TikTok trend boosts McDonald’s Q2 sales

TikTok trend boosts McDonald's Q2 sales

McDonald’s Surpasses Expectations with Help from TikTok

McDonald’s, the global foodservice giant with over 40,000 locations across more than 100 countries, has recently announced better-than-expected second-quarter earnings results. This positive outcome can be partially attributed to a viral TikTok trend that took the internet by storm.

In the quarter ending June 30, 2023, McDonald’s reported impressive revenue growth of 14% to $6.5 billion, along with a 24% increase in adjusted earnings per share compared to the same period last year. The success of the company was amplified by a trend sparked by its beloved character, Grimace.

The trend began on June 12, when McDonald’s introduced the Grimace Birthday Meal. This special offer allowed customers to choose between a Big Mac or a 10-piece McNuggets meal accompanied by fries and a purple milkshake. TikTok user Adam Frazier played a crucial role in igniting the viral trend by posting a video on June 13.

Frazier’s video depicted him taking a sip of the Grimace shake and then dramatically collapsing to the ground next to the spilled shake. This stunt quickly gained attention and prompted other TikTok users to participate with their own creative renditions of the trend. The widespread popularity of this trend significantly contributed to McDonald’s outstanding performance.

In the company’s earnings release, McDonald’s acknowledged that its U.S. comparable-store sales had greatly benefited from strategic menu price increases and positive guest counts. Additionally, the success was attributed to the brand’s culturally relevant campaigns and marketing efforts.

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Guillaume Huin, McDonald’s marketing director and social media manager, shed some light on the extraordinary impact of the Grimace trend. In a LinkedIn post, Huin revealed that the trend had amassed billions of views, millions of engagements, and millions of mentions across various social media platforms. It was a top trend on Twitter for at least eight days, dominated the three most-used hashtags on TikTok, and remained popular on Snapchat for multiple days.

Huin emphasized that McDonald’s and the marketing team had no involvement in initiating the trend. He expressed gratitude for the organic creativity and fun generated by TikTok users. The unexpected and widespread popularity of the Grimace Birthday Meal trend adds to a string of recent successes achieved by McDonald’s marketing team, including the Travis Scott Meal in 2020, a summertime loyalty program that featured Grimace pool floats in 2022, and an Adult Happy Meal promotion in the fall of the same year.

By mid-day on July 27th, the Grimace and GrimaceShake hashtags on TikTok had accumulated an astonishing 2.9 billion views. However, it’s important to note that the Grimace Birthday Meal promotion had already concluded on July 9th.

In conclusion, McDonald’s exceptional quarterly results can be attributed, in part, to the viral TikTok trend inspired by the Grimace character. This trend garnered billions of views and engagements, solidifying McDonald’s position as a relevant and popular brand. The successful integration of social media platforms into their marketing strategy demonstrates McDonald’s ability to adapt and engage with the ever-evolving digital landscape.

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