McDonald’s Metaverse “My Happy Place” debuts in Singapore to reward customers

Fast food giant McDonald went web3 with the launch of its recent virtual property in Singapore. Dubbed “My Happy Place”, the metaverse will allow Singaporeans to enjoy virtual burgers with real-life rewards.

Per a recent announcement, the fast food chain has joined hands with Bandwagon Labs to bring this to fruition.

McDonald’s Metaverse to reward users

Clarence Chan, Founder of Bandwagon Labs, described the metaverse as a “multiplayer” world where players interact with each other, adding:

“It’s packed with daily rewards with different challenges that trigger a reward mechanism.”

Bandwagon Labs is the metaverse arm of the media firm Bandwagon. The firm has tapped various Web3 technologies to bolster McDonald’s virtual world.

McDonald’s customers will be able to link their MetaMask wallets, allowing them to “securely authenticate” their identities. It would also allow them to participate in “token-gated activities within the metaverse,” Chan explained.

Initially, the metaverse will be live for a month, from June 6 to July 7. 

Following this, McDonald’s, which has full control over this in-app metaverse, will decide the continuation of the services and other deployments.

Chan believes that the metaverse will boost customer retention and fan engagement. 

He criticised existing metaverse projects for their lack of “tangible rewards.” According to him, it dissuades users who engage with the virtual words occasionally.

In contrast, My Happy Place solves this issue by offering real-life rewards that can be won by customers. He continued:

“Not only can users engage and play with their friends, but they can also win tangible rewards, like fries, by participating on our platform.”

An early entry into the virtual sector

The fast food behemoth has been way ahead of the competition, first filing for Metaverse trademarks in early 2022.

Back then, the brand filed 10 applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office. One of the trademarks was listed for “virtual food and beverage products”. Another one was for a virtual restaurant with a home delivery option.

“You are hanging out in the metaverse and get hungry. You don’t have to put down your headset. You walk into a McDonald’s and place an order. It arrives at your door a little while later,” trademark lawyer Josh Gerben wrote back then.

Later, in 2023, the fast food chain introduced  McNuggets Land on the metaverse platform The Sandbox. The virtual world celebrates the 40th anniversary of the fast food giant’s popular Chicken McNuggets.

The metaverse location offered rewards such as free food redeemable at local McDonald’s restaurants and other NFT-based items and the SAND token.

Besides McDonald, several other major brands have also tried to cash in on the metaverse hype. Most recently, media giant Forbes purchased land in The Sandbox in a move to cultivate a web3 community.

Earlier this year, Disney partnered with Fortnite creator Epic Games to create a virtual world that integrates Disney’s extensive collection of intellectual properties (IPs).

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