Travis Scott Meets McDonald’s in a Partnership of Merchandising Minds

There’s a television commercial, too, in which an action figure version of Scott — speaking in his real(?) voice — showcases his meal: “same order since back in Houston.” Here, too, a mutual compromise: McDonald’s, potentially still skittish about aligning with a rapper, swaps in an animated version in the ad. (Some franchisees apparently opposed the partnership, citing Scott’s risqué lyrics.)

And Scott retains a bit of personal mystery. From this action figure commercial to his recent concert on the video game Fortnite, he has been moving toward full time avatar territory. He is already among the most reluctant of hip-hop stars, almost never photographed with his eyes engaging the camera. And his voice is generally digitally processed practically beyond recognition, merely shrugging off the texture of reality. He is becoming an A.I. musician long before the algorithms take over.

His aesthetics, though, he’s willing to share. A collaboration at this scale is maybe a final stop before a full-fledged brand of one’s own — a Yeezy or a Fenty. Despite hip-hop’s complete dominance of pop culture, there is still a bit of a lag when it comes to the willingness of large mainstream brands to work with hip-hop stars. It’s still a light shock to see DJ Khaled hawking for Geico, or Snoop Dogg for Corona (or Dunkin’ or the General or Tostitos).

McDonald’s partnership with Scott may well be the savviest music/food pairing since the Starbucks music program, which placed CDs from its Hear Records label next to its registers. Which brings us back to food. There is of course also a Travis Scott Meal, which costs $6 — a specialty burger something like an amped-up Quarter Pounder With Cheese, fries with barbecue sauce and a Sprite — that sadly does not come with a toy. Part of why the Scott/McDonald’s alliance feels different is because of the intimacy of food — it’s one thing to attach a celebrity to a luxury item, but to attach one to a commodity product is a far bolder statement.

A couple of days ago, Scott had a not very socially distanced launch event at a McDonald’s in Downey, Calif. Scott’s buddies wore special shirts made for employees and cheesed for pictures over the griddle.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/arts/music/travis-scott-mcdonalds.html