McDonald’s focuses on the metaverse
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McDonald’s wants its own space in the metaverse. The fast food giant has filed ten new trademark applications.
McDonald’s intention is to build a “virtual restaurant with real and virtual products”, as announced via Twitter by Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer.
The documents submitted by McDonald’s would refer, among other things, to trademark registration for “Operating a virtual restaurant with real and virtual products” and “Operating an online virtual restaurant with home delivery”.
Panera Bread also enters the metaverse
Panera Bread, another major American fast food chain with more than 2,000 bakery cafés across the United States and Canada and which plans to list itself by the first half of 2022, has also registered trademarks for virtual restaurant openings and services in the metaverse, one day before McDonald’s.
To be more precise, according to initial rumours, Panera Bread has registered trademarks related to the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to facilitate commercial transactions of virtual food and beverages, as well as computer programmes to access these tokens in the metaverse. Under the brand name “Paneraverse”, the restaurant also intends to create virtual restaurants and delivery functionalities.
Metaverse-mania
The two fast food chains are following in the footsteps of many other large companies, such as Nike, Ferrari, Walmart, Nvidia, Adidas, Epic Games, Microsoft and Apple, as well as Facebook’s big plan to use the metaverse for its future social networking business.
“When you see this critical mass of large companies making this many new trademark filings, it’s very clear this is coming”,
Gerben told Forbes.
Gerben went on to point out how many companies that have not yet entered the metaverse are nonetheless looking forward to it so as not to risk being left out of a potentially big business.
“I think you’re going to see every brand that you can think of make these filings within the next 12 months,” Gerben added. “I don’t think anyone wants to be the next Blockbuster and just completely ignore a new technology that’s coming”.
The projects of Panera and McDonald’s
George Hanson, chief digital officer of Panera, explained to Forbes:
“Panera is always working to be at the forefront of technological advancement. As a brand, we are constantly looking for new ways to enhance our guests’ experience, both in our cafes and in the metaverse”.
McDonald’s, on the other hand, didn’t want to make any official statements about the news at this time, but what is certain is that the company collaborated a month ago with Humberto Leon, co-founder of fashion brand Opening Ceremony, to create a zodiac collection in the Metaverse to celebrate the year of the tiger in the Chinese calendar.
“We’re honored to celebrate this Lunar New Year through his art expressions and hope our fans will enjoy this very cool and celebratory experience with us”.
This was said twenty days ago by Elizabeth Campbell, Senior Director of Cultural Engagement at McDonald’s.
According to the trademark attorney, the approval of patents filed by McDonald’s should usually take eight to nine months, but there should be no problem in obtaining a licence even sooner.
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