McDonald’s has been dabbling with virtual and augmented reality for quite some time now, but its latest experiment will tie it together with the forthcoming Sony film The Angry Birds Movie.
The company has announced a new promotion that ties in with its Happy Meal line, where consumers can buy specially designed boxes based on characters from the film. In addition, inside each box will be a BirdCode that they can redeem to unlock augmented reality-based mini-games, along with select Angry Birds toys.
“Kids today are born into a highly digital world–hence the term, digital natives,” said Omaid Hiwaizi, president of global marketing for Blippar. “We’re seeing younger and younger consumers owning smartphones and expertly navigating them.
“For The Angry Birds Movie, it makes sense that this AR mini-game would resonate well with the expected, younger target audience because of the engaging content, but moreover, because the content is delivered on a smart vehicle that has become second nature to younger generations,” he said. “The challenge for brands in engaging kids, however, is in providing quality content that can compete for the attention on established and powerful game and movie franchises. Nevertheless, just like The Angry Birds Movie brings the popular mobile game to life, this AR experience offers a new way for fans to play.”
This is the latest move by the company into the field of virtual reality. Earlier this year, it tried to bring virtual reality to consumers in Sweden by introducing virtual reality headsets made out of Happy Meal boxes. Most recently, at South By Southwest 2016, the company created a virtual experience, where users could recreate the ability to actually be part of a Happy Meal, stepping inside a box and being able to design it however they please. From what attendees have seen from the presentation, it’s a bit unique—although strange—compared to most other virtual reality experiences. This latest virtual reality experiment will be more for a good cause, and less focused on the Happy Meal.
In addition, it introduced a tour in Europe to help promote its farming practices, in an effort to bolster its hiring of farming assistance, hoping to increase the work force exponentially by 2022. It’s not likely the tour will make its way to the U.S., but McDonald’s could introduce something down the road, depending on its farming needs.
