McDonald’s Celebrates Lunar New Year in the Metaverse in Partnership with Karen X Cheng

Global fast-food giant McDonald’s announced a creative collaboration with award-winning digital creator Karen X Cheng on January 12th, 2023.

The innovative digital campaign includes four main elements:

1) Creative designs by the collaborating digital creator, Cheng, recognizing her Chinese-American heritage.

2) An augmented reality (AR) Instagram filter that illustrates a 3D transition from the Year of the Tiger (2022) to the Year of the Rabbit (2023).

3) An AI-powered television commercial inspired by Cheng’s memories of celebrating the holiday.

4) A metaverse experience blending traditional Asian elements with futuristic influences in a virtual space.

The campaign is described as “the future of Lunar New Year” and enables anyone with a connected device to experience the cultural holiday through a “new lens.”

The collaboration offers a unique and interactive metaverse experience that enables users to engage with Lunar New Year festivities in new ways. It can potentially bridge the gap between tradition and technology.

The McDonald’s Lunar New Year campaign aims to incorporate next-generation technologies into McDonald’s culture in a way that is accessible to the global community.

McDonald’s has a history of celebrating culture and aiding communities via initiatives like youth development programs, community donations, and volunteer programs. The conglomerate makes efforts to recognize the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, among other groups.

McDonald’s celebrates momentous cultural occasions and endeavors to meet AAPI student necessities through programs like APA Next. Launched in 2021 with an emphasis on AAPI students, APA Next is just one way McDonald’s displays its commitment to ensuring AAPIs feel seen and heard.

The Lunar New Year partnership is not the first time McDonald’s has ventured into the Web3 space. McDonald’s minted its McRib limited NFT collection on OpenSea on November 1st, 2021, which is currently priced at 100 ETH (approximately $154,291.00).

Web3 technologies hold the key to empowering diverse communities. Companies like IW Group enable giants like McDonald’s to leap into the next generation.