McDonald's Celebrity Meals, Then And Now

McDonald's has always found creative approaches to promote its brand, from the inescapable McDonald's jingle to its McValue menu. But with celebrity meals, McDonald's has really hit upon something priceless: selling customers the chance to eat the same food as their favorite pop culture icons do. Although many might question just how much fast food our favorite, shiny-faced celebrities actually eat on a regular basis, it's still fun to imagine that they enjoy handfuls of the Golden Arches' famous french fries or understand the allure of a McDonald's Sprite just like us. 

Since 2020, celebrity meals have become a pillar of McDonald's marketing strategy — and its profitability — though the experiment began a lot earlier than that. McDonald's marrying of celebrity with its iconic menu offerings has picked up frequency in the last few years, but the chain has experimented with celebrity meals for decades. Here's look back at all the celebrity meals that have caused traffic jams at the drive-thru.

Released in 1992, but mostly limited to participating locations in the Chicagoland area, this special tribute to MVP Michael Jordan is arguably McDonald's first true celebrity meal. The McJordan Special featured a Quarter Pounder with American cheese, circular bacon (designed to fit perfectly over the burger patty), mustard, pickles, onions, and a new barbecue sauce created exclusively for the burger. While the Jordan burger garnered fame in Chicago, the NBA legend's home state of North Carolina also participated. To promote the sandwich, McDonald's restaurants in the area offered an extra discount that allowed customers to take one cent from the price of a McJordan Special Combo for each point Jordan scored during a Friday night game.

At that same time, fellow NBA star Larry Bird also had a special promotion going at McDonald's. The "Big 33" was essentially the same as the McJordan Special but was sold in the Boston area and was meant to pay homage to the Boston Celtic player, whose number was 33. For anyone longing for a taste of vintage Bulls glory, the McJordan is fairly easy to recreate in the 21st century, as long as you don't mind using regular bacon strips and McDonald's everyday Tangy Barbecue sauce.

On September 3, 2020, McDonald's announced a partnership with artist Travis Scott. Whereas the McJordan special had been just a featured burger, the Scott partnership took things to the next level: Along with cross-branded merch and joint charity efforts, Scott's team-up with McDonald's included the Travis Scott Meal featuring Cactus Jack's signature order. It featured Sprite, fries with barbecue sauce for dipping, and a Quarter Pounder with cheese, shredded lettuce, and bacon. 

The meal cost $6 and, combined with merch sales, resulted in massive sales figures and even some burger shortages. In fact, at one point while promoting the meal, Travis Scott was hit with a $200 fine for not having the proper permits when a swarm of people gathered outside a McDonald's location in California to see the artist. Scott's bank account likely took no notice of the fine, though, since the rapper made $20 million off the collaboration. Unfortunately, the popularity of the meal also meant that McDonald's employees had to suffer through some drive-thru shenanigans as customers blasted "Sicko Mode" into the speaker. 

Hot on the heels of the Travis Scott partnership, McDonald's announced just one month later that it would be partnering with famed Colombian performer and "Prince of Reggaeton" J Balvin. This meal consisted of a Big Mac, medium fries with ketchup, and an Oreo McFlurry — the latter of which caused some raised eyebrows among McDonald's customers, who were quick to point out that the McFlurry machines are always broken. Their concerns were valid, as many reported not being able to find a McDonald's with a working McFlurry machine once the meal was released. 

Fans who ordered the official merchandise released alongside the J Balvin Meal were later informed that they would not be receiving their orders due to ongoing supply chain issues (which were rampant during that period of the pandemic). Customers who ordered from the array of bucket hats, hoodies, and even brass knuckle rings were left severely disappointed considering they were notified five months after placing the orders. Along with a full refund, fans were issued a consolation beanie and a note from J Balvin himself.

As McDonald's hit its stride with celebrity meal rollouts, it is only natural that the brand set its sights on the biggest sensation in modern music: Korean pop group BTS. The highly anticipated BTS Meal included a 10-piece Chicken McNugget meal with medium fries, a medium Coke, and two special dipping sauces: Sweet Chili and Cajun. The two sauces were not previously available in the U.S., and because of their novelty, they were the standout items in the meal. Of course, the meal launched alongside a line of merchandise inspired by the music group which included hoodies, t-shirts, bathrobes, and more. 

