promised all 14,000 locations should have stock by Nov. 21.

The Doodles IP will also sit alongside some of the famous McDonalds character IPs such as the Hamburglar and Grimace across a variety of activations including limited edition enamel pins, merchandise, digital apparel and much more.

Since the announcement, the original Doodles NFT collection floor price has more than doubled, shooting up from 1.25 ETH to over 2.85 ETH (as of Nov. 18) with Doodle #3954 selling for 42.690 ETH ($132,951) on Nov. 17. The original Doodles collection also clocked up the highest volume week of sales in 10+ months.

Originally launching in October 2021, like the majority of collections introduced at the height of NFT mania, Doodles have had their struggles due to a brutal NFT bear market but theres a sense of optimism creeping back into the air for projects that have continued to build behind the scenes. 

Doodles have already shown their ability to pull off collaborations with Crocs and Pharrell but McDonalds is their biggest to date. The significance has been likened to Pudgy Penguins’ partnership with Walmart, which kickstarted in September 2023 with plush toys infiltrating Walmart stores all over the US.

Doodles CEO Julian Holguin said the collaboration gave the NFT project validation:

This collaboration showcases that Web3 native brands can create meaningful cultural moments at massive scale. Theres about 110 million cups in 14,000 McDonald’s locations across America,” Holguin says. 

“Were not just putting art on cups, were creating a blueprint for how Web3 brands can reach mainstream audiences. Every purchase potentially drives back to our onchain platform, introducing people to digital collecting through something as universal as morning coffee.

Pharrell says Doodles makes him Happy. (X)

How does it work

For US based customers, you order a hot drink from McCafe from the McDonalds app to receive the order in one of the exclusive Doodles cups. 

Each cup doubles as a ticket to stream Dullsville and the Doodleverse, a Doodles animation pilot featuring music from Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, Lil Yachty and more, along with their voices. Theres also limited edition McDonalds apparel for Doodles avatars via free sign-up to theDoodles Studio.

How to claim – Doodles x McDonalds

There are also Doodles-themed music videos, including aPharrell Williamsand Marley Bleu collaboration that will hit streaming services on Nov. 22.

Pharrell has been involved with Doodles since mid-2022 and was the architect behind the Justin Timberlake Im Lovin It song from 2003 that became a jingle for McDonalds commercials all around the world.

McDonalds chief marketing officer Tariq Hassan explains the fast food giant partnered with Doodles because they are an agent of change in the cultural landscape, and they span beyond digital assets an entertainment brand in itself with a fearless community we cannot wait to interact with and more importantly, bring to more people across the US, Hassan said.

The McDonalds Times Square billboard in New York City will light up during the holiday season with the Doodles collaboration front and center for millions to see. 

pic.twitter.com/VD4NHSuNdc

— burnt toast (@burnttoast) November 20, 2024

Holguin said that everyone seems pretty excited by the mainstream collaboration.

The feedback has been incredible were seeing support not just from our community but from the broader Web3 space in a way weve never seen before. Old colleagues, normie friends who I havent seen in ages, theyre all connecting with this because it feels authentic and relatable in so many ways, says Holguin.

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How the industry is reacting

The collaboration is being hailed as the biggest mainstream partnership by a Web3 brand to date.

Zeneca (ZenAcademy) 

“This is without a doubt one of the most significant collabs in NFT history. For all the talk about turning NFT IP into something mainstream, very few projects have been able to deliver on that promise. Doodles partnering with McDonalds is going to make Doodles a household name around the world.”

Betty (Deadfellaz) 

The Doodles x McDonalds collab is a huge win for crypto-native IP working with a brand of that size is a frontier that many would have deemed impossible to achieve from a team that was born in the ’21 boom of NFTs, she said.

“It signals the continued power of community in our industry and the significance of that power when going head to head with well-established household names. I love Doodles, but whether youre a fan of Doodles or McDonald’s is irrelevant, people will see this brand 100 million times at least during this campaign – and that is a win for any of us building in earnest in Web3.

Steve Kaczynski (Author of The Everything Token) 

Partnering with McDonalds would have been a big win for Doodles regardless of the campaign details, but they managed to make it a home run with three key elements. It expands brand awareness by putting Doodles in front of a massive new audience through 100 million coffee cups and on a billboard in Times Square, he said.

“It directs non-Web3 users to the Stoodio, the heart of Doodles ecosystem. Finally, it rewards and celebrates brand loyalty by integrating community members Doodles throughout the campaign. Altogether, its a well-executed strategy for brand growth and community connection.

It's not that they went to McDonald's,
it's how.
At last, a web3 brand the wider world won't merely "know about", but truly fall in love with.
Well done Doodles! pic.twitter.com/L8dmhMILjm

— DAVID HORVATH (@davidzhorvath) November 19, 2024

In other NFT news: Punks leading the charge as NFT szn heats up 

While most attention still rests with memecoins, there are signs that an NFT run might be around the corner. 

CryptoPunks are leading the way with sentiment overall starting to flip positive after a tumultuous few years. Punks are now at a floor of 36 ETH ($112,000), an increase of 10+ ETH over the last two weeks.  

Chromie Squiggles has also nearly doubled in floor price in the past week, moving from 2.75 ETH to 5.24 ETH (as of Nov. 18), including a Pipe Squiggle that sold for 12 ETH ($37,000).

Autoglyph #239 was also on the move with the renowned collector fundCurated, adding one of Larva Labs’ iconic pieces into its vault of grails.

Rauol Pal went full banana zone with his purchase of XCOPYs Last Selfie via a private sale. It couldnt have been cheap with the public listing originally at 333 ETH. 

Rauol said the following of XCOPY:

I love the work of XCOPY and to me he is the most important NFT digital artist, along with Beeple. The reasoning is that culture holds immense value over time and NFT’s allow for culture to be forever recorded on chain. XCOPY is the culture of crypto + the internet and will forever serve as a time capsule for this early cultural moment.”

“Most of all, I love the art. XCOPY pioneered an entirely new form of art which resonates massively with me, he said.

Weve also seen 20% + moves over the last seven days from Bored Ape Yacht Club which moved to a 13.4 ETH floor, Pudgy Penguins climbed back above a 12 ETH floor and Milady up to 5.9 ETH including its highest USD individual sale and third-highest in ETH terms at 27.3.

Chromie Squiggle #1621 – sold for 12 ETH ($37,000)

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