McDonald's Will Let You Pay for Your Meal by Taking a Selfie or Calling Your Mom
“Here’s your Quarter Pounder with cheese. But first…”
McDonald’s is trying to spread some “Lovin’” with a new promotion that will allow selected patrons to pay for their food with affectionate acts such as calling a family member, giving a hug, or sending off a smiling selfie.
The campaign will run from Feb. 2 to 14, with a $4.5 million Super Bowl commercial kicking things off, ABC reports.
“We want to thank our customers for making our day, and hopefully they will make someone else’s as well,” a McDonald’s spokeswoman told the news organization. “From selfies, hugs, to high-fives, we have a bunch of fun ways to express your lovin’.”
A novel gimmick by McDonald’s, sure, but we’re not convinced that sending your buddy a picture of yourself eating at McDonald’s is worth its value in free McDonald’s.
Either way, this isn’t the first we’ve heard of the fast-food chain doling it out for selfies.
Last year, the company paid $20 a pop for the rights to select McDonald’s-focused selfies found on Scoopshot, an app-based marketplace for smartphone-submitted pictures. Brands looking for clever product-placement snaps or companies in search of stock photos on the cheap have been known to shop the service. Scoopshot announced in 2012 that one of its members had earned almost $20,000 from selling pictures on the app.
Yep, $20,000, or in McDonald’s terms: 4,000 Big Macs at a rate of 1,000 calls to mom, 1,500 hugs with strangers, and 500 selfies sent to ex-roommates or people you’ve bought things from on Craigslist.