While the J Balvin meal and its accompanying merch were a bit of a disappointment, the BTS Meal came in shortly after to save the day. Thanks to the growing popularity of K-Pop music and its fandom in the U.S., McDonald's sales reached $5.9 billion in the quarter the meal was sold. This particular celebrity collaboration was also the first one to be sold globally by the fast food chain. 

"If you know Saweetie, you know she likes to put her own spin on all her favorite foods to create unique combinations and flavors," read a McDonald's press release announcing its summer 2021 celebrity meal. That's why the Saweetie Meal — which included a Big Mac, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, medium Sprite, Tangy BBQ Sauce, and "Saweetie 'N Sour" sauce — was presented as an opportunity for customers to create their own mix-and-match creations. And because McDonald's celebrity meals had by this point established themselves as a springboard to even more purchases, a line of McDonald's x Saweetie merch soon followed.

This particular line of merchandise was not as affordable as the meal itself. For this collaboration, merchandise included items like a $128 a bubblegum-pink hoodie that advertised the meal, a number of $38 items, like a T-shirt featuring Saweetie's signature snowflake made of French fries, an "I'm Lovin' It" trucker hat, and a fanny pack with a stack of money flying away on angel wings. Regardless of the price tag on the merchandise, the Saweetie Meal earned the McDonald's team a marketing award in addition to the sales. 

Given the singer's status as the ultimate diva of Christmas, it was no shock when McDonald's announced Mariah Carey would be the face of not just a celebrity meal, but an entire holiday menu. The Mariah Menu consisted of 12 days' worth of McDonald's classics, each of which the singer claims to love ordering; the Big Mac, McChicken, McDouble, McDonald's cinnamon roll, McDonald's apple pie, and a six-piece McNugget order were all included in the rollout.

"Some of my favorite memories with my kids are our family trips to McDonald's, and of course, each of us has our go-to order. Mine is the Cheeseburger, and I get it with extra pickles," said the singer in the press release for the menu launch. The menu items were served up in festive custom packaging as part of the holiday promotion. Along with the menu, McDonald's also offered freebies for customers who ordered via the brand's app and spent more then $1. Of course, limited-edition merchandise was also part of the collaboration; beanies and t-shirts featuring a throwback image of the singer eating McDonald's were sold.

After a 2022 devoid of celebrity meals — the company presumably had to instead make room for other high-profile promotions like Adult Happy Meals and Boo Buckets — McDonald's returned to the format in February 2023 with a Super Bowl commercial announcing the Cardi B and Offset Meal. It dropped on Valentine's Day to celebrate all the meals we share with our sweethearts.

The meal itself, with enough food for two, included Cardi B's preferred order (a cheeseburger, Tangy BBQ Sauce, and large Coke) and Offset's favorites (Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a large Hi-C Orange Lavaburst), plus a large order of fries and an apple pie to share. As McDonald's points out in its surprisingly effective Super Bowl ad, knowing someone's order is a sign of love. The double serving meal was only available for a limited time and did not come with a merchandise drop as the other meals before it. Considering the fact that Cardi B and Offset are no longer together, it's probably best for the celebrities and McDonald's that this love-filled collaboration was short-lived. 

Coming in hot with both a first and somewhat of an homage to the very first McDonald's celebrity meal, the Golden Arches released the Angel Reese Special. Angel Reese is a widely celebrated women's basketball player for the Chicago Sky, making her the first female athlete to have a namesake meal with McDonald's. Like the McJordan, Angel Reese's meal includes a bacon Quarter Pounder with cheese and a special barbecue sauce made specifically for this burger, plus fries and a choice of drink.

The special sauce is called Bold BBQ and is described as having a smoky flavor. "McDonald's has always been a big part of my life, from grabbing a McChicken Sandwich as a kid to being named a McDonald's All American in 2020," said Reese in the press release for the meal. "It's really a dream come true to be the first-ever female athlete to have my own meal and be a part of McDonald's amazing basketball legacy."