Got a blog tip? Contact us

« Credit card prank | Main | The Barbie history of America »

McDonalds pimps hip-hop

McDonald's has hired marketing firm Maven Strategies to find hip-hop artists willing to plug Big Macs in their songs. As Advertising Age reports, in a wonderfully senseless statement:

For the deal involving the Big Mac, McDonald’s receives final approval of the lyrics, but it will ultimately allow artists to decide how the sandwich is integrated into the songs.

Come again? McDonald's receives final approval but the artists do too? Obviously Maven Strategies would like to play it both ways, but it's pretty clear here who the real beneficiary is. Under Maven's sinister payment plan, musicians only get paid when their song plays on the radio--and only $1 to $5 per airing. If a group's Big Mac-plugging cut fails to become a hit, McDonald's doesn't have to pay them anything. But if the song does get lots of airplay, a suit from Maven points out that "[t]here’s a strong likelihood it will be played in clubs, be downloaded, be turned into a ringtone and sell more CDs." In other words, hits will reap a lot of free exposure for McDonald's since it only has to pay artists for radio play.