McDonald's Celebrates Its Social Stranglehold With New 'As Featured In' Meals

I have an unhealthy obsession with Cheez-it snack crackers. They are my favorite snack and will likely put me in an early grave. There are plenty of reasons why I like them so much. Still, I know the most unsettling and likely most accurate answer is simply that they were featured in one of my favorite movies.

Product placement is hella effective. Or, at the very least, it’s hella effective on me. I’ve been watching Ghostbusters for as long as I can remember and devouring Cheez-it crackers for just as long. It is nothing I am proud of. Still, at least Nabisco isn’t out here celebrating that they worked their way into pop culture touchstones with a half-assed marketing campaign! That’s McDonald’s job!

The world’s most well-known fast food chain is releasing a new series of meals called their “As Featured In” series. The specialty meals will feature a sweet and sour dipping sauce featured on Loki. Or at least they say it was. I honestly can’t remember, and I enjoyed Loki! Aside from the added sauce, the meals appear to be unchanged.

McDonald’s is no stranger to “specialty” meals. They’ve featured “custom” meals that are slight variations based on the tastes of celebrities like Travis Scott, BTS, and Saweetie. Those, at least, usually provide a moderate change to the original configuration of the meal. The “As Featured In” meals, at least so far, appear to have a special sauce, and that’s it.

The whole thing feels lazy as hell. I actually understand celebrating your ability to have your tendrils thrust deeply into pop culture. If there were a fast food war, I think it’s safe to say that McDonald’s won it. No other fast food joint could achieve such product prominence. But, if you’re going to celebrate that with minimal effort, don’t celebrate.

Get creative if you want to remind us that McDonald’s is the beginning and the end. Give me a show that’s wall-to-wall McDonald’s! Character arcs and continuity? Screw that! Give me French Fry Man and his journey to reunite with Chocolate Shake. Be shameless! Make it clear that there is no escaping your sesame seed-laden grip! Because just throwing some sweet and sour sauce in my bag ain’t it.