McDonald’s has spent the past couple of years ramping up its street cred with various fashion collaborations – Cactus Plant Flea Market, Crocs, and Verdy among them. Now the company is extending into beauty collabs, announcing this week a partnership with Nails.Inc., a UK-based nail brand founded in 1999 by Thea Green.
Nails.Inc. is no stranger to such collaborations, previously partnering with companies like Froot Loops, Velveeta, Cheez-It, and White Claw. Its McDonald’s partnership includes products like the burger mini nail polish and sticker duo, the fries nail polish and sticker set, the McDonald’s I’m Lovin’ It gold heart nail topper, and the I speak French press-on nails set.
The polishes include a “Big Mac Please” burger brown shade and a “Gotta Ketchup” ketchup red shade. They’re all available now on nailsinc.com and Amazon and, in March, they’ll also be available at Target and Target.com.
McDonald’s has had much success with these types of collaborations in the past. Its Cactus Plant Flea Market Happy Meal didn’t include one new SKU, for example, yet the promotion helped drive a 37% year-over-year uptick in traffic the week it was launched.
Newer partnerships, including the one with Crocs, represent the company’s recent shift to a global versus national marketing strategy. During the company’s Q2 earnings call last year, CEO Chris Kempczinski said recent global campaigns, such as “As Featured In” and the FIFA men’s and women’s World Cup campaigns, are examples of how a “One McDonald’s Way” approach will drive greater connectivity and efficiency worldwide.
The company reiterated this strategy during its Investor Day event in December. Jill McDonald, president of IOM, said, “McDonald’s is elevating its marketing game. While we’re proud, we still have room to get even better. The quality of marketing is still inconsistent across markets, and we have an opportunity to improve the consistency of executions … Central to the ‘One McDonald’s Way’ for creative excellence is our ability to share and scale world-class creative ideas quickly across markets.”
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]