NFTs Flip the Script on Fast-Food Toys With Crypto Collectibles

Collectors are passionate about their hobbies, whether it’s Jerry Seinfeld’s obsession with classic Porsche autos or fast-food fans snapping up blockchain assets instead of action figures.

Of all the inventive crypto-blockchain plays we’ve heard about this year, we submit Burger King’s deal with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Sweet as perhaps the coolest.

As part of its new Royal Perks loyalty program launch, BK teamed up with Sweet to gamify NFTs, giving chain loyalists the opportunity to collect digital tokens that unlock yet more rewards once the set is complete. It revolves around the new "Keep It Real" marketing push, where celebrities create their ideal BK meal, entering customers into an NFT collectibles game.

News site Restaurant Dive summarized it thusly: “Guests can scan a QR code on each Keep It Real Meal box to receive one of three collective NFT game pieces, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. When the full set is collected, guests are programmatically provided a fourth NFT, a reward that could be a 3D digital collectible, free Whopper sandwiches for a year, autographed merchandise or a call with one of the campaign's celebrity ambassadors.”

Let’s look at the menu. According to a Burger King announcement, we’ve got the “The Cornell Haynes Jr Meal aka NELLY” (classic flame-grilled Whopper®), “The Larissa Machado Meal aka Anitta” (Impossible Whopper), or “The Chase Hudson Meal aka LILHUDDY” (hand-breaded Spicy Ch’King with cheese).

Gamified goodies in NFT form is a digital-first way for Burger King to promote the banning of 120 artificial ingredients from its yummy items, but we see other possibilities.

For Whopper shoppers of another generation, we’d like to suggest “The Yoko Ono aka Screamer meal” (a bun with nothing on it, expressing an artist’s search for meaning), or “The Mick Jagger aka Too Old to Rock and Roll meal” (burger and fries with free hip replacement).

Or not. But there’s no end to the creative possibilities.

Would You Like Digital Fries With That?

Burger King isn’t the first fast-food chain to tinker with NFTs this year — and it won’t be the last.

As early as Q1, Pizza Hut Canada introduced “1 Byte Favourites Pizza,” creating a new digital-with-cheese asset category in the process: the NFP, or “non-fungible pizza.”

In a statement, the chain said, “At a time when NFTs are going for record highs on cryptocurrency marketplaces, Pizza Hut is offering 1 Byte Favourites for record-low prices. Pizza Hut will offer these perfect 8-bit slices (8 bits = 1 byte) for approximately the cost of one real bite of pizza, or 0.0001 ETH.”

So now we also understand the value that Ethereum ascribes to a single bite of pizza. Good to know for the budget-conscious blockchain burger fans out there.

It’s really corporate altruism, as the chain explained that “Pizza Hut believes no world should exist without pizza, especially their pan pizza. That's why they wanted to make sure it was enshrined in the digital universe.” It’s a sentiment all but the lactose-intolerant can support.

And did anyone think McDonald’s wouldn’t cash in on the NFT action? Also in Q1, McDonald’s France began offering NFTs as prizes. Marketing industry news site Famous Campaigns reported back in April that “the fast-food company revealed its first two NFTs representing the iconic Big Mac and a box of Chicken McNuggets. This was followed by a post on Twitter … announcing the release of two more NFTs representing a sundae and fries.”

“Even though the NFTs will not initially be sold by McDonald’s, the winners of the contest will be able to do whatever they want with them – including selling them,” the site added.

We smell a business opportunity. It’s oddly reminiscent of pizza and burgers.

Consumer Goods Want in on the Non-Fungible Fun

Why should fast-food and quick-service restaurants have all the NFT fun?

Chip-maker (that’s potato, not semiconductor) Pringles created and auctioned off some original NFT artwork — of a Pringles can. At the going rate of $600 each, we don’t see a problem.

As Adweek reported, “The Kellogg’s-owned snack brand is auctioning off 50 limited-edition pieces of animated artwork as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) around a virtual flavor called CryptoCrisp.”

Adweek said the bidding started “at the equivalent of around $2 in Ether cryptocurrency,” and was driven as high as $600. Proceeds went to the artist Vasya Kolotusha, who created the crispy crypto collectible.

“A purchase earns the buyer rights to a 1080×1080-pixel 6-second video file of a spinning gold Pringles can and a certificate of authenticity that guarantees its uniqueness. The artwork is being auctioned on the Ethereum-based NFT marketplace platform Rarible,” per Adweek.

Since CPG rhymes with NFT, Kellogg’s made its move around the same time that General Mills auctioned off 10 digital artworks to welcome back its beloved Chocolate Dunkaroos.

This is just the beginning. We envision NFTs everywhere soon, and so do major marketers.

As news site Marketing Dive reported, “NFT mania is drawing interest from brands that seek to parlay the growing interest in digital assets into more publicity for their campaigns. Dole Sunshine recently announced plans to sell a series of original digital artworks as NFTs and donate the auction proceeds to hunger-relief programs. Procter & Gamble … hopped on the NFT bandwagon with an auction of digital artwork inspired by its Charmin brand of toilet paper, with plans to donate the proceeds to charity.”

What puts the “fun” in “non-fungible?” Clearly, it’s food.