Mysterious McDonald's x Studio Pierrot anime collaboration announced

McDonald's anime promotion video released on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, in collaboration withStudio Pierrot, on the company's official X (formerly Twitter) account took fans worldwide by surprise. The roughly 15-second trailer flashes the date of Monday, February 26, 2024, suggesting that fans will receive more info on the collaboration on this date.

Apart from that, not much can be gleaned from the project in terms of what it will focus on or the format it will take. The trailer is produced in an anime-esque art style, which is undoubtedly Studio Pierrot’s main contribution to the collaboration.

Furthermore, while some anime-like tropes, motifs, and references can be seen in the video, it seems to primarily function as an advertisement for McDonald’s. For example, roughly half of the shots feature McDonald’s products or logos in some way, shape, or form, like two characters eating the brand's Chicken McNuggets or a carton of french fries being filled.

In any case, Studio Pierrot’s role in the collaboration should be fully unveiled by this time next week, given the aforementioned date flashed at the end of the posted video.

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McDonald's anime promotion: Studio Pierrot x McDonald’s collaboration set to reveal more info on Monday, February 26, 2024

One possible clue as to the true nature of this McDonald’s and Studio Pierrot collaboration stems from a tagline in the video, which reads “at participating McDonald’s for a limited time.”

It suggests that some sort of physical merchandise will be launched alongside the collaboration, whether it be a new food item or something more akin to a collectible item or memorabilia.

Unfortunately, there’s not much more to be gleaned from what fans know of and have regarding the collaboration. While McDonald’s has done several anime collaborations in the past, these have typically been Japanese exclusive and likewise posted to the company’s Japanese social media accounts.

However, this promotion is posted to the general account for the company suggesting it will be an internationally available collaboration.

Regardless of what the collaboration will be, it’s clear that a significant amount of work has gone into the project. The video posted to the McDonald’s social media account features four distinctive character designs, and several different and dynamic shots that seemingly don’t reuse frames.

It also suggests that regardless of what the collaboration is, there's some element of it that involves a fully animated short or project. However, this is speculative, given the information available at the time of this article’s writing.

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Final thoughts

Anime and manga enthusiasts would recognize the "WcDonald's" from various series. The beloved real-life food chain has been popularly used in different series by inverting the original "M" into "W." This reference has remained a fan-favorite motif and the excitement around its actual anime adaptation is clear. Though some fans were irked that Studio Pierrot started a new project instead of continuing Boruto or Black Clover, the general anticipation is positive.

Further revelations on February 26 will show whether the upcoming collab does justice to this idea. Studio Pierrot has animated popular series like Naruto and Bleach and fans have high expectations from them.

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UPDATE: McDonald's has launched an official WcDonald's website which reveals its plan for manga and anime shorts, and also some character designs. Check out our detailed article here: McDonalds x Studio Pierrot collaboration set to feature manga and anime shorts, and more