The era of the celebrity fast-food meal
Chains are hungry to drive sales and appeal to the youth
On a Friday afternoon in the spring of 2020, Hope Bagozzi, the chief marketing officer at the Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons, was on a Zoom call with representatives for Justin Bieber.
The agenda for the meeting? Exploring a possible partnership between the two Canadian greats.
The call was businessas-usual but took a surreal turn when suddenly, Bagozzi remembered, a black box that had been silent on the screen turned on, revealing the presence of Bieber himself. He spoke about how much he enjoyed eating Timbits, the restaurant’s bite-size doughnuts.
The result of the call was Timbiebs, a limited-edition line of doughnut holes in flavors dreamed up by the pop star and Tim Hortons’ in-house chef, which includes chocolate white fudge and birthday cake waffle. They hit restaurants in November.
Welcome to the era of the celebrity happy meal. Fast-food companies are tripping over themselves to align their products with supernova musicians and influencers in the hopes that their menu items will appeal to a younger audience. For consumers, it is a relatively cheap and easy way to connect with their favorite celebrities.
Many of the megastars the companies are courting are more than willing to cooperate, sometimes initiating the partnerships themselves. After seeing Bieber’s deal, Michael Bublé posted a Tiktok video to suggest a doughnut-based collaboration of his own: Bublébits.
Dunkin’ teamed with Charli D’amelio. There was a Lil Huddy meal at Burger King. Megan Thee Stallion has her own sauce with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. Mcdonald’s has created meals with Saweetie, BTS, J Balvin and Travis Scott. In November, 10 people were killed and dozens were injured during Scott’s performance at the Astroworld Festival in Houston. The performer’s partnership with Mcdonald’s ended in 2020, according to the company.
Recently, Mcdonald’s joined with Mariah Carey, to promote 12 days of deals on her favorite items, available only through the chain’s app. Despite the fact that Carey has previously said she eats only Norwegian salmon and capers, the performer’s favorite foods at Mcdonald’s apparently include Big Macs, hot cakes and chocolate-chip cookies.
This trend in partnerships is proving to be a boon for restaurants and celebrities, according to analysts and observers. It is also helping companies gain insights into the behavior of young consumers.
For some chains, the celebs are a powerful lure that can entice customers to download restaurant apps or join loyalty programs to get meals, discounts or even free food. Mcdonald’s has seen 10 million downloads of its app since it started its celebrity meals in September 2020, a significant jump.
These celebrity partnerships are also helping brands gain access to where millions of digital natives spend tons of time: Instagram, Tiktok and other social media platforms.
“If you think about the target we’re focusing on, which is youth and youth culture, that’s where they’re living,” said Jennifer Healan, the vice president of U.S. marketing, brand content and engagement for Mcdonald’s.
Even before Dunkin’ teamed with D’amelio, it was clear to her followers on Tiktok (of which there are currently more than 130 million) that the 17-year-old brunette liked the chain’s drinks; she frequently posted videos and clips of herself sipping coffee while dancing or showing off her outfit of the day. “There wasn’t a day she wouldn’t go without her Dunkin’,” said Ali Berman, the head of digital talent and a partner at United Talent Agency, which represents D’amelio.
In September 2020, when Dunkin’ debuted the Charli — a Dunkin’ cold brew coffee with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl — and D’amelio advertised the drink on her social media platforms, the result was a record in daily active Dunkin’ app users, company executives said in an earnings call last year.
For Dunkin’, the partnership was straightforward. The company didn’t have to spend weeks or months whipping up new flavored coffees or dreaming up clever new names. “We took an existing product, renamed it after her and positioned it to appeal to a younger consumer,” said Scott Murphy, president of Dunkin’ Americas, in the same earnings call. (Dunkin’ later introduced another D’amelio drink, the Charli Cold Foam, which was simply the Charli with some cinnamon sugar and cold foam added to it.)
Tiktok was soon flooded with free promotion for Dunkin’, as young people posted videos of themselves sipping Charlis. Similarly, when Mcdonald’s was selling its Travis Scott meal, the rapper’s fans recorded videos of themselves blasting his song “Sicko Mode” as they ordered, then shared the videos on
Tiktok.
“Young people become these unintentional marketers,” said Frances Fleming-milici, the director of marketing initiatives for the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health. “Companies don’t have to pay for that organic content and all the Tiktoks that people make.”
Those app downloads and sign-ups also allow the fast-food companies to collect customer data. Restaurant chains like Mcdonald’s are trying to track how customers are ordering, and specifically determine where, at what time, how frequently, and how they pay, said
Kelly Martin, a marketing professor at Colorado State University, who researches customer-data privacy issues.
Starbucks has been particularly successful with its loyalty rewards program, Martin said. “With the customer data they have been able to collect through their program, they’ve been able to dramatically increase the value per customer.”