McDonald's plans to rain coins to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the popular Big Mac burger: starting this Thursday at noon, customers can receive a MacCoin with the purchase of a Big Mac at 14,000 participating branches, McDonald's announced yesterday.
And what is the currency for? Very simple: just to buy another Big Mac. Customers can redeem the new currency for a free Big Mac starting this Friday and for the rest of 2018.
In an interview with USA TODAY, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook explained that Thursday is the launch date of the bronze coins because it marks the 100th anniversary of Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchisee in western Pennsylvania who invented the Big Mac.
The idea of currency arose from the role that Big Mac has played in the measurement of purchasing power. For example, 10 years ago in the US, a Big Mac was worth $ 3.57, now it's worth $ 5.28.
In 1986, The Economist began to use the Big Mac index as a way to measure the purchasing power of the international currency. "They use it to this day," Easterbrook said. "Why not have a good time with him? Create our own currency. "
The Big Mac has become an American icon during its 50 years of existence. In 2007, the Big Mac Museum Restaurant was established in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, to honor the juicy hamburger. His Big Mac sculpture measures 4.2 meters high and 3.6 meters in diameter.
And in 2016, the McDonald's division in the United Kingdom auctioned off a 740 milliliter sauce bottle used in the hamburger for approximately USD $ 95,000 on eBay.
McDonald's sold 1.3 billion Big Macs last year, according to the chain.
MacCoin will feature five unique designs, each representing a decade of Big Mac:
• The 70s: showing the power of the flower of the decade
• The 80s: allusions to pop art
• The 90s: defined by abstract and bold forms
• First decade of 2000: focusing specifically on the technology that was at the forefront of the turn of the century
• Second decade of 2000: MacCoin calling attention to the evolution of communication.
No, it's not a coin, says Fortune
"McDonald's is not launching a cryptocurrency, despite what it seems," says an article published today by Chris Morris in Fortune magazine. It clarifies that although the announcement of McDonald's promotes MacCoin as the "first global currency supported by food", it is not an alternative to Bitcoin. Actually, it's just a more "heavy" coupon than usual for a free hamburger.The chain is rolling out the tokens in 14,000 restaurants in 50 countries from August 2 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Big Mac, explains Fortune, without detailing in which countries. Note that the MacCoin coin you get when you buy the Big Mac can be used to exchange for another hamburger, but no doubt many will prefer to keep them as a collection.
Fortune adds that McDonald's was increasing the amount of free food for customers as US sales cooled. The company exceeded Wall Street expectations for its second-quarter earnings, but revenues fell 12% and US store sales grew at a slower-than-expected pace.
Earlier this month, the chain announced that it would give away a free order of fries every Friday to customers who use their mobile application and spend more than USD $ 1 on their order.
Source: Fortune and USA Today
Translation and version of DiarioBitcoin
Image created with Canva and Pixabay
