McDonald’s introduces 5G chicken in China

5G is a hot buzzword in China and the fast food chain knows how to use it

This week, McDonald's China officially announced it will launch a new "5G" product. The ad campaign, featuring a sleek device with curves, shiny camera lenses and a biometric facial map, immediately caught attention. Peppered with words like "super-wide angle" and "fresh unlock," the posters ignited speculation that the fast-food company might introduce a 5G ordering kiosk or a smartphone on April 15.

When the big day arrived, more than a million viewers reportedly tuned in on Bilibili to see the live-streamed launch of McDonald's new cutting-edge product: A piece of fried chicken. McDonald's used G as a homonym for chicken (pronounced ji in Chinese), and the company used five adjectives to describe it (crispy, juicy, soft, fragrant, big).

The guerilla marketing campaign for the McCrispy Chicken, inspired by tech product launches, left some disappointed (including one of our reporters who diligently watched the stream). But Phyllis Cheung, CEO of McDonald's China, said that the McCrispy Chicken took nearly a year and a half to research and develop.

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