Fans of anime will recall that whenever the story wanted to show McDonald’s in some capacity but couldn’t afford to pay them for the license, the anime will just resort to the long running gag of flipping the “M” into a “W” to make WcDonald’s. Or even change out the letters in the “Donald’s” part to make endless variations of it. Regardless though, that has how anime have been able to get around those licensing fees.

Inevitably, McDonald’s noticed that particular trope. Hilariously though, they seem to have decided to embrace it. How else do you explain them funding an entire anime series starring the fast food chain? Purely as a marketing campaign to boot? Don’t believe me? Then why not check out the key visual for yourself below, and wonder just how this managed to exist?

WcDonald’s Marketing Campaign: Details

WcDonald's Characters.
Welcome to WcDonald’s: McDonald’s Brings Anime Fans’ Favorite Fictional Restaurant to Life

McDonald’s is proud to announce WcDonald’s via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. In all cases, the announcement is a bit on the vague side. There’s only that anime key visual above, a date of February 26, 2024; and a message that reads:

a new universe is coming. level up with wcdonalds sauce and wcnuggets 2.26

Fortunately, McDonald’s has released a press release on PR Newswire that has a lot more info for us about this. According to them: McDonald’s will launch a marketing campaign on the aforementioned date. This marketing campaign is simply called WcDonald’s, and it includes not only a new Savory Chili WcDonald’s Sauce that contains a “unique combination of ginger, garlic and soy with a slight heat from chili flakes” and an “immersive dining experience” in the form of a defictionalized WcDonald’s in Los Angeles, CA; but also an entire 4-episode anime series animated by studio Pierrot (Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho). The catch? Well, you can only access each episode by scanning special packaging, which features “manga-inspired” art by Japanese artist Acky Bright. Each episode also comes with a manga chapter that drops weekly. You can access both the anime and manga on the WcDonald’s official website. Yes, you read that right.

WcDonald's Food.
Welcome to WcDonald’s: McDonald’s Brings Anime Fans’ Favorite Fictional Restaurant to Life

WcDonald’s Episode List: Details

McDonald’s even has a full list of WcDonald’s anime episodes for us to peruse. This even comes with their release date, or rather, the starting date from which you can obtain access to the episode via scanning those codes. You can check them out below:

  • The Race to WcDonald’s (drops Feb. 26): A rivalry strong enough to withstand the test of time as our two heroes embark on an epic race to WcDonald’s.
  • Love from Across the Booth (drops March 4): Our two protagonists discover the WcDonald’s Sauce and WcNuggets aren’t the only perfect pairing.
  • WcNuggets Space Frontier 3000 (drops March 11): A team of WcDonald’s pilots must protect the last WcNugget against an ominous force.
  • The Wisdom of the Sauce (drops March 18): Three women are transported to a distant land to unravel the mystery surrounding the elusive sauce before it’s gone forever.

Source: Facebook, Twitter, PR Newswire