Some Caviar With Your McNugget, Madam?
Indulge at the drive-thru. (McDonald's)
Valentine’s Day at McDonald’s took an unusual turn this year: Chicken McNuggets paired with caviar. At 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the chain began offering a limited number of “McNugget Caviar” kits through a special countdown site. Each kit included a 1-ounce tin of Baerii sturgeon caviar, crème fraîche, a mother-of-pearl spoon, and a $25 gift card to buy the McNuggets, pitched by the company as an “upscale yet effortless” way to celebrate.
The promotion arrived just before McDonald’s quarterly earnings report, as the company reports rising global sales and continued growth at US locations. But as Vice noted ahead of time, most people were unlikely to get their hands on one. That prediction proved accurate: within 30 minutes of launch, the site displayed a “sold out” notice. For a preview of the experience, a Business Insider columnist who sampled the pairing admitted, “I didn’t expect to like the combination as much as I did.”
The campaign appears aimed less at romance and more at generating attention. With consumer sentiment at its lowest point in over a decade, brands are increasingly turning to headline-grabbing stunts to create buzz that could eventually translate into sales. McDonald’s has seen success with similar tactics before, including its recent tie-in with A Minecraft Movie, which helped reverse a sales slump. The caviar angle also taps into an online trend—Rihanna tried the combination on TikTok in 2024—and reflects how chicken has grown to rival beef in McDonald’s overall sales mix.
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