Another big brand is entering the Metaverse world.This time it is McDonald’s, which plans to open a virtual restaurant of its chain. So will BigMac in NFT form become a reality?
A filing with the patent office
Lawyer Josh Gerben noted on his Twitter feed that McDonald’s is another big brand that has filed applications to claim its trademarks for the virtual world. As he points out, these include the Mc’Donald’s logo, the chain’s name, and its internal McCafe brand. The filing took place on February 4 of this year.
According to Gerban, this is a clear indication that the popular fast food chain plans to enter the Metaverse space. Its plans are to create a virtual restaurant with real and virtual products, which would also offer home delivery in its operations. There is also news here about McDonald’s targeting real and virtual concerts, as well as many other entertainment services. The main focus of the chain is to be a restaurant where its products would be available in the form of non-exchangeable NFT tokens.
McDonald’s representatives have not yet referred to this information in any official communication. It is therefore not known in which exact Metaverse McDonald’s is going to open a restaurant. All that is known is that the process may still take some time. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office processes patent applications of this nature for up to nine months.
This is not McDonald’s first exposure to blockchain technology
McDonald’s, through its campaigns, wants to consolidate in the minds of its audience the image of itself as a modern brand. At one time, it conducted marketing supporting the McRib sandwich, served periodically in the United States. As part of the advertising efforts, customers obtained free NFTs, which was the first such implementation of the network.
It is worth noting that the global fast food is also present in El Salvador, where it accepts payments in Bitcoin. For this purpose, the giant has partnered with OpenNode to provide customers with the ability to redeem them through the Lightning Network.
McDonald’s is also supporting efforts to launch the digital yuan, or Chinese CBDC. To this end, as many as 270 restaurants in Shanghai have been adapted to the new technology.
A virtual sandwich a fun idea?
It would seem that a virtual BigMac is a form over substance. Is it really? Actions in the sphere of the Metaverse have above all a marketing dimension. It is hard to lag behind when big brands have already decided to settle in the virtual space. However, it is worth noting that McDonald’s plans to combine the virtual world with the real one and continue to deliver its products with its help. The effects could be interesting.
