McDonald's, Jujutsu Kaisen Team Up to Introduce New Sauce

McDonald's is teaming up with the popular anime series "Jujutsu Kaisen" for a collaboration of epic proportions. 

The partnership will introduce a new sauce, which the fast-food giant dubbed the "Special Grade Garlic Sauce," inspired by the "sorcerer grade" ranking in the anime. 

Taste-wise, the Special Grade Garlic Sauce takes notes from McDonald's Japan's Black Garlic Sauce — which is a mix of garlic and soy sauce flavors to create a sweet and savory flavor. 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by McDonald’s (@mcdonalds)

Notably, the new sauce will be the "first ever garlic sauce to hit the menus at McDonald’s USA," and will come in different packaging featuring the anime's most popular characters:

• Yuji Itadori
• Megumi Fushiguro
• Nobara Kugisaki
• Satoru Gojo
• Kento Nanami
• Suguru Geto
• Mahito
• Sukuna

i alone am the honored one who gets to reveal to u all the character designs 👁 @Jujutsu_Kaisen_pic.twitter.com/AErc8VkQO6

— McDonald's (@McDonalds) July 2, 2024

Before the grand reveal, the "Big Mac" maker first teased the upcoming collaboration through a social media marketing plan, where it first changed its profile picture to a shot of cursed energy across different platforms.

McDonald's then edited its bio to "hi welcome to my malevolent kitchen," referring to the domain expansion of Jujutsu Kaisen's main antagonist, Sukuna. 

In its official app, the fast-food chain made an ambiguous post, writing "Find the source of energy within... move your phone around to explore the domain and unveil its secrets."

It also teased that "something specialz" is coming out, referencing the opening song of the anime's second season titled "Specialz" by King Gnu. 

From these executions, it could be seen how McDonald's carefully strategized to prepare its fans for the reveal of its huge collaboration with what's quickly becoming a pop culture icon, maximizing audience reach in the pre-launch phase.

Apart from the various packaging designs of the upcoming sauce, fans of both McDonald's and the anime will have to wait and see what other special merchandise the fast-food chain has in store for them.

The dip officially launches on July 9 in the McDonald's app. 

McDonald's Pounces on Anime Popularity

Clearly, the fast-food giant has been on an anime high lately. 

Its latest collaboration with Jujutsu Kaisen follows a marketing effort where it launched its own anime to introduce the limited-edition "WcNuggets" sauce. 

Part of this initiative is the fictional "WcDonald's" restaurant, a nod to how McDonald's is often depicted in manga to avoid copyright issues.

WcDonald’s👀 pic.twitter.com/LEUNksdhdb

— Kayama【Bae's Cheese Vendor】5TH FES!!🎲 (@BaeCheeseVendor) May 9, 2024

McDonald's Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Tariq Hassan spoke on the global initiative and explained the fast-food chain's push towards anime-inspired campaigns. 

"Anime is a huge part of today's culture, and we love that our fans have been inviting us into the conversation for years," Hassan shared. 

Dubbed by the Guinness World Records as the "world's most in-demand animated TV show," surpassing the likes of "Attack on Titan" and "One Piece," it was no surprise that McDonald's harped on the opportunity to collaborate with Jujutsu Kaisen. 

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Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang