Food chains milking celebrity meal tie-ups

NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - On a Friday afternoon in 2020, Ms Hope Bagozzi, chief marketing officer at Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons, was on a Zoom call with representatives for singer Justin Bieber.

The agenda for the meeting? Exploring a possible partnership between the two Canadian greats.

The call took a surreal turn when suddenly, Ms Bagozzi remembered, a black box that had been silent on the screen turned on, revealing Bieber himself.

He spoke about how much he enjoyed eating Timbits, the restaurant's bite-size doughnuts. At one point, pulled out a guitar to perform a song about Tim Hortons that he used to sing to his siblings.

"I was texting my husband saying, 'Justin Bieber is singing to us,'" Ms Bagozzi said, laughing. "You could've knocked me out of my chair."

The result of the call was Timbiebs, a limited-edition line of doughnut holes in flavours dreamed up by the pop star and Tim Hortons' in-house chef, which includes chocolate white fudge and birthday cake waffle. They hit restaurants in November.

Welcome to the era of the celebrity happy meal. Fast-food companies are tripping over themselves to align their products with supernova musicians and influencers in the hopes that their menu items will appeal to a younger audience. For consumers, it is a relatively cheap and easy way to connect with their favourite celebrities or influencers.

Many of the megastars the companies are courting are more than willing to cooperate, sometimes initiating the partnerships themselves. After seeing Bieber's deal, Canadian singer-songwriter Michael Buble posted a TikTok video to suggest a doughnut-based collaboration of his own: Bublebits.

Dunkin' teamed up with American social media star Charli D'Amelio. There was a Lil Huddy meal at Burger King. American rapper Megan Thee Stallion has her own sauce with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (called "hottie sauce," naturally). McDonald's has created meals with American rapper Saweetie, K-pop group BTS, Colombian singer-rapper J Balvin and American rapper Travis Scott.

In November, eight people were killed and dozens were injured during Scott's performance at the Astroworld Festival in Houston. The performer's partnership with McDonald's ended in 2020, according to the company.

This month, McDonald's joined with the queen of Christmas herself, singer Mariah Carey, to promote 12 days of deals on her favourite items, available only through the chain's app. Despite the fact that she has previously said she eats only Norwegian salmon and capers, the performer's favourite foods at McDonald's apparently include Big Macs, hot cakes and chocolate-chip cookies.

This trend in partnerships is proving to be a boon for restaurants and celebrities, according to analysts and observers. It is also helping companies gain insights into the behaviour of young consumers.

For some chains, the celebs are a powerful lure that can entice customers to download restaurant apps or join loyalty programmes to get meals, discounts or even free food. During its celebrity-meal campaigns, which began in September 2020, McDonald's has seen 10 million downloads of its app, a significant jump.

These celebrity partnerships are also helping brands gain access to where millions of digital natives spend tons of time: Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms.

Ms Jennifer Healan, vice-president of United States marketing, brand content and engagement, for McDonald's, said: "If you think about the target we're focusing on, which is youth and youth culture, that's where they're living."

Even before Dunkin' teamed with D'Amelio, it was clear to her followers on TikTok (of which there are currently more than 130 million) that the 17-year-old brunette liked the chain's drinks. She frequently posted videos and clips of herself sipping coffee while dancing or showing off her outfit of the day.

In September 2020, when Dunkin' debuted the Charli - a Dunkin' cold brew coffee with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl - and D'Amelio advertised the drink on her social media platforms, the result was a record in daily active Dunkin' app users, company executives said in an earnings call last year.

For Dunkin,' the partnership was straightforward. It did not have to spend weeks or months whipping up new flavoured coffees or dreaming up clever new names. "We took an existing product, renamed it after her and positioned it to appeal to a younger consumer," said Mr Scott Murphy, president of Dunkin' Americas. Dunkin' later introduced another D'Amelio drink, the Charli Cold Foam, which was simply the Charli with some cinnamon sugar and cold foam added to it.

TikTok was soon flooded with free promotion for Dunkin', as young people posted videos of themselves sipping Charlis.

Similarly, when McDonald's was selling its Travis Scott meal, the rapper's fans recorded videos of themselves blasting his song Sicko Mode as they ordered, then shared the videos on TikTok.

"Young people become these unintentional marketers," said Ms Frances Fleming-Milici, director of marketing initiatives for the University of Connecticut's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health. "Companies don't have to pay for that organic content and all the TikToks that people make."

Critics say the partnerships, which have been largely targeted at a younger audience, should be pointed towards healthier food options.

A medium order of D'Amelio's cold foam drink at Dunkin' has 50g of sugar.

The Lil Huddy meal at Burger King doesn't stop with a spicy chicken sandwich and mozzarella sticks, it also comes with a chocolate shake. Including the shake, it clocks in at more than 2,400 calories and nearly 100g of fat.

Spokesmen for McDonald's and Restaurant Brands International, which owns Popeyes, Burger King and Tim Hortons, said in e-mails that they market responsibly to children younger than 12 and that they offer healthier options.

The celebrities and fast-food brands would not say how much money the celebs are making from these deals, and those contacted for this article declined to respond.

That kind of success means that this trend is not going to disappear any time soon.