A while ago, McDonalds in Japan teamed up with Square Enix to create a downloadable game calledMcDonalds Travelers. It’s an ingenius marketing scheme that exploits Japan’s love ofDragon Questand could well see use in the West some time soon. The way it works is simple, but quite clever indeed.
Players take their DS systems to a local McDonalds, where they can download and play aDragon Quest-themed battle game. The only way to play it is to go to the “restaurant,” and players are also limited to just one play session per day. However, if customers rack up five play sessions (which means five trips to McDonalds), they get a free burger for their efforts. It’s a brilliant scheme.
The good news for the companies behind the plan is thatMcDonalds Travelershas so far had over a million downloads. The promotion was scheduled to end on September 3, buthas proven so popularthat it will run through the month until October 1.
McDonalds is also offering exclusiveDragon Quest IXitems, the first of which is a red afro for characters. Players can soon expect nine “wedding themed” items in the near future too.
I have to doff my cap at whoever came up with this marketing stunt. you’re able to more than likely expect similar things to happen in North America. Any company with Wi-Fi would be an idiot not try and emulate this, and I’m not just saying this because I’m fat and want free burgers.
