What do you expect when you order food at a McDonald’s outlet? Food?
Well, yes, but here’s something you should be expecting in the near future.
The fast food chain’s outlets in Sweden have started serving food with virtual reality headsets. Yes, they have transformed their trademark yellow and red Happy Meal boxes to transport you to a whole other world. You get the device with your order of burger and fries.
Open, unfold and refold the box to place your smartphone inside it. And you have Happy Goggles.
Happy Goggles is modeled on Google Cardboard, which also happens to use the user’s phone as a screen.
McDonald’s Sweden’s marketing director Mr. Jeff Jackett says that they wish to become modern and progressive.
And what’s more, it’s not a joke. The Happy Goggles experiment is being conducted only in Sweden right now, but it has piqued significant interest so as to fuel plans of being implemented in other countries as well.
The iconic McDonald’s Happy Meal has been criticized ad infinitum for being the leading snack in the unhealthy food segment. It has been known for being especially attractive to children, because of the free toys that come with it.
McDonald’s has traditionally been associated with various toy partners in the entertainment business- Cars, The Smurfs, Minions and many more. They are in the process of altering their menu to make room for healthy snacks as well. The new toy-box, according to Mr. Jackett is educational. The company is in a bid to look for new ways to cater to the younger generation, which adapts to technology at a pretty young age. “Our customers are so tech savvy. This is the world they live in,” Mr. Jackett said.
McDonald’s has been known to be pretty creative, ever since the WiFi advertisement with fries and ketchup. But this time, they seem to be in the innovation market for real. Availing the services of a native game developer, they have introduced an immersive video game designed specifically for the headset.
The virtual skiing game is known as “Se Upp I Backen,” or “Watch Out on the Slopes,”. The course features bunnies and other animals and enables the player to navigate the slalom course in a 360-degree virtual reality perspective so they can even look around while skiing. They seem to have gone all out this time.
What’s more, the game is being endorsed by the Swedish national ski team as well. McDonald’s is definitely going places and the time isn’t far when this concept shall be imported to the Indian subcontinent as well. Well, maybe a little. Still, fingers crossed for Happy Goggles!
