In one of today’s more surprising announcements, Apple and McDonald’s are today partnering in a cross-brand product effort.
The two companies said that they are looking to leverage the similarities of each other’s brand to expand their respective client bases. Both companies had been in talks since late 2003 when a deal to distribute iTunes with Happy Meals fell through, making this deal more than half a decade in the making.
“We realized the overlap when we started selling the new 13- and 15-inch Unibody MacBooks last October. During our busy holiday season, customers would come in looking for the 17-inch version asking if we had the Big Mac,” explained Pullman Legwand, an Apple Genius at Apple’s flagship Apple Store.
The confusion eventually lead customers to McDonald’s restaurants, where they would express their desire for Apple products, only to be sold apple slices with caramel dip.
Apple and McDonald’s marketing teams saw the problem and came together to create a brand new product that would effectively bridge the two company’s clientele: the iMc.
The iMc is an all new food menu item that combines McDonald’s food-making-mastery and Apple’s simplistic and elegant design cues. Doing away with the traditional fixings in a burger that would distract from the overall experience, the iMc contains no ketchup, mustard, cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, or meat.
“We’re proud to carry the iMc as part of our permanent menu. The no-frills nature of the iMc represents the next evolution of fine dining,” said Joseph K. Ng, McManager at McDonald’s. “It’s just like the new iPod Shuffle.”
The news hit early in the day before Wall Street opened shop, but already stock analysts are seeing this as a “quick win” for the fast food restaurant giant.
“Before the advent of the boutique coffee shop with its fancy baristas, McDonald’s was the hang out of choice for the young and fashionable,” quipped analyst Lisa Tuu. “Through its partnership with Apple, McDonald’s will bring the yuppie MacBook-owning crowd back to enjoy a milkshake instead of their usual grande-quad-ristretto-nonfat-no whip-vanilla-latte-in-a-venti-cup.”
The iMc goes on sale today starting at $19.99 with add-ons (cutlery, napkins, pickles, mayo) available at an additional cost. No meat is available at this time, however reps say this is to help further the "slimmed-down" ideal of the iMc. Customers will also have the option to upgrade to the iMc Pro, a vegetarian friendly Quorn hamburger patty for a 50 percent price increase.
