By Cammie Dutchess and Kathy Williams, Managing Editor and Features Assignment Editor
Social media influences have been prevalent in today’s digital world for some time now. Society is used to influencers posting product and service recommendations such as make-up, clothing and tech gear on their media platforms, but lately they have started penetrating a new market – the food industry.
Travis Scott, a rapper from Houston, Texas, and a five-time Grammy nominee, has collaborated with fast-food chain McDonald’s to create The Travis Scott Meal. The $6 meal consists of Travis’ three McDonald’s favorites – the quarter pounder with cheese exclusively topped with bacon and lettuce, a side of medium fries with barbecue sauce and a medium Sprite.
Overall, the meal has been an enormous success, causing some McDonald’s stores to temporarily run out of some of the meal’s ingredients. The popularity can be attributed to the rapper that the meal is based off of.
Morgan Flatley, the chief marketing officer of McDonald’s, said to remain relevant the company needs celebrities with youth appeal and a big social media presence to engage customers and keep them coming to the fast food chain.
McDonald’s isn’t the only food company gaining the attention of millions through celebrity-named menu items, however.
Dunkin’ Donuts, an American coffee and breakfast food chain, has received mass attention due to their recent collaboration with social media star Charli D’Amelio.
D’Amelio found her rise to fame in the app TikTok where she posted herself dancing along to various trending sounds. At 16-years-old, she now has 88.3 million followers on TikTok and a net worth of about $4 million. She has partnered with various brands such as cosmetics brand Morphe, but she has received a large amount of feedback for creating a drink at Dunkin’ – “The Charli.”
On Sept. 2, Dunkin’ released “The Charli.” This drink is based on D’Amelio’s go-to drink, a Dunkin’ cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl.
Whether conscious of it or not, D’Amelio revolutionized the world of marketing through this collaboration. She penetrated an empty market for influencer products in America and is profiting from a golden opportunity.
On Dunkin’s end, the company offered 100 bonus points to their app users when they ordered “The Charli,” which gave customers incentive to buy it regardless of if they previously knew of D’Amelio or not.
Further, D’Amelio’s target audience for her content is the same group that would purchase a sweet coffee. With these combined efforts, D’Amelio and Dunkin’ were able to reach a wide target market for a product that already existed on the menu.
A simple change of name contributed to Dunkin’ Donuts running out of caramel syrup nationwide.
Needless to say, this is probably not the last time celebrity-endorsed items and meals are going to be added to a fast-food chain’s menu. Soon everyone could be ordering the “Addison Rae” or the “Kardashian Special.”
jonesdca17@bonaventure.edu
williakp18@bonaventure.edu
