How McDonald’s Runs Social Media (and What Brands Can Borrow)

1) Lead with social, then scale everywhere

In late 2020, McDonald’s leadership said they had “shifted our marketing strategy to lead with social… to kick off programs and prime the pump.” That change is visible in how major launches now start by teasing on social, encouraging creator remixes, and only then rolling into paid and traditional channels.  

2) Tap real fandom with “Famous Orders” & celebrity collabs

McDonald’s modern social strategy treats celebrities as true fans with real orders, not just spokespeople. That’s the core of its ongoing “Famous Orders” platform:

• Travis Scott Meal (U.S., 2020): teased on social; fans filmed themselves ordering, generating organic UGC before TV even hit.  

• BTS Meal (2021): a near-global drop across 50 markets on six continents, designed to meet an intensely social, mobile-native fanbase.  

• Cardi B & Offset Meal (2023): positioned as a shareable “date night” order and distributed across app, drive-thru and delivery—again promoted heavily through social feeds.  

McDonald’s describes the insight driving this approach as a simple fan truth: everyone has a go-to McDonald’s order. Framing collaborations around that truth, then launching on social first, has sparked younger audiences to create and share their own content—fueling outsized engagement and sales.  

3) Make pop-culture crossovers fans want to post about

McDonald’s turns cultural nostalgia and entertainment IP into social-ready moments:

• “As Featured In Meal” (2023): a menu bundle celebrating decades of McDonald’s cameos across film, TV and music—announced with social assets and rolling out globally. (Coverage noted it spanned 100+ markets.)  

• Grimace Shake (2023): the purple birthday shake unintentionally became a TikTok horror-meme phenomenon, generating massive organic reach as creators spoofed “before/after” videos.  

The lesson: engineer ideas that invite participation—nostalgic winks, visual gags, or fan-service details that creators can easily riff on.

4) Build worlds fans can enter (and share)

In 2024, McDonald’s brought the long-running anime in-joke “WcDonald’s” to life across 30+ markets with new packaging, a limited sauce, and weekly anime shortsproduced with top studios—prime content for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube. The push included an immersive dining pop-up in Los Angeles designed for IRL-to-social storytelling.  

5) Orchestrate creator ecosystems (not just one-off influencers)

McDonald’s pairs big-reveal films with creator waves that translate a simple signal into endless social formats:

• #RaiseYourArches (UK, 2023 → global): a wordless invite (just an eyebrow raise) seeded via owned social, launched with an Edgar Wright spot, and expanded with filters and creators. Leo Burnett reports 162M+ viewson the film as the gesture spread. Independent tracking of a creator subset logged 5.3M views and 317K engagements across Instagram and TikTok.  

• Pre-launch teasing (eye-emoji hints) and app-only offers kept the social moment converting into measurable actions (e.g., downloads and redemptions).  

6) Tie social to the app and commerce

Analysts tracking the “Famous Orders” waves observed spikes in app installs during Travis Scott, J Balvin and BTS—showing how social hype can rewire customer behavior toward mobile and first-party data. McDonald’s used platform-appropriate placements (YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram) and, in some cases, exclusive app incentives to convert social attention into transactions.  

7) Localize at scale with market-run accounts

McDonald’s is a global brand made of local businesses, and that shows up in social. Many countries run verified, market-specific accounts to tailor posts, promotions and cultural references to local norms—while still echoing the global brand voice.  

What this strategy looks like in practice (recap)

• Social-first sequencing: tease on social → spark UGC/creator waves → scale with paid/retail.  

• Fan-truth positioning: collaborations framed around real orders and authentic fandom (Travis Scott, BTS, Cardi B & Offset).  

• Cultural IP & nostalgia: entertainment tie-ins (“As Featured In”), legacy characters (Grimace) and meme-ready assets.  

• World-building activations: WcDonald’s anime sauce/packaging/shorts + immersive events for IRL-to-URL sharing.  

• Creator ecosystems: cinematic hero films + filters + multi-tier creators to spread a simple idea (#RaiseYourArches).  

• Conversion design: social moments paired with app-exclusive promos and clear order paths to capture demand.  

• Localized execution: market-run, verified accounts adapt global ideas to local culture and calendars.  

Practical takeaways for your agency site

• Start on social. Treat social as the launchpad, not the afterthought. Seed the idea and its “remixable” elements there first.  

• Build for participation. Packages, signals (an eyebrow raise), or limited extras (sauce, packaging, filters) that invite creators to play will travel farther than one ad.  

• Anchor collabs in truth. Pick partners who are real fans and talk about their actual order. Audiences smell the difference.  

• Link to outcomes. Pair the social buzz with app-only offers or flows that convert attention into installs and orders.  

• Localize smartly. Keep the global voice, but let each market tune the idea to its culture and calendar.