"Welcome to WcDonald's, may I take your order?"
That's what you'll likely hear at your local McDonald's restuarant, starting Monday.
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Beginning Feb. 26, participating McDonald's locations around the world will transform into "WcDonald's," a fictional McDonald's spinoff seen in dozens of iconic anime movies and TV shows.
“Anime is a huge part of today's culture, and we love that our fans have been inviting us into the conversation for years," McDonald's USA Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Tariq Hassan, said in the release. "The WcDonald's universe is a reflection of what fans have created. It honors their vision and celebrates their creativity, while authentically bringing it to life in our restaurants for the first time ever."
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The temporary transformation will take place at participating locations across 30 markets, officials said. It will last through March 18.
For those not familiar with anime, a WcDonald's takeover may come as a surprise. For others, it's an epic throwback.
"McDonald's embracing anime and manga brings a tear to my 90s child eyes," one Twitter user said.
As part of the transformation, McDonald's teamed up with Japanese magna artist/illustrator Acky Bright, to create and design custom WcDonald's packaging on menu items. For a limited time, customers will receive manga-inspired packaging featuring WcDonald’s Crew characters, sketched by Acky himself, the release said.
McDonald’s has also partnered with animation house Studio Pierrot to produce the first official WcDonald’s anime — four episodic shorts about WcDonald’s Sauce and WcNuggets.
Each Monday, starting Feb. 26 until March 18, the following shorts — which honor Action, Romance, Mecha and Fantasy, four of anime’s biggest subgenres — will drop on WcDonalds.com or via the code on the WcDonald’s bag:
WcDonald's new menu items and an 'immersive dining experience'
Some new menu items will be part of the pop-up, including "Savory Chili WcDonald's Sauce," meant to be paired with WcNuggets (also known as Chicken McNuggets), the release said.
At one McDonald's location, an "immersive dining experience" will be held, the release said, inspired by the "isekai anime subgenre."
According to officials, the "WcDonald’s Immersive Dining Experience" will be held March 9 and 10 in Los Angeles. The dining experience will be "multi-sensory," and "a genre-bending fusion of entertainment and food," the release added.
"Guests will be transported into the WcDonald’s universe through 360 projection mapping and immersive tabletop projections inspired by the four WcDonald’s anime episodic shorts – all while enjoying a set menu of WcDonald’s items," the release said. Reservations can be made on OpenTable, beginning Feb. 28.
