110 Million Doodles Cups Appear at McDonald's USA

The opportunity for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to penetrate Web3 more deeply and widely has been strongly driven by the appearance of over 100 million coffee cups branded with the colorful art of the Doodles IP at McDonald's across the United States.

Although some users expressed dissatisfaction in hunting for the branded cups, which launched on November 18, McDonald's promised that all 14K stores would have them before November 21.

The Doodles IP will also appear alongside McDonald's iconic characters like Hamburglar and Grimace in various activities including limited-edition enamel pins, merchandise, digital apparel, and more.

Since the announcement, the floor price of the original Doodles Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection has more than doubled, from 1.25 ETH to over 2.85 ETH (as of November 18) with Doodle #3954 selling for 42,690 ETH ($132,951) on November 17. The original Doodles collection also recorded its highest volume week in over 10 months.

Launched in October 2021, like many collections at the peak of the NFT craze, Doodles faced numerous challenges due to the brutal NFT bear market, but there are glimmers of hope returning for projects that have persistently built in the background.

Doodles has shown the ability to collaborate with Crocs and Pharrell, but McDonald's is their biggest partnership to date. This event is being compared to the tumultuous Pudgy Penguins collaboration with Walmart, starting in September 2023 with plush toys flooding Walmart stores across the US.

Doodles CEO Julian Holguin said the partnership validates the NFT project:

"This partnership shows that Web3-native brands can create meaningful cultural moments at scale. Around 110 million cups at 14K McDonald's locations across the US," Holguin said.

"We're not just putting art on cups, we're creating a blueprint for how Web3 brands can reach a mainstream audience. Each purchase has the potential to drive people back to our on-chain platform, introducing them to digital collecting through something as familiar as morning coffee."

How it Works

For US customers, you order a hot McCafe drink through the McDonald's app to receive one of the exclusive Doodles cups.

Each cup is also a ticket to view Dullsville and the Doodleverse, an animated Doodles pilot with music from Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, Lil Yachty, and more, along with their voiceovers. There are also limited-edition McDonald's apparel for Doodles avatars through a free sign-up to Doodles Studio.

There will also be Doodles-themed music videos, including a collaboration between Pharrell Williams and Marley Bleu, which will be released on streaming services on November 22.

Pharrell has been involved with Doodles since mid-2022 and was behind Justin Timberlake's "I'm Lovin' It" tune that became the soundtrack for McDonald's ads worldwide since 2003.

McDonald's Chief Marketing Officer Tariq Hassan explained that the fast-food giant partnered with Doodles "because they are agents of change in the cultural landscape, and they go beyond just digital assets - an entertainment brand with a bold community that we can't wait to engage with and further bring to the masses in America," Hassan said.

McDonald's Times Square billboard in New York City will light up this holiday season with the prominent Doodles collaboration visible to millions.

Holguin said people seem very excited about this mainstream collaboration.

"The response has been incredible - we're seeing support not just from our community but from the Web3 community at large in a way we haven't seen before. Old colleagues, regular friends I haven't spoken to in ages, everyone is connecting to this because it feels authentic and relatable," Holguin said.

How the Industry is Reacting

This partnership is hailed as the biggest mainstream collaboration ever for a Web3 brand.

Zeneca (ZenAcademy)

"This is certainly one of the most significant collaborations in Non-Fungible Token (NFT) history. For all the talk about making NFT IP mainstream, very few projects have been able to deliver on that promise. The Doodles and McDonald's partnership will make Doodles a household name globally."

Betty (Deadfellaz)

"The Doodles and McDonald's collaboration is a huge win for crypto native IP - working with a brand of that scale is a frontier that many considered unattainable from a team born out of the 2021 NFT boom," she said.

"This is a sign of the continued strength of the community in our industry and the importance of that strength when facing well-known big names. I love Doodles, but whether you like Doodles or McDonald's doesn't matter, people will see this brand at least 100 million times during this campaign - and that's a win for anyone seriously building in Web3."

Steve Kaczynski (Author of The Everything Token)

"Partnering with McDonald's has been a major win for Doodles regardless of the campaign details, but they've made it a home run with three key elements. It expands brand recognition by placing Doodles in front of a massive new audience through 100 million coffee cups and on a Times Square billboard," he said.

"It onboards non-Web3 users to Stoodio, the heart of the Doodles ecosystem. Finally, it rewards and celebrates brand loyalty by integrating community member Doodles throughout the entire campaign. All in all, this is a well-executed strategy for brand growth and community connection."

In other NFT news: Punks lead as NFTs enter a hot phase

While most attention is still on Memecoin, there are signs that an NFT run may be on the horizon.

CryptoPunks are leading the charge with overall sentiment starting to turn positive after a few tough years. Punks are now at a floor price of 36 ETH ($112,000), up over 10 ETH in the past two weeks.

Chromie Squiggles have also nearly doubled in floor price over the past week, from 2.75 ETH to 5.24 ETH (as of November 18), including a Pipe Squiggle that sold for 12 ETH ($37,000).

Autoglyph #239 has also moved, with the renowned Curated collection adding one of Larva Labs' iconic works to their treasury.

Rauol Pal has gone bananas with the purchase of XCOPY's 'Last Selfie' work through a private deal. It didn't come cheap with an initial listing price of 333 ETH.

Rauol had this to say about XCOPY:

"I love XCOPY's work and to me, XCOPY is the most important NFT digital artist, along with Beeple. The reason is that culture has huge value over time and NFTs allow culture to be recorded permanently on-chain. XCOPY is the culture of crypto + internet and will forever serve as a time capsule for this early cultural moment."

"Above all, I love art. XCOPY has pioneered a completely new form of art that I'm extremely resonant with," he said.

We've also seen 20%+ moves in the past seven days from Bored Ape Yacht Club moving to a 13.4 ETH floor, Pudgy Penguins back above a 12 ETH floor, and Milady hitting 5.9 ETH including a personal best USD sales volume and 3rd highest ETH volume at 27.3.

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Compiled by Tin Tức Bitcoin