Why Marvel Gave McDonald’s a Glorious Purpose in Loki Season 2 Marketing

Marvel fans are ready for Season 2 of Loki, and brands like McDonald’s are lovin’ it.

Loki Season 1 debuted on Disney+ to great critical acclaim in 2021, quickly gaining the title of most popular Marvel series premiere on the platform at the time. So for Season 2’s Oct. 5 premiere, the God of Mischief is pulling out all the stops and assembling his own Avengers-like team of brand partners and TV advertisers, complete with custom creative, activations and ’80s nostalgia.

The partnerships for the Disney+ series’ second season involve event-heavy brand campaigns with companies such as Samsung, General Mills and the aforementioned Golden Arches. And according to Holly Frank, vp, global partnership management and operations, Marvel, one of the tricks to bringing those partnerships together is to make sure nothing feels forced.

“We’re taking a look at the script and seeing if there’s anything organic from an integration standpoint, working closely with our filmmakers, of course,” Frank told Adweek.

One of those organic partnerships came with McDonald’s, which was in the script before Frank’s team was even brought in.

“It felt very authentic that Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) wanted a nice, calm beat after the events of Season 1. She walks into McDonald’s and sees pretty simple things happening, food being enjoyed, people smiling, and that’s where she wanted to go work,” Frank said. “We started having conversations with McDonald’s early on, and what was amazing was it really inspired their whole global campaign.”

The McDonald’s scenes in Loki, which feature a 1982 version of the fast food restaurant, were shot last year, so the QSR chain had plenty of time ahead of the upcoming Season 2 premiere. Ultimately, the company created a campaign with Wieden+Kennedy New York that showcased McDonald’s place in pop culture throughout the decades, complete with a 60-second spot with never-before-seen footage from Loki Season 2.

The company’s “As Featured In Meal” campaign included a global program in 100 markets, with 28,000 restaurants participating and 1.3 billion pieces of packaging. In addition, a special popup experience brought one McDonald’s in Brooklyn back to 1982, complete with props from the series and special ’80s pricing.

Plus, the company featured special Snapchat animations of the Loki character Miss Minutes, which are accessed from packaging on a limited edition Loki-themed sauce that—like the God of Mischief—is Sweet ‘N Sour.

“A partnership is most successful when a brand can tell their story and use the built-in equity and fandom of our IP to help do so,” Frank said. “This was the perfect marriage of a storyline that was authentic, and then a cultural offering to consumers that felt eventized and big. You couldn’t miss out.”

Meanwhile, General Mills is once again transforming its Lucky Charms into Loki Charms, as it did for Season 1. This time around, there will be a packaging takeover inspired by Loki Season 2, including lenticular printed artwork that transforms between cereal mascot Lucky and Marvel antihero Loki.

“The first season, it took everyone by surprise, but it was also like, ‘Of course! Why didn’t we think of this sooner?’” Frank said, referring to Loki Charms. “Second season, what we were really wanting to do is, ‘How can we do it bigger, better?’”

The campaign utilized nostalgic creative and brought in influencers to spread the word. Frank said the limited-edition cereal boxes, which go on sale Oct. 6 at 11:30 a.m. PT at Walmart.com, won’t last long.

Bones Coffee, a returning Marvel licensee, is also incorporating Loki Season 2 plot points into its campaign, developing Loki-themed custom packaging for a Key lime pie coffee to play off the inclusion of Key lime pie in the show’s second season. The creative includes a co-branded spot with digital and social support.

Another brand leaning into the plot of the show, Samsung participated in a co-promotional campaign highlighting its Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone with a spot taking place in the world of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) as Loki is chased across space and time.

“That’s what fans love with our in-world storytelling capabilities,” Frank said. “It almost seems like it’s of the show.”

The exec noted that Loki production designer Kasra Farahani directed the spot, adding to the world’s authenticity.

In addition, Citizen plays off of Loki’s time-related story in co-branded spots featuring two different timepieces, the Axiom SC and Marvel x Citizen Loki. The 360 campaign stems from an ongoing partnership between Citizen and Disney and includes TV, digital, social and even a presence at New York Comic-Con.

When looking at the partnerships overall, everything was created to intentionally blur the lines between programming and commercial.

“It’s about breaking through,” Frank said. “We want to work with the right partners that are going to help us break through and make their advertising look like content.”

Loki Season 2 premieres Oct. 5 on Disney+, with new episodes dropping weekly until Nov. 9.