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Wendy’s was one of the first major restaurant chain to make a big splash inside the Web3 universe with its own metaverse, appropriately called the Wendyverse. The Wendyverse opened in April 2022 in collaboration with Meta. Like several of the brands that would follow, the Wendyverse has been all about fun engagement with customers. Wendy’s fans with a Meta Quest 2 headset can visit the burger brand in virtual reality and play basketball with the Wendy’s Baconator, though headset-free patrons can check out a less interactive version of the VR world.
Wendy’s debuted an expansion of the Wendyverse a couple of months later in June.
Although Wendy’s is credited with being one of the first restaurants to have a presence in the metaverse, technically that honor goes to Chipotle, which debuted a virtual version of its annual Boorito promotion on the Roblox platform in Oct. 2021, where players were able to navigate a virtual maze to unlock items.
This year, Chipotle doubled down on its metaverse presence with a Chipotle burrito-builder game in a ‘90s-themed simulation. But for the first time, players were able to connect their virtual gaming skills with rewards in real life: when the game first launched on April 7 2022, the first 100,000 players to successfully roll a burrito were able to earn a free entrée for online and mobile orders only. This was an experiment with what the metaverse has slowly been evolving into: a connection between digital interactions and the real world. Later in the year, Chipotle even used the game as a platform to market its new garlic guajillo steak menu item.
In May of this year, Jimmy John’s became the latest brand to see the marketing potential in letting customers affect their real-life restaurant experience through branded metaverse challenges.
The Inspire Brands-owned sandwich shop invited customers to check out its platform Decentraland at the web address TheMetaSandwich.com, build a custom sandwich, and submit their creation for a chance for it to be featured on a Jimmy John’s menu in the future. Once a winner was picked, the winning sandwich was available for delivery to select customers in select markets.
Taco Bell is widely known for its fun and engaging marketing stunts and fan interactions, so it makes sense that the Yum Brands company’s first metaverse foray was a virtual wedding. The contest to be able to hold your wedding at a Taco Bell in the metaverse (specifically on the the Ethereum blockchain-backed Decentraland metaverse), complete with Taco Bell swag and food/drink branding, was first announced this August.
Interested engaged couples submitted video entries on Instagram TikTok, and Twitter. The winning couple has not been announced yet but after they say their I Dos (presumably over Doritos Locos tacos), the virtual Taco Bell will still stick around for customers to be able to explore the brand more in virtual reality.
As one of the largest foodservice companies in the world, we were not surprised when Starbucks entered the metaverse in September. In entering the metaverse a little later than some of their foodservice peers on this list, Starbucks was able to introduce more than just interactive online games or contests to its guests. The coffee chain has created a whole new world called Starbucks Odyssey, which launched in late 2022 where Starbucks Rewards members can buy and trade collectible limited-edition NFTs to unlock new rewards benefits and complete interactive activities to earn the NFT digital badges known as “journey stamps.”
The Starbucks Odyssey experience is reminiscent of a more interactive and experiential rewards program. It also begins the trend of lowering the bar of entry for interested users: the Starbucks Odyssey experience will not require users to use an Oculus Quest 2 (or any other special equipment) and it can be entered through the Starbucks Rewards app. Users also don’t need to have a crypto wallet to purchase the collectible NFTs.
Virtual restaurant brands have also made waves in Web3 this year. Wow Bao announced in November that the virtual bao bun brand would create an extension of its rewards program in the metaverse with a new tiered NFT membership program and launch of vending machines in the metaverse.
Like Starbucks, Wow Bucks earners don’t have to own a headset or understand cryptocurrency to take advantage of the digital rewards. Membership programs will also be affordable for the average person to take advantage of, unlike some of the NFT membership clubs that have also popped up this year, where memberships can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and are targeted toward the 1%.
While these are some of the major restaurants that have made moves in virtual reality, other companies have announced intentions to build a presence in the metaverse, though they’re not quite there yet, like McDonald’s, which — rumor has it — might want to allow food to be delivered in real life from orders within the metaverse. In May, Chick-fil-A filed for a trademark application for what they will call the “Moo-taverse.”
Other brands with their eyes on the metaverse prize include Panera Bread, Wingstop, Panda Express, Yum Brands, Burger King, Bareburger, and Next Level Burger.
