Minecraft: McDonald's Collab With 'A Minecraft Movie' Drives Significant Traffic Growth

The continuing popularity of recent cinematic blockbuster "A Minecraft Movie" is apparent: The film has so far attracted over $720 million in global box office receipts, according to Variety , and has gone viral - for good or for ill - over the raucous behavior of audiences to the now-infamous "chicken jockey" scene. But for McDonald's - which has been offering a two-pronged Minecraft-themed attraction in the form of a Happy Meal for kids and a Minecraft Movie Meal for adults, complete with a toy or collectible - the movie's popularity seems to have resulted in a significant amount of increased visits to its restaurants. McDonald's Minecraft Movie Meal, Happy Meal Drives Higher Foot Traffic Per Restaurant Business , citing Placer.ai data , McDonald's saw a massive 12.2% increase in foot traffic (versus the average Tuesday of the year) on Tuesday, April 1, the day it launched the Minecraft promo. And while that statistic did wane as the weeks advanced, falling to 9.5% on April 8 and then to 7.4% on April 15, it still represented a sharp uptick compared to the negative numbers exhibited in January and February and the more modest growth experienced in March. "The data is the latest evidence to suggest that, despite a host of challenges, consumers will respond to an effective marketing campaign. McDonald's traffic was up in October last year, thanks to a Chicken Big Mac, before an E. coli outbreak reversed that trend. Rival Wendy's likewise thrived last October thanks to a tie-in with the Nickelodeon program Spongebob Squarepants," the outlet's editor-in-chief, Jonathan Maze, wrote. The McDonald's Minecraft Meal for adults offers the choice of either a Big Mac or a 10-piece McNuggets as the star of the show, complete with a medium fries and soft drink to round out the combo. One of six possible collectibles, including a pixelated Grimace egg, is also part of the deal. It's presented in a large golden box bearing an M on it, as CNET detailed. The Minecraft Happy Meal, in contrast, offers kids (or kids at heart) the standard choice of a hamburger, cheeseburger, or McNuggets alongside a child-size fries and beverage. One of 12 Minecraft-themed toys is also included, and the entire collection is presented in a green box that resembles the game's "Creeper" enemy.