McDonald’s Is Releasing a Minecraft Meal — and It Comes With Exclusive In-Game Rewards and Collectibles

On April 4, your local movie theater will likely be abuzz with groups of kids seeing A Minecraft Movie, based on the world’s bestselling video game of all time. 

Far beyond the theater, there’s a whole universe of promotions driving awareness for the film: Minecraft baseball nights, Minecraft Oreos, and even Minecraft prebiotic soda. But the one most likely to appeal to true gamers is McDonald’s A Minecraft Movie Meal, which drops on April 1 for a limited time. 

Minecraft is a game that requires using one’s imagination to build new worlds, and McDonald’s marketing team has put that same imagination on display here. The Minecraft Movie Meal includes a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets with medium fries and a drink, plus a limited-edition collectible (yes, it’s basically an adult Happy Meal).

Beyond that, the McNuggets will be served with McDonald’s all-new spicy Nether Flame Sauce inspired by The Nether, Minecraft’s fiery, magma-filled underworld. (The sauce will also be available as an add-on to any McDonald’s order throughout the promotion’s run.) And of course, everything will come in a fittingly pixelated box. 

There are six possible collectibles in each meal: Big Mac Crystal, Birdie Wings, Fry Helmet, Grimace Egg, Soda Potion, and Zombie Hamburglar, all of which feature Minecraft’s signature blocky aesthetic. Along with the figurines, each meal will include “a matching card and a code that fans can redeem to unlock the corresponding, exclusive skin in the Minecraft Marketplace.”

There will also be a Minecraft Movie Happy Meal, which is a typical Happy Meal order paired with either one of six Blockhead figures (Pink Sheep, Bee, Skeleton, Creeper, Evoker, and Dennis) or one of six Block Worlds (Gold Block & Dawn, Grass Block & Llama, Redstone Block & Creeper, Diamond Block & Steve, Pink Wool Block & Pink Sheep, and Stone Block & Garrett). The meal will include a code that can be scanned to unlock a game on www.happymeal.com, which is themed to A Minecraft Movie. 

Now, if none of this means anything to you non-Minecraft players, you’re not alone — but McDonald’s knows that catering to the gaming community is a lucrative strategy. According to a 2021 report, 56% of gamers are more likely to buy from a brand that features in their favorite game. By the same token, brands that insert themselves into games stand to gain a whole new audience, as the report found that 33% of gamers have discovered new brands while gaming.

Other fast food chains are developing these strategies, too.

In 2020, we saw the headline-grabbing rollout of KFC Gaming, culminating in a genuine gaming console complete with a fried chicken warming drawer. The following year, Carl Loredo, chief marketing officer at Wendy’s, attributed the success of its breakfast menu in part to the gaming platform Twitch, where the Wendy’s social team ran ads for breakfast items during popular streams and interacted with fans in the chat. (“Our not-so-secret superpower is social,” Loredo said at the time.) And just last year, Chipotle promoted the release of Tekken 8 by rewarding customers with in-game currency for their IRL food purchases. 

This is an element of McDonald’s campaign as well: using fast food to bridge the virtual world to the actual one. Importantly, though, even non-Minecraft fans can enjoy the menu items themed to the film. That’s why food is the best promotional tool of all.