Summary
In the world of anime,Studio Ghibliis one of the most famous studios internationally, especially after taking the awards world by storm this past year. Meanwhile, McDonald’s is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, with fast food restaurants in nearly every country. That is a lot of power held by two distinctly different brands. So what happens when the two come together to make something special?
Debuting on the Japanese McDonald’s official X page just a couple of days ago, a new series of short ads were released. These ads imagined what McDonald’s would look like if it was in the world ofStudio Ghibli; specifically, the world ofKiki’s Delivery Service. These ads feature not only Kiki, the main character of the story, but also her beloved black cat, Jiji. It started as three short teasers with a full ad coming a day later, and while they are not done in exactly the same style as the original movie, the resemblance is enough to make them easy to recognize all the same.
McDonald’s in the Studio Ghibli World
On June 18th, theJapanese McDonald’s X accountposted three 5-second teaser trailers that featured a girl that looked surprisingly like the young witch,Kiki, traveling with her companion, Jiji. They featured the pair riding a broom or walking through a city, though their destination was kept a secret. Of course, this got people speculating a lot on the social media site, wondering what kind of collaboration was going to be coming soon, as each short video got over 20,000 likes.
The animation style of the video is not the same as Studio Ghibli, and looksmore computer-generated than hand-drawn. The characters are clearly designed by a different artist as well, but the parallel toKiki’s Delivery Serviceis undeniable. The post on X even says, “Kiki and Jiji bring you the deliciousness of Europe.” While Studio Ghibli’s name has not been officially dropped and is nowhere on the ads themselves or the post, no one can deny the connection.
Other McDonald’s Anime Collaborations
McDonald’s has had several official collaborations with anime in the past, too. In 2022, they released an adfeaturing the characters fromLupin III, where they all ordered McDonald’s together. Earlier this year, the fast food giant collaborated withDetective Conanto release a series of ads to sell a new sandwich as well. McDonald’s has had toys in their Happy Meals from Hello Kitty,Pokemon,Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more over the years, showing that it clearly has a big appeal in the otaku community.
So far, Studio Ghibli has remained silent regarding these new McDonald’s ads, but with the character designs and blatant name-dropping, we have to assume that they are in on the collaboration. The studio may post something in the next few days before the new European burgers are released, but in the meantime, netizens are happy with the ads. Already the main ad has garnered over 25,000 likes in just one day, and it is clear thatKiki’s Delivery Servicefans in Japan are ready to have Kiki and Jiji deliver some McDonald’s to them.
